Your Questions Answered...

Your questions answered……

Question:  I was recently injured in a car accident.  A friend of mine, who had just passed his driving test, took a group of us out for a ride in his car.  The accidenthappened when we were travelling along a country lane when a pheasant ran out across the road.  My mate swerved to avoid hitting the pheasant and the car ended up in a ditch.  Would I be able to claim compensation for my injuries?

Answer:  To successfully pursue a claim for compensation, it needs to be proven that the accident was caused as a result of the negligence of someone else.

Primarily, the accident was caused by the pheasant running out into the path of the car that you were travelling in.  As the pheasant is a wild animal, there is no one available to sue.  This may sound obvious however if the animal is owned by someone there may be an option of suing that person for failing to ensure that it did not escape on to the road.

The accident was also caused by your friend’s actions in swerving to avoid hitting the pheasant.  Your friend probably did so instinctively and although his actions may be regarded as a normal reaction (particularly taking into account his inexperience in driving) they may be sufficient to prove negligence.

The driver of a car owes a duty of care to his or her passengers to take all reasonable care such as to prevent the risk of foreseeable injury.  This duty of care extends to other road users, although not to an animal such as a pheasant.  In causing his vehicle to leave the road and end up in a ditch, it can be argued that your friend acted negligently.

This is not to say that drivers should avoid taking evasive action in such situations (in some circumstances there may be consequences in criminal law for injuring an animal on the road) however the driver must ensure that any action does not put other people in danger.

You may naturally be reluctant to make a claim against your friend and therefore it is worthwhile mentioning that the claim is likely to be dealt with under the insurance policy for the vehicle.  Your friend may already be claiming against his insurance policy, for the damage to the vehicle, if he is comprehensively insured.

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.

What is a Claimant Personal Injury Lawyer?

What is a Claimant Personal Injury Lawyer? - Well we act for the injured victim of an act of negligence, breach of duty or deliberate act,  and recover compensation for that person’s injury and loss. - The injured victim who brings the claim is called a Claimant. - The person or body a claim is brought against is a Defendant. - A Claimant will always be an individual person whereas a Defendant can be an individual,  an incorporated company, or business or partnership, a local authority, a club etc. - The injury can comprise or involve mental harm as well as physical damage. - The Claimant if successful in a claim in negligence or breach of duty can recover damages  (compensation) for a wide range of losses which may flow from the injury. A non exhaustive  list is:- - general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity. - loss of earnings. - damage to clothing and property. - care and assistance. - medical / rehabilitation treatment costs. - A Claimant can recover damages non only for past losses but also future losses,  for example if the Claimant’s earning ability has been affected or if future medical  treatment is likely to be required. Why use comercrawley to deal with your personal injury claim? - Our lawyers are all specialist in injury claims. - It is the only work we do. - Two of our solicitors, Ian Comer and Emma Crawley, are on the Law Society Specialist  Personal Injury Panel. Panel membership is only achieved if you can demonstrate a a high  level of specialist knowledge and suitable experience in dealing with the most complex and  demanding of cases and an ability to run claims in an effective and straightforward manner. - We give our advice and talk to you in plain language, we do not try and hide behind the  jargon. - We are on both the Headway (acquired brain injury) and Spinal Injuries Association Panel  of Solicitors which acknowledged the firm’s ability to deal with the most complex of cases. - We respond promptly to all communications from our client, we give clear, straight  forward advice and will make sure your claim is progressed as swiftly as possible. - We will make sure you understand what we are doing for you. - We will come and see you at home, even in hospital if you can’t get to see us. - Best of all our service is at no cost to you. - We carry out all our work on a "no win, no fee" basis (see later blog) and give our client  three assurances at the outset of their claim:- (i) The client will pay no cost win or lose. (ii) We will not take any compensation from a client, they will receive 100% of what  we recover for them. (iii) We will front all expenses of running the claim. So rest assured it will be a "no cost to you" service. How can we do this? The answer is straightforward, in the event of a successful claim we are able to recover

Defendant insurers. If we are unsuccessful we do not charge you. Our interest in a

our costs and expenses from the  claim is the same as yours – we want to succeed otherwise we don’t get paid. We will only take on a claim with a reasonable (better than 50%) prospect of success –  we are not interested in pursuing cases with no realistic prospect of succeeding and  would give you clear advice at the outset on how we rate your claim. If you have a claim to make, if you have a question to ask, if you are not satisfied  with your existing legal advisors contact us to discuss matters – you have absolutely  nothing to lose.

Injured Back??

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the personal injury lawyers

Your questions answered……

Question:  I recently injured my back as a result of lifting something heavy at work.  Please can you advise me about pursuing a claim for compensation?

Answer:  To successfully pursue a claim for compensation you will need to prove that your back injury was caused by your employer’s negligence or breach of statutory duty.

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 place a number of duties upon an employer.  The primary duty is for employers, so far as is reasonably practicable, to avoid the need for employees to undertake any manual handling operations (which is defined as any transporting or supporting of a load by hand or by bodily force).  Where this can’t be avoided, the employer is then under a duty to carry out a risk assessment in respect of that task and to take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of injury.  The employer must also provide the employee with certain information concerning the task and to provide appropriate training.  Where there is a breach of the Regulations which causes an injury, this gives rise to a civil claim for compensation.

There is also potential liability under the common law duty of care which employers owe to their employees in negligence which includes a duty to provide safe equipment and a safe system of work.

The issues will therefore be firstly whether your employer should have provided equipment to prevent you from having to lift the item by hand.  Thereafter, it will be a question of investigating whether your employer carried out a sufficient risk assessment in respect of the task and provided you with sufficient information and training.  The relevant factors will include the size and weight of the load, your gender, height and general build, and how the item needed to be lifted.  

It will be necessary to obtain medical evidence to prove that your back injury has been caused by lifting the item.  This will involve seeing a medical expert (often a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon).  The expert will consider, amongst other things, the nature of the injury and whether there is anything in your past or present medical history which may be relevant to the injury (this is often the case with back injuries as people sometimes have a pre-existing condition).  Where this is the case, it will tend to not prevent compensation being claimed but instead may limit the value of the injury claim.

Finally, it is worthwhile mentioning that your employer is likely to be insured in respect of any claim that you pursue, through their employer’s liability insurance policy. 

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.

Claiming on benefits...

comercrawley the personal injury lawyers Your questions answered…… Question:  I have had an accident and am considering making a claim for compensation.  I am concerned however that if I receive compensation it may mean that my benefits get stopped.  Could this happen? Answer:   There is a risk that this could happen but there is a way that it can be avoided. The risk only applies to state benefits that are means tested, examples of which areIncome Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.  Certain benefits are non means tested (such as Incapacity Benefit, Disability Living Allowance and Child Benefit) and there is no risk of these being affected by the mere fact of receiving compensation. For means tested benefits, there are financial eligibility limits including those relating to capital.  What needs to be considered is whether, by receiving the compensation payment, it may take you above a limit that will mean that either your benefit is reduced or stopped altogether.  This will depend on a number of factors including how much compensation you will be receiving, what other capital you have and what the financial limits are for that particular state benefit.  Anycapital that your partner has may also be taken into account. It is possible however to prevent benefits from being affected by setting up aPersonal Injury Trust and paying the compensation directly into an account specifically set up for the trust.  The Benefits Agency must still be informed of the change in your circumstances but upon being advised that the compensation has been paid into a Personal Injury Trust, should disregard that capital in their assessment of your means so far as your benefit entitlement is concerned. Your solicitor will be able to advise you as to whether a Personal Injury Trust is advisable in your case and, if so, to explain what is involved in setting up a Trust and how to go about doing this. The fact that it is possible to protect your entitlement to benefits means that the fact that someone may be in receipt of a means tested state benefit should not deter them from pursuing a claim for compensation.     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.

Back Injuries...

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the personal injury lawyers

Your questions answered……

Question:  I recently injured my back as a result of lifting something heavy at work.  Please can you advise me about pursuing a claim for compensation?

Answer:  To successfully pursue a claim for compensation you will need to prove that your back injury was caused by your employer’s negligence or breach of statutory duty.

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 place a number of duties upon an employer.  The primary duty is for employers, so far as is reasonably practicable, to avoid the need for employees to undertake any manual handling operations (which is defined as any transporting or supporting of a load by hand or by bodily force).  Where this can’t be avoided, the employer is then under a duty to carry out a risk assessment in respect of that task and to take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of injury.  The employer must also provide the employee with certain information concerning the task and to provide appropriate training.  Where there is a breach of the Regulations which causes an injury, this gives rise to a civil claim for compensation.

There is also potential liability under the common law duty of care which employers owe to their employees in negligence which includes a duty to provide safe equipment and a safe system of work.

The issues will therefore be firstly whether your employer should have provided equipment to prevent you from having to lift the item by hand.  Thereafter, it will be a question of investigating whether your employer carried out a sufficient risk assessment in respect of the task and provided you with sufficient information and training.  The relevant factors will include the size and weight of the load, your gender, height and general build, and how the item needed to be lifted.  

It will be necessary to obtain medical evidence to prove that your back injury has been caused by lifting the item.  This will involve seeing a medical expert (often a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon).  The expert will consider, amongst other things, the nature of the injury and whether there is anything in your past or present medical history which may be relevant to the injury (this is often the case with back injuries as people sometimes have a pre-existing condition).  Where this is the case, it will tend to not prevent compensation being claimed but instead may limit the value of the injury claim.

Finally, it is worthwhile mentioning that your employer is likely to be insured in respect of any claim that you pursue, through their employer’s liability insurance policy. 

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.

Your Questions Answered...

comercrawley

the personal injury lawyers

Your questions answered ……

Question:  I have been told that if I pursue a claim for compensation I must agree for my entire medical records to be disclosed.  This is putting me off making a claim as I don’t want, say, an insurance company to know my personal medical history.  Is this true?

Answer:  It is true that someone pursuing a claim for compensation needs to be agreeable to their medical records being disclosed.  This includes general practitioner records and records relating to any relevant treatment such as hospital or physiotherapy.  It is also true that all of a claimant’s GP medical records need to be disclosed and not just those that relate to the treatment that s/he has received in connection with the injuries to which the claim relates.

The reason why all of the medical records need to be obtained is because the medical expert who prepares the report on the claimant’s injuries needs to be in a position to report fully on the injuries suffered.  As part of this process, the medical expert needs to consider whether there is anything in the claimant’s medical history which may be relevant.  This includes whether the claimant has had any similar problems in the past (for example, in the case of a back injury, whether the claimant has had any problems previously with his/her back).

The fact that all of your medical records would need to be obtained should not however put you off pursuing a claim for compensation.  The medical expert will only include in the report information which is relevant to the claim.  Consequently you do not need to be concerned that personal information in your medical records which is irrelevant to your claim will be included in the report.

Finally, it is important also to mention that those who have had sight of your medical records are required to treat them entirely on a private and confidential basis.

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.

Motorbike Accidents

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the personal injury lawyers

 Your questions answered ……

Question:  I recently had an accident when the front wheel of my motorbike went into a pothole.  I lost control of my bike and ended up with a broken arm.  Can you please advise me about making a claim for compensation.

Answer:  This is quite a topical subject with the large amount of potholes having developed or become worse following the recent cold and snowy weather conditions.

The starting point in terms of advising you is to establish whether the pothole was on land which is publicly or privately owned (or, more specifically, maintained). 

Most pothole claims arise from accidents that occur on public roads and in such cases the claim is normally made to the local authority who are responsible for maintaining the road at public expense. 

The first thing that will need to be proven is that the size of the pothole (and most importantly its depth) was such that it constituted a hazard that should have been repaired.  Photographs and measurements of the pothole are therefore important.

The next stage effectively involves proving that the council were either aware of the hazard or should have been aware of the hazard through their system of carrying out regular inspections of the highway.  Thereafter the council should act within a reasonable timescale in terms of arranging for the repairs to the highway to be carried out.  Councils keep records relating to the inspection and maintenance of the highway as well as records of complaints about the condition of the highway.

Every case however is decided on its own individual facts and other relevant considerations include where the pothole was and whether there had been any previous accidents or complaints.

If however the accident occurred on private land, then the claim will instead be made to the individual or organisation who owns or is responsible for maintaining the land.  The law is different to highway claims but, in general terms, such claims can often be easier to prove as a private landowner would be expected to inspect the area more often and can also act sooner in terms of arranging for a pothole to be repaired (or sectioned off) once it has started to form.

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.