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The recent PIP scandal has brought these types of claims to the forefront, although the legislation (The Sale and Supply of Goods and Services Act) is often associated more with trying to return goods to a store/seller. However, the Act can be important in personal injury claims, specifically where the provision of a service or good has breached the terms of the Act and have led to personal injury.

The Act states that goods and services should be of a satisfactory quality and fit for purpose and is something that may ring bells with a lot of us who have ever bought something from a store for it to break 2 days later. It gives consumers protection that the goods that they are purchasing do what they should and perform to a satisfactory level.  The PIP breast scandal brought this to the forefront as it has been established by a report led by Sir Bruce Keogh that the implants were not fit for purpose, nor of satisfactory quality, due to the grade of silicon that was used in them and the substandard skin of the implants.
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According to official Judicial Council Guidelines that are used to assess claims, examples of severe ankle injuries include:

• Transmalleolar fractures which often come with severe soft tissue injuries in the surrounding area as well.
• Bilateral ankle fractures which can lead to degeneration of the joints.
• Injuries that require an extensive periods of treatment and rehabilitation, with operations involving pins and plates being inserted.
• Any injury causing a form of residual ankle instability or disability.
• Any injury that results in significant scarring or has any affect on your employment or quality of life – perhaps due to a requirement to wear special footwear.

These sorts of injuries could result in below-knee amputations or the event of a future injury, or arthrodesis, which is an artificial joint inserted in to the foot, being required. Or, as already mentioned above, the requirement to use a splint or some kind of orthotic device or specialist footwear to help you walk properly.
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Ladders can be naturally dangerous pieces of equipment. It’s therefore important to use the right ladders for the right job, and it’s important to make sure that ladders are well maintained and replaced when necessary. At work, this duty is directly the responsibility of your employer.
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For most of us, it’s in our genes to love a good shop every now and then; women more so than men. On a busy Saturday afternoon, the last thing we want to happen is to be injured when we’re out shopping and supposedly having a good time. So when you are injured in an accident in a shop, can you make a claim for compensation?

Firstly, injuries from shop accident claims can often be fairly serious. Most shops have hard floors, so landing on them can easily result in breaking bones. Whether you have a claim or not all boils down to the circumstances and the important piece of legislation that you can claim under for these sorts of accidents – known as the Occupiers Liability Act.

This Act states that the occupier of a premises has a duty of care to anyone one visiting the premises. This duty of care means that they need to make sure you are safe when using the premises in which they are in control of. So if you are injured, making a successful claim is about proving that this duty of care has been breached.
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If you live in a rented premises, either directly with a landlord or through an agent, there are certain responsibilities that the landlord or agent must take to make sure you are safe in the rented property. Usually the contract will specify what in the house is the responsibility of the landlord, and what is yours.

So if something goes wrong and you are injured, do you have a claim for compensation? Well the first question to ask is: is the landlord or agent legitimately at fault? Were you injured because of something the landlord or agent failed to do, or didn’t do properly? Whether you have a claim or not can come down to whether the landlord ought to have taken reasonable action.

For example, if you have just moved in to a new property and you slip because of a leak in the kitchen, or stumble and fall because of a loose stepping stone outside you may have a claim. The landlord has an important duty make sure a tenant moving in to a new premises is not at risk of injury. They should have inspected the premises to make sure any hazards were rectified before you move in, or at the very least inform you of them and confirm when reparations can be made.
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We take on a lot of claims for people who have tripped up whilst out and about. It’s fairly common for people to ring us up and ask for our help because they have tripped over a raised drain or manhole. The injuries can be devastating – in the majority of occasions you land on a hard floor and end up fracturing something.

Because fractures are typically fairly serious, most people end up facing time off work and therefore lost earnings, a serious lack of mobility means you need lots of help around the house, and a stint of physiotherapy. It’s a serious enough situation to be in to warrant making a claim.

The big question is, as always – do you have a claim?
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Tripping over can result in some serious injuries – especially on hard flooring. I know most of us like to have a little laugh when we see someone trip over, and any slapstick British comedy involving people tripping up is funny to watch. But when it happens to you and you’re injured as a result, it isn’t so funny.

For this blog, I’m going to talk to you about tripping over due to broken tiles.

Broken tiles can be obvious tripping hazards. Commonly the tile, or a section of the broken tile, may be raised due to it being broken and loose. You may be unaware that the tile is broken until you step on it when it rises, which again can cause someone to trip over.

So if this happens to you, can you make a claim for personal injury compensation?
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We take on a lot of claims involving accidents in and around swimming pools. The combination of water and a hard surface can usually lead to people suffering some potentially serious injuries. Fractures are extremely common in these sorts of circumstances.

So if you do have an accident involving a swimming pool, can you claim, and who is responsible?

Generally speaking these claims fall within the realm of the Occupiers Liability Act. This stipulates that the occupier of a premises has an underlying duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent injury from occurring on the premises they are in control of. So if it is a swimming pool in a leisure centre, then the owners of the leisure centre have the responsibility. If it’s in a hotel, then the hotel owners have the responsibility.

Slipping is an obvious hazard. It’s difficult to control this kind of thing given that water is bound to end up on the floor nearby a pool. Normally signs will be deployed to warn people of the danger of slipping and to warn people never to run. Mats could be used between doorways (say between the changing rooms and the pool area) to also help combat the problem. If you slip over in a swimming pool , whether you have a claim or not boils down to whether the owners can prove they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent the accident. To win a claim, we still must prove negligence and breach of law.
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Given how difficult it is to secure a mortgage in this tremendous credit crunch we’ve been suffering from for what feels like an eternity, a lot of people nowadays, particularly the younger generations, are renting. Granted, when you think about it, it’s kind of a waste of money as your hard earned cash isn’t being invested in anything. But there are a few bonuses to the renting game.

When you rent, the responsibility for a lot of factors to do with the property fall on your landlord. Whilst it is probably part of the agreed terms in your contract that you are responsible for the upkeep of furniture and certain fittings, things like utilities comes down to your landlord (aside from paying for them!)

This means that there is a duty on your landlord to PAT test any portable electrical items that come as part of the agreed let, and sockets, fuses, generators, and anything else electrical related falls within their responsibility. It’s prudent for your landlord to therefore have a system of inspection and maintenance in place. This can be a simple callout on a regular enough basis for an electrician to come out and inspect the premises.
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Package holidays are fairly common nowadays. Who wouldn’t want to just pay a single fee for an all inclusive stress free holiday, where you don’t have to worry about booking the hotel, flights, transport, and other things separately. It saves a lot of time.

However there is also another benefit to booking an all inclusive visit abroad – you may be afforded the protection of the Package Tour Regulations in the event something goes wrong.

Under the Package Tour Regulations, if you have an accident abroad, you may have a claim against the package provider. The general prerequisites are that:
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