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Work accidents are a common occurrence – especially if you work in construction or the manufacturing industry. But a lot of people don’t know they can claim for a work accident when they’ve had one; in fact, there’s probably thousands – if not, millions – of pounds worth of unclaimed compensation because people unfortunately just don’t know when they’re entitled to make a claim.

So – here’s the answers for your convenient digest:

Q: Can You Claim?

If the accident was not your fault, then perhaps you can. If the accident is a direct result of your employers’ negligence, then you can definitely make a claim for compensation. If you’re at work when the accident occurred, it’s definitely worth contacting an injury lawyer for advice.
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OK – so how does it work? There are so many ways you can end up being injured in an accident through no fault of your own; but does that mean you have a claim for compensation? Well, it all depends on what’s happened…

You’re Not at Fault – Who IS at Fault?

This is a key question. To be able to claim for compensation, someone else, whether it’s a company or a person, has to be at fault for your injuries. There doesn’t necessarily have to be malice involved – accidents can easily happen through the negligence of someone else. But either way, if you are injured because someone else has failed you, you may well have a claim for compensation!

Road Accidents

The most common form of injury claim – they unfortunately happen all the time. It’s so easy for a driver to lose concentration and pull out of a side road, or fail to stop and crash in to the back of you. If you are injured in a road accident that wasn’t your fault, instruct an independent injury lawyer to represent you for your claim.
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School complaints can often be a bit of a touchy subject – it’s not nice to think that we would ever have to claim from a public institution serving the generations of tomorrow. But, as I would like to think many of you would agree, health and safety is of even more importance in schools; particularly at infant and primary level.

As specialist personal injury lawyers, we rarely hear of an accident we haven’t already got experience in – so a great deal of our new claims come as no surprise. But when you hear of a child being injured through the schools negligence, it always feels different. I often ask myself: “how has an institution catering for the education of such young people allowed something like this to happen?” Naturally, the parents and guardians of the child claims we take on normally express their frustration and concerns to us quite honestly and openly; it’s a parent’s natural instinct to safeguard their children.

In infant and primary schools, health and safety should be at the forefront of every staff member’s minds. So, if your child has been injured at school, when can you make a claim for compensation?
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Many careers involve regular working at height situations.  I am talking about careers such as tree surgeons, scaffolders, or TV aerial installers.  However, it is in many other careers, careers that you may not expect, that accidents from working at a height could occur. These could be a receptionist changing a light bulb, or a warehouse assistant attempting to obtain an item from elevated shelving so it’s no surprise that working at a height accidents are extremely common.

There is legislation in place aimed at decreasing the amount of accidents occurring from working at a height – these are quite aptly called the Working At Height Regulations 2005.  This is a lengthy piece of legislation, and the whole detail does not need to be the subject of this blog; however, there are a few important details which should be noted.  These being that any working at height situation should be properly planned and supervised using safety equipment that has been checked prior to use.

If this piece of legislation is not properly known and enforced by employers, there is a high chance that a working at height accident could occur.  Some of the most common accidents being falls from scaffolding, roofs, and ladders.
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When we talk of road traffic accidents, we tend to think that the crash involved two or more cars – we typically consider a road traffic accident to be a car crash.  However, as the name suggests, road traffic accidents incorporate all accidents that occur on our roads.  This includes accidents involving buses.  If you have been involved in a road traffic accident whilst you were a passenger on a bus, as would be the case if you were involved in a car accident, you may be entitled to compensation where you have suffered a personal injury.

If you have been involved in a bus crash and subsequently sustained an injury, it will be the case more often than not that the crash was not your fault.  As such you may deserve compensation to place you in the position you would have been had the accident not occurred, and you had not sustained an injury.  You should therefore contact a quality injury lawyer who will be able to advise you on your potential claim.  This may be against the bus company or the driver of the vehicle that caused the collision.

