A Repetitive Strain Injury, or RSI as it is informally known, is an umbrella term which can cover a whole host of injuries. The injuries it covers are those which are caused by the repetitive use of parts of the body.

It is an extremely prevalent disorder affecting as many as 1 in 50 workers. This comes as no surprise, as not only can it affect manual workers, but also those desk workers who are typing away all day long.

The Types of RSI
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The Telegraph has recently reported that a study by The Association of British Insurers has shown that 1,200 claims for whiplash are made every day, which equates to three-quarters of personal injury claims in the United Kingdom, and is six times as many claims as those for accidents at work. 

In fact, it is the United Kingdom which sees the largest volume of whiplash claims within Europe.  As a result, the Telegraph writes that the NHS spends approximately £8million a year helping people with whiplash injuries, and insurances companies are paying out an estimated £2billion a year in compensation for these whiplash injuries.

So – what is whiplash? Whiplash is normally a neck, back, and shoulder injury caused by the soft tissue in the spine being forcefully jerked – e.g. from the impact of being hit behind by another person’s motor vehicle.  So, how do I know if you have whiplash?  Here are the common symptoms:
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Can a child bring a claim for compensation? On their own, no.  With a litigation friend, yes.  So – what is a litigation friend?

Where a person has suffered an injury and they are under the age of 18, they are required by law to have a litigation friend to conduct their claim on their behalf.  A litigation friend is therefore a responsible adult who acts on a minor’s (a person under the age of 18) behalf.  In most cases a litigation friend will be a child’s parents or guardians; but equally it could be a family friend or some other trustworthy adult.

The law recognises that a child of the age of say four or five may have a genuine claim for compensation having been injured through no fault of their own, but that this child does not have the capacity to proceed with a claim on their own.  In other words, a child does not have the ‘legal capacity’ to conduct legal proceedings.  This is also similarly applied to persons deemed a ‘protected party’ under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.  They too will require a litigation friend to conduct their claim for them.
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If you were correctly driving along, or you were sitting stationary in your vehicle, when rather annoyingly some other driver rams you up the backside, I have some good news and some bad news for you.

I’ll start with the bad – to get it over and done with – in the next few days (or even hours) you will probably start feeling pain, soreness, stiffness, and / or aches in your neck, shoulders, and back. This is called whiplash – and it’s an absolute pain to live with (I know – I’ve currently got it as well thanks to my local bus service!).

The common symptoms of whiplash are:
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At The Injury Lawyers, we have a huge number of clients suffering from the symptoms of whiplash.  We hear on a daily basis of the pain the condition causes, and the devastating effect the injury can have on all areas of a person’s life. That is why we treat whiplash with the utmost seriousness and give it the importance it deserves.

Causes

Whiplash is caused by a sudden jolting to the neck, which causes it to move beyond its normal range.  This can lead to damage to the tendons, ligaments, and muscles in the neck area, causing the condition.
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The state of our roads has become a much talked about topic – not just in passing speech, but also in the media. Only today I have seen on the BBC News that road safety charities have warned that unless councils take a fresh approach to repairing roads, the amount they will have to pay out in compensation to injured claimants will escalate. The Institute of Advanced Motorists claim that Councils need to fully resurface roads rather than just filling in the holes. It has been revealed that the Vale of Glamorgan and Newport Councils have some of the largest pay-out figures on pothole claims over the last four years within Wales – the former being £245, 967, whilst the latter have figures of £203,913.

It seems that councils are having trouble fixing the damage caused to the roads due to the bad weather we had over the winter.  If you have been injured due to the presence of a pothole, you may have a claim for compensation.

Local councils have a duty to maintain the highways, and in doing so, reduce the risks to our health and safety.  However, claims due to potholes can be fairly complex for a number of reasons. Firstly, it can be difficult to ascertain who has the responsibility for maintaining the land, as it could be privately owned, be the responsibility of the local council, or highways agency, or even be a private company used by the council for managing the maintenance. Secondly, in the event the land is the responsibility of the council, it can be difficult to get an admission of fault on your claim.
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The Liverpool Echo reports that a former chip shop employee is seeking £1million in compensation having slipped on a wet surface whilst she was at work. 

It is stated that Sylvia Cheung was at the end of the her shift at the Yang Sing takeaway back in 2008 when she slipped and sustained severe injuries to her head and spinal cord.  Unfortunately, it would appear that Ms Cheung will have to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life, and will subsequently need care and assistance.  At the High Court, Judge John Leighton Williams QC found that Miss Cheung was 15% responsible for the accident as she knew the floor was slippery and ‘should have been aware of the risk’, but found that the chip shop had breached health and safety regulations and was therefore 85% liable for the accident.

If you sustained a particularly serious injury as a result of an accident for which you were not responsible, you may be entitled to compensation in a similar sum to what Miss Cheung is claiming.  When you are dealing with such sums of money, it becomes especially apparent that you need to have a specialist, quality, professional injury lawyer with years of experience on your side.  It could well be the difference between thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds, in compensation for you. 
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Supermarkets are a place where we can spend a lot of our time, which is why it is crucial that they are safe places where everything reasonably possible has been done to reduce risks to our health and safety.

You may feel that bringing a claim against a supermarket is a hopeless task, as they are often enormous corporations, and you are acting as an individual. I am here to tell you that all claims are run in the same manner, whether they are against a huge business, or the small individual –that is why you have lawyers like us on your side fighting your corner. Bringing a claim does not only mean that you may be able to recoup your losses and claim for your injuries, but also that health and safety standards are tightened up so the same thing does not happen to someone else.

Supermarkets, have to keep to strict health and safety regulations – plus they must also ensure that their staff are well trained in implementing and maintaining these standards. This training could be to ensure shelves are stacked safely to avoid items falling on customers, check aisles for items left in walk ways to avoid causing a trip hazard, or to have regular checks for spillages to avoid slip hazards to customers.
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Vibration White Finger is an industrial disease which is experienced by many manual workers using vibrating machinery, such as power drills or chain saws, or even sewing machines, as a regular part of their job.
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Road accidents that take place prior to 30^th April 2010 can take a considerable amount of time to run their course. These claims allow the other side 21 days to respond to a Letter of Claim, and a further 3 months to investigate it – so it can take nearly 4 months just to find out whether you have liability admitted or denied on your claim. Getting an admission of liability means that the other side admit fault for your injury, and so is a major hurdle to get over in the course of your claim.

This may mean that many of the straight forward road traffic accident claims are taking a long time to come to a conclusion; meaning claimants are left waiting for information, and claims are left sat on desks waiting to be worked on.  In recognition of this fact, the Ministry of Justice have set up a new system of dealing with road traffic accident claims after the aforementioned date.

This new system is all based around an online portal where correspondence is sent and received instantaneously. This means letters are not taking an age to arrive in the post, and gives the other side no excuses to claim they have not received something. The system is based around 3 stages.  Your claim begins with a Claim Notification Form being sent out which sets out the accident circumstances.  Upon this being sent to the other side, they have 15 business days to respond with an admission or denial of liability (this is in stark contrast to the previous system of nearly 4 months).
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