Car accident claims....

comercrawley

the personal injury lawyers

Your questions answered …

Question:  I was involved in a collision with another car whilst driving along Victoria Road in Diss.  The other driver stopped and appeared to accept that the accident was his fault. He refused however to give me his insurance details.  Can I still pursue a claim for compensation for my whiplash injury?  I did manage to make a note of the other car’s registration number.

Answer:  The other driver should have provided you with his insurance details upon your request.  Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, if you have been involved in a road traffic collision, no matter how minor, you must stop, give your name and address (and the name and address of the owner of the vehicle, if different) and your vehicle registrationnumber.  If someone has been injured in the accident, you must also provide evidence of your insurance details if someone has reasonable grounds for requesting them.

To fail to do any of the above, is a criminal offence.  You could therefore report the incident to the police and seek for them to take action.

In practical terms however, in order for you to pursue a claim for compensation we need to establish either the name and address of the driver/owner or details of the vehicle’s insurance cover.  A lot of motor insurance policies are now recorded on a database, theMotor Insurance Database.  We have access to the database and are therefore able to search the database in respect of a client’s claim.  If the insurance policy is recorded on the database, we will be able to find out the name of the insurance company and policy number which will enable the claim for compensation to be made.

If a search of the database is unsuccessful, another option is for your solicitor to write to the DVLA requesting the name and address of the registered owner of the vehicle.  It will then be possible to write to the owner of the vehicle setting out details of the claim to be forwarded on to the insurance company.  If no response is received, a formal request can be made for the insurance details under section 154 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 stating that, if the person fails to do so, they may be liable to be prosecuted for a criminal offence.  If a reply is still not received, a report can then be made to the police seeking for them to take action against the owner/driver for failing to provide insurance details upon request.

In summary therefore, having the vehicle registration number should be sufficient to enable you to pursue a claim for compensation.  It may however take a little longer and therefore it is always preferable to seek to obtain the other driver’s details and insurance details wherever possible.    

If it transpires that the other vehicle is uninsured, you can still pursue a claim.  This would instead be through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, an organisation set up to compensate the victims of uninsured drivers.

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.

If I make a claim - does that affect my 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 are Income 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 compensationpayment, 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 muchcompensation you will be receiving, what other capital you have and what the financial limits are for that particular state benefit.  Any capital that your partner has may also be taken into account.

It is possible however to prevent benefits from being affected by setting up a Personal 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 aPersonal 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.

My husband had a car accident...

comercrawley

the personal injury lawyers

Your questions answered……

Question:  I have been injured in a car accident caused by my husband – can I claim compensation?

Answer:   Yes, a compensation claim can be pursued by, say, an injured passenger in a car even if the accident is the fault of the driver and s/he is a relative.  The other common example is a claim brought by an injured pillion passenger on a motorcycle.

A claim can still be brought even if the injured passenger is also covered by the motor insurance policy.  This would occur where, say, a husband and wife are both insured to driver a vehicle; if the husband is driving and causes an accident that injures his wife who is a passenger in the car, the wife can pursue a claim against her husband which themotor insurance company with deal with.

Therefore, the fact that you are related to or living with the person responsible for theaccident does not prevent you from pursuing a claim for compensation against them. Provided that person is insured to driver the car then the insurers will be responsible for the claim.  If the case when to court, legal proceedings would need to be issued against your partner.  However, the insurance company would be responsible for paying whatevercompensation was agreed or awarded.  It is worthwhile mentioning however that the vast majority of personal injury claims settle without the need to start court proceedings.

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.

Supermarket Sweep...

comercrawley

the personal injury lawyers

Your questions answered ……

Question:  I recently had an accident whilst shopping in a supermarket.  I slipped on a piece of fruit that was on the floor in one of the aisles and fell hurting my back.  The staff at the supermarket were very kind at the time and I have since received some flowers and vouchers from the supermarket.  I am concerned however as my back is still bad. Could I make a claim for compensation?

Answer:  You may have a claim for compensation against the supermarket.  To succeed with a claim, you would need to show that your accident and injury has been caused by the supermarket’s breach of duty of care under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957 (and also under the general law of negligence).  In essence, the supermarket owes a duty of care to its customers to ensure that they are reasonably safe when using their premises and that they are not exposed to the risk of foreseeable injury.

The fact that you slipped on something on the floor of the supermarket does not automatically mean that they are at fault.  The piece of fruit may only just have been dropped on the floor by another customer.  The supermarket will however be liable if they fail to have an adequate system for checking the floor and cleaning up spillages etc.  If aclaim for compensation is pursued, the supermarket will need to provide evidence (such as signed records) that at the time of your accident the floor of the aisle was inspected at frequent and regular intervals and that no hazards were found.  If they are unable to do so, you are likely to succeed with your claim for compensation.  Additionally, the supermarket should have mats on parts of the floor in the fruit and vegetable aisle where spillages are most likely to occur, for example near to the grapes.

Finally, the fact that you have received flowers and vouchers from the supermarket is not necessarily an indication that the supermarket considers that they were at fault for the cause of your accident.  

Companies often do so as a good will gesture.  Similarly, you do not need to worry that by spending the vouchers you will have accepted an offer of compensation and will be prevented from pursuing a compensation 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.

Have you been assaulted at work?

comercrawley

the personal injury lawyers

Your questions answered……

Question:  I was severely assaulted at work recently by a work colleague.  I feel that I didn’t do anything to provoke the assault and the police have told me that they are looking to bring charges against the individual concerned.  Please advise me as to whether I may be able to pursue a claim for compensation.

Answer:  You have several options in terms of seeking to claim compensation for theinjuries and associated financial losses and expenses that you have suffered as a result of the assault.

You may be able to puruse a civil claim for damages against your employer.  This is on the basis that an employer will be vicariously liable for the wrongful acts of theiremployees that occur during the course of their employment.  The courts have held that this may include an assault by an employee.  The claim will be dealt with by the company’s employers liability insurers.

You could also pursue a civil claim for damages against the work colleague thatassaulted you.  This is however a less attractive option as the claim will not be covered by an insurance policy. 

Another option is to seek compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.  The CICA basically administers a centrally funded scheme to compensate thevictims of crime.  To succeed with a claim you will need to meet the criteria specified under the scheme.  The amount of any compensation awarded is however likely to be less than you would be able to claim via a civil claim for damages plus the CICA will not pay anything in respect of legal fees.

Finally, if a criminal prosecution is pursued against the person that assaulted you, you can seek for a compensation order to be made as part of the sentencing (assuming of course that a conviction results from the prosecution).  The amount of any compensationis likely however to be very low compared to the other options mentioned above plus thecompensation order will be payable by the person that assaulted you and will therefore depend on his or her means to pay.  

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.

Exposed To Asbestos...

Asbestos victims are set to lose out significantly following a decision of the House of Lords.