If the accident happened because the bus driver was negligent, you are able to pursue the bus company for compensation.  This is because they are vicariously liable for the bus driver.  In other words, because they employ the bus driver, they are liable for his actions.  The bus driver is their responsibility.  So, if it is considered that the bus negligently crashed, the bus or negligently accelerated or braked too suddenly, causing you to be thrown from your seat for example, you are entitled to make a claim for compensation against the bus company for your injuries.  Bus drivers are under a duty of care to their passengers and have to drive safely and responsibly.  If they do not adhere to this duty then the bus company they work for can be held liable for any injuries resulting from their negligence.
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There are all sorts of weird and wonderful ways we can end up injuring ourselves – but there are also a lot of ways we can end up injured in an accident that was completely foreseeable! Employers have an important duty of care to ensure that their employees are safe and free from any hazard whilst at work. This goes down to the premises being safe, to the machinery being safe, and personal protective equipment being provided.

Having safe equipment and being provided with the right personal protective equipment(PPE) are two of the most important regulations an employer must adhere to. After all, the requirement for equipment is normally in place to prevent an obvious and unavoidable hazard in the work place. You wear hard hats on a building site, masks when using a welder, gloves when handling hot or dangerous liquids / chemicals – the regulations and the legislation in place are clear.

Equipment – In General

Equipment should be regularly inspected and maintained to ensure it remains safe and does not pose a hazard to those using it. Machinery and plant equipment should have sufficient guards to prevent accidental access to dangerous parts, and should always have a plentiful amount of emergency stop buttons within easy reach of your working position.
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If you have been in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you can make a claim for compensation if you are suffering from a whiplash injury.

Whiplash is normally caused by the sudden and violent jolting of your neck either forwards, backwards, or sideways; commonly occurring after a road accident. Even in a minor crash you can end up with a nasty whiplash injury. It’s normally quite easy to establish who is at fault in a road accident – if you’re the blameless victim, you can make a claim for whiplash if you are suffering the symptoms.

Whiplash Symptoms
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Ultimately, if you have been in an accident that wasn’t your fault, it’s likely that you have a claim for compensation for any injuries and suffering. When to claim is entirely up to you. But we’d be doing you a diss-service if we didn’t let you know that there is a time limit for claiming – so, if you’re considering putting it off, you might want to think again!

In most common claims, you have three years from the date of the accident in which to make a claim. But realistically, the sooner you do it, the better! Even though you have three years, if you leave it too long, vital evidence in the hands of those responsible may disappear over time. CCTV footage is normally retained for 2 – 4 weeks at most nowadays. Witness information is always great to have – but you don’t want to risk losing touch with a witness (say, if they move address) or the witness forgetting the key information over time.

The first thing you should always do (to protect your position a great deal more!) is see your GP or attend a local walk in centre or hospital ASAP. Explain to medical staff in considerable detail how your injuries were caused. They should note the details down on to your medical records – which is great for evidence later on down the line of the claim.
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This is a common question I hear on a daily basis from the new clients whose cases we accept – and not just for whiplash, but for any injury suffered through the fault of another person or party.

But how much are you entitled to claim for a whiplash injury? Well, the only way to properly value your injury is with a specialist solicitor on board, and a medical report compiled by an expert. But we can give you a few guides as to what you may be looking at:
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If you’ve had an accident that wasn’t your fault, the only way is to claim with a proper No Win No Fee lawyer on board. No Win No Fee is a common term nowadays, and most people have a general idea as to what it’s all about.

However, of the countless cases we accept on a daily basis, offering our unique and Genuine No Win No Fee agreement, the questions claimers want to know are normally always the same:  “so, what am I liable to pay for?”.

Well, the answer is actually dependant on the No Win No Fee agreement you enter in to – they can vary dramatically from firm to firm. So, here’s a guide on how it all works, based on our Genuine No Win No Fee, to give you the info you need, and to prepare you to ask the right questions to your prospective lawyer:
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