Question: I had a car accident a couple of years ago and suffered a whiplash injury to my neck. I settled my claim for £1,500 and thought at the time that this seemed a reasonable amount. I have recently however spoken to a friend who told me that he received almost double the amount that I did despite recovering from his whiplash sooner. Does this mean that I should have received more for my claim?
Answer: Further information would be needed to advise you as to what would have been a reasonable settlement value for your claim. The mere fact however that your friend’s claim settled for a higher amount does not indicate that your claim should have been settled at a higher level.
It is not possible to make a simple like for like comparison in personal injury claims as each claim will be valued and settled on its own individual and specific circumstances.
The most likely explanation for the differing amounts of compensation is that your friend may have suffered more in the way of losses and expenses. A personal injury claim is made up of both compensation for the injuries suffered (known as general damages) and compensation for financial losses and expenses (known as special damages). Each aspect of the claim will be valued and calculated individually however people will tend to talk in terms of the overall figure that they receive in compensation. Thus it is possible that your friend received a lower amount for the injury element of his claim but received a higher sum in total because his financial losses and expenses resulting from the accident were greater than yours. For example, both you and your friend may have had time off work following the accident but if you were paid in full and your friend merely received statutory sick pay this would explain a difference in the compensation payments as your friend could include in his claim his loss of pay.
There are other possible reasons for the difference including that the insurance company dealing with your friend’s claim may have been generous in the amount that they offered in settlement of his claim.
If you have a question for our legal advice team you can submit it by email: enquiries@comercrawley.co.uk or in writing to: Chancery House, Victoria Road, Diss, Norfolk IP22 4HZ.
Saturday 25 June 2011
Thursday 16 June 2011
What can I claim for?
comercrawley will assist in putting together a detailed list of all your losses and expenses to support your accident injury compensation claim. Your claim for compensation will be split into two parts:
General Damages (your personal injury)
This is the compensation paid for your injuries and reflects the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused to you, both in the past and in the future.
Compensation will also be paid if your injuries have caused you to suffer a cosmetic blemish, for example scarring.
You may also be able to claim additional accident injury compensation for being at a disadvantage in the job market as a result of your injury, or if you cannot continue in your chosen career.
comercrawley will advise you as to the appropriate value of your general damages claim once final medical evidence has been obtained. In doing so, we will refer to judicial guidelines and previous court decisions.
Special Damages (your financial losses and expenses)
These could include:
· Loss of earnings (past and future)
· Travel expenses
· Medical expenses (including private treatment)
· Damaged clothing
· Pension loss
· Cost of care (both voluntary and paid)
· Aids and equipment
Also, in road traffic accident cases:
· Repairs to your vehicle or write off value of your vehicle
· Recovery and storage of your vehicle
· Car hire or loss of use and inconvenience whilst your vehicle is off the road
· Policy excess
· Damaged property in your vehicle
General Damages (your personal injury)
This is the compensation paid for your injuries and reflects the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused to you, both in the past and in the future.
Compensation will also be paid if your injuries have caused you to suffer a cosmetic blemish, for example scarring.
You may also be able to claim additional accident injury compensation for being at a disadvantage in the job market as a result of your injury, or if you cannot continue in your chosen career.
comercrawley will advise you as to the appropriate value of your general damages claim once final medical evidence has been obtained. In doing so, we will refer to judicial guidelines and previous court decisions.
Special Damages (your financial losses and expenses)
These could include:
· Loss of earnings (past and future)
· Travel expenses
· Medical expenses (including private treatment)
· Damaged clothing
· Pension loss
· Cost of care (both voluntary and paid)
· Aids and equipment
Also, in road traffic accident cases:
· Repairs to your vehicle or write off value of your vehicle
· Recovery and storage of your vehicle
· Car hire or loss of use and inconvenience whilst your vehicle is off the road
· Policy excess
· Damaged property in your vehicle
Tuesday 14 June 2011
Compensation for children
Many parents will be unaware that they can make a personal injury compensation claim on behalf of their child aged under 18 years.
If your child is injured due to someone else's negligence, you can make a claim on their behalf by acting as a 'litigation friend' (an independent person not involved in the incident).
However, if you are involved in the incident - for example a car crash in which you are driving and your child is injured - while you cannot claim on their behalf, another litigation friend could do so.
