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The basic principle of vicarious liability is that, if an employee injures someone in the course of their employment, the employer may be vicariously liable. This simply means that the injured person may be able to win compensation directly from the employer, rather than from the employee.

There are many instances where vicarious liability may occur. For example if you were involved in a road traffic accident with a van and the van driver was at the time of the accident acting in the course of his employment. If the van driver was at fault for the accident then his employer may be vicariously liable. An employer can be vicariously liable for the acts or omissions of his or her employees. An omission is simply a failure to do something. An example could be an employee failing to secure or put down a safety device on a machine which later causes injury. The failure to do something was the negligence and thus his or her employer could be vicariously liable.

The theory behind vicarious liability is that the employer is thought to have “deeper pockets” to compensate injured victims. Obviously if a company has insurance in place then ultimately it will be an insurance company who pays out compensation. This is why companies and businesses take out employer’s liability insurance.

It goes without saying that employers do not like vicarious liability.
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This is something that always seems to worry people when they are considering making a claim – as understandably many people do not like the thought of being put in front of a judge with someone firing questions at them (like you see on the many court dramas on T.V). However, in the majority of civil claims they never get as far as going to court, so there really is no reason that this should deter you from pursuing a claim.

The civil procedure rules – the rules that govern personal injury claims – are specifically designed to stop the need to go to court. They do this through a number of ways with the main one being what is called a Part 36 offer. I will not go into much detail here about these, but they are a good example to show how the rules are designed to deter people from going to court.
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When you are suffering from an injury as a result of an accident, it is inevitable that you will incur some losses. This can include things such as loss of earnings, medical and treatment expenses but also any items that may have been damaged because of the accident. This last one some may think is only applicable to road traffic accidents as of course cars are inevitably damaged one way or another; but items such as clothing and jewellery are always vulnerable to damage.

However, understandably, there has to be something in place to ensure these losses are not exaggerated and stay in the realm of “reasonableness“. This word is used A LOT in relation to losses and is the main guiding principle when calculating losses. So always think to yourself “Is this reasonable?” when incurring any losses – hiring a supercar rather than the courtesy car offered to you is probably not mitigating your loss (unless your car you’re temporarily replacing happens to be a supercar, because an argument for having like-for-like may be accepted).

So what does “mitigating you losses” mean? Basically, that you must try and keep your losses to a reasonable minimum.
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What will happen if I claim?

Many people considering a claim for personal injury will not have had much contact with the legal profession before they start their claim, and the thought of doing so can be quite daunting. People get worried about the “red-tape”, jargon, and waiting and delays. However, people may not understand is that there are rules in place to help avoid long drawn out claims.

At The Injury Lawyers the first step for most none road accident claims (so accidents at work, in public places, in the street, or with products for example) in this begins when you provide your details about your accident or the way in which you became injured.
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The limitation date for your claim is one of the most important thing you need to know. This is because, if you ignore this date, it could mean that you are no longer able to bring a claim for compensation.

In most personal injury cases you are allowed three years from the date of your accident to make a claim for compensation.  If you go past this three year period, even if you have a great claim for compensation and would have been entitled to receive thousands of pounds in compensation, unfortunately, you will almost certainly not be able to make a claim, unless the Court’s discretionary power can be used.  It really is a strict deadline.

What can you do to make sure you can get the compensation you deserve?
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When people call us up to see if they can make a claim for compensation for the injuries they have suffered at the hands of a negligent third party, apart from wanting to know how much their claim is worth, they generally want to know what happens.  In other words, they want to know each stage of the claim.  I have therefore compiled this quick guide to the compensation claiming process:

Step 1: Letter of Claim

In almost every claim for compensation, except for those where you have been injured in what is considered to be a low value road traffic accident, your lawyers will need to submit a Letter of Claim to the other side.  The Letter of Claim is a straightforward letter which outlines the details of your accident, your injuries, and particularises why we believe the Defendant is at fault and should compensate you for your injuries. 
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It seems that one of the first questions clients ask us here at The Injury Lawyers is – what is my claim worth? At the very early stages of a claim, this is a difficult question to answer; however, due to our skill and experience here at The Injury Lawyers, we are often able to give a ball park figure around which we think your claim may potentially be worth.

We like to explain the claiming process fully to our clients, so I have written an in depth blog explaining compensation.

Compensation can also be called ‘damages’ and there are two heads of damages for which you can claim – these being General Damages and Special Damages.
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A whiplash injury is caused when there is a sudden movement of the head / neck, causing it to jerk or jolt violently away from your body. Anything that causes your neck to jolt sideways, backwards or forwards may cause the injury. It often results in the ligaments, tendons and muscles in the neck being overstretched.

The most common cause of a whiplash injury is a car or a motorcycle accident; this is because when they become involved in a collision there is a sudden stopping force, which is the cause of your head moving violently away from your body. Even collisions that occur at a low speed can cause a whiplash injury.
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Whiplash is the term used to describe an injury to the neck. This injury is caused when the neck jilts sideways, backwards or forwards. This usually causes the ligaments and tendons in the neck to become damaged. There is no way to prevent a whiplash injury; however precautions such as seat belts and head restrains do help.  

The main causes of whiplash injuries are car accidents; they can also be caused by slips, trips and falls. Whiplash injuries often take a few days or maybe weeks to make themselves known. In most cases it will take a few days before you feel the pain.
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Legal Expense Insurance (LEI) is an additional type of insurance that a lot of insurance companies will try to sell you on top of your existing insurance policy. This insurance guarantees that the company in question will pay your legal fees if you are unfortunate enough to become involved in an accident. This additional insurance fee usually sets you back an extra £15 to £20 a month.

What insurance companies forget to tell you is that if you do become involved in a car accident and it isn’t your fault then an injury law firm, such as the Injury Lawyers will retrieve you the compensation fees you deserve on a no win, no fee basis.

Some people live by the saying ‘if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is’. However, that’s not always the case. Here at the Injury Lawyers we will get you the compensation you deserve and every penny of it will go to you. We don’t take cuts from your payment; we simply recover the costs from the other side. 
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