Give us a call on 01379 644311 for more information.
If your child is injured due to someone else's negligence, you can make a claim on their behalf by acting as a 'litigation friend' (an independent person not involved in the incident).
However, if you are involved in the incident - for example a car crash in which you are driving and your child is injured - while you cannot claim on their behalf, another litigation friend could do so.
Give us a call on 01379 644311 for more information.
Thursday 9 June 2011
Devon lady compensated for fall
Although in her 70s, ‘Mrs R’ is an extremely fit lady who regularly walked from her home to the town centre in Barnstaple in Devon, a distance of a little over one mile.
Unfortunately, on one occasion she tripped on a piece of raised paving and suffered a nasty fall which resulted in a blow to her head and unpleasant facial injuries. An ambulance was called and Mrs R was treated in the local hospital.
Fortunately, Mrs R’s son and daughter in law lived locally, and returned to the scene later in the day to see what had caused her to fall. The photos they took helped prove that the fall was not due to Mrs R’s age or agility, but down to the condition of the unfinished paving, which was in the process of being repaired by a contractor.
Mrs R contacted comercrawley, who secured compensation from the contractor without the need to go to court. In addition to her injuries, the compensation covered her broken spectacles and other out of pocket loss and expenses.
Mrs R said: “I had never been involved in anything like this before and as such it was good to have such expert help and personal service.
“My case was dealt with by Ian Comer and nothing was too much trouble. He took the time required to explain things fully by letter and phone.
“The fact that we never met face to face because of the distance between comercrawley’s office and where I live did not matter at all.
“I was also very pleased with the amount of compensation I received.”
Ian Comer added: “Mrs R is a very nice lady whose life was blighted for quite some while by this incident. It affected her confidence for a considerable period after the event, but I’m pleased to say that eventually she was able to resume to walking into town from her home.”
29.03.2011
Unfortunately, on one occasion she tripped on a piece of raised paving and suffered a nasty fall which resulted in a blow to her head and unpleasant facial injuries. An ambulance was called and Mrs R was treated in the local hospital.
Fortunately, Mrs R’s son and daughter in law lived locally, and returned to the scene later in the day to see what had caused her to fall. The photos they took helped prove that the fall was not due to Mrs R’s age or agility, but down to the condition of the unfinished paving, which was in the process of being repaired by a contractor.
Mrs R contacted comercrawley, who secured compensation from the contractor without the need to go to court. In addition to her injuries, the compensation covered her broken spectacles and other out of pocket loss and expenses.
Mrs R said: “I had never been involved in anything like this before and as such it was good to have such expert help and personal service.
“My case was dealt with by Ian Comer and nothing was too much trouble. He took the time required to explain things fully by letter and phone.
“The fact that we never met face to face because of the distance between comercrawley’s office and where I live did not matter at all.
“I was also very pleased with the amount of compensation I received.”
Ian Comer added: “Mrs R is a very nice lady whose life was blighted for quite some while by this incident. It affected her confidence for a considerable period after the event, but I’m pleased to say that eventually she was able to resume to walking into town from her home.”
29.03.2011
Sunday 5 June 2011
Bricklayer compensated for scaffolding accident
In December 2006 Mr W, a self-employed bricklayer, was working on a site in London when the scaffolding he was on collapsed beneath him.
Mr W fell around 15’ onto the concrete floor below and suffered a number of injuries, the most serious of which was shattering his left ankle.
Since then Mr W has had a series of operations to attempt to rebuild the ankle, involving metal plates and a cage round the ankle. Sadly, despite extensive medical treatment and surgery, he has been left with permanent damage to the ankle and limitations in his mobility.
Mr W was advised to contact comercrawley by a friend whose son had been injured in a motorcycle accident and was impressed with the service provided by comercrawley.
Mr W, whose case has been dealt with by Emma Crawley, said: “Emma has been helpful and friendly throughout and has gone to great lengths to explain things fully and clearly."
One of the side effects of the incident was that Mr W suffered a series of disturbing and unpleasant flashbacks. “Emma arranged for me to meet a psychologist to help me deal with the flashbacks. In fact, comercrawley arranged consultations with a number of specialists and I didn’t have to pay a penny,” Mr W said.
“They also arranged for me to have an automatic car because I could not drive my manual one – all at no cost to me.”
Emma Crawley said: “Mr W is a lovely man whose life has been blighted by what has happened to him, through no fault of his own.
“He has not been able to return to work but I’m very pleased to say that we have recently settled his claim for a substantial sum.
“We issued proceedings on Mr W’s behalf and they reached an advanced stage before a settlement could be negotiated.”
Mr W concluded: “As a bricklayer I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before, so it was really important to have someone who took as much time as necessary to explain how the process of making a claim works.
“I would have no hesitation in recommending comercrawley to anyone who is unfortunate enough to find themselves in a similar position.”
Mr W fell around 15’ onto the concrete floor below and suffered a number of injuries, the most serious of which was shattering his left ankle.
Since then Mr W has had a series of operations to attempt to rebuild the ankle, involving metal plates and a cage round the ankle. Sadly, despite extensive medical treatment and surgery, he has been left with permanent damage to the ankle and limitations in his mobility.
Mr W was advised to contact comercrawley by a friend whose son had been injured in a motorcycle accident and was impressed with the service provided by comercrawley.
Mr W, whose case has been dealt with by Emma Crawley, said: “Emma has been helpful and friendly throughout and has gone to great lengths to explain things fully and clearly."
One of the side effects of the incident was that Mr W suffered a series of disturbing and unpleasant flashbacks. “Emma arranged for me to meet a psychologist to help me deal with the flashbacks. In fact, comercrawley arranged consultations with a number of specialists and I didn’t have to pay a penny,” Mr W said.
“They also arranged for me to have an automatic car because I could not drive my manual one – all at no cost to me.”
Emma Crawley said: “Mr W is a lovely man whose life has been blighted by what has happened to him, through no fault of his own.
“He has not been able to return to work but I’m very pleased to say that we have recently settled his claim for a substantial sum.
“We issued proceedings on Mr W’s behalf and they reached an advanced stage before a settlement could be negotiated.”
Mr W concluded: “As a bricklayer I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before, so it was really important to have someone who took as much time as necessary to explain how the process of making a claim works.
“I would have no hesitation in recommending comercrawley to anyone who is unfortunate enough to find themselves in a similar position.”
Wednesday 1 June 2011
Taking on Tesco - and winning
Comercrawley recently settled a product liability claim against supermarket giant Tesco Stores Limited.
When 70 year old Mrs B went to open a screw top bottle of German Neirsteiner wine that had been home delivered by Tesco the neck of the bottle fractured causing a nasty deep laceration injury to Mrs B’s right hand.
After undergoing extensive surgery to her right hand Mrs B, on the recommendation of the Taxi Driver who took her to hospital, consulted comercrawley who then brought a product liability claim against Tesco Stores for selling wine in a defective bottle. comercrawley obtained an expert report which was able to identify from the remains of the bottle that not only had the neck of the bottle suffered a hairline fracture but that this had been caused during the manufacturing process prior to the application of the screw cap unit.
Initially Tesco refused to deal with the claim and attempted to pass on responsibility to the bottle manufacturers but proceedings were commenced against Tesco under the provisions of the Consumer Protection legislation and following this Tesco quickly accepted responsibility for the accident.
comercrawley were able to recover significant compensation for Mrs B not only for her injury but also for the additional load that had fallen upon her husband in looking after her whilst she was recovering from the injury suffered.
When 70 year old Mrs B went to open a screw top bottle of German Neirsteiner wine that had been home delivered by Tesco the neck of the bottle fractured causing a nasty deep laceration injury to Mrs B’s right hand.
After undergoing extensive surgery to her right hand Mrs B, on the recommendation of the Taxi Driver who took her to hospital, consulted comercrawley who then brought a product liability claim against Tesco Stores for selling wine in a defective bottle. comercrawley obtained an expert report which was able to identify from the remains of the bottle that not only had the neck of the bottle suffered a hairline fracture but that this had been caused during the manufacturing process prior to the application of the screw cap unit.
Initially Tesco refused to deal with the claim and attempted to pass on responsibility to the bottle manufacturers but proceedings were commenced against Tesco under the provisions of the Consumer Protection legislation and following this Tesco quickly accepted responsibility for the accident.
comercrawley were able to recover significant compensation for Mrs B not only for her injury but also for the additional load that had fallen upon her husband in looking after her whilst she was recovering from the injury suffered.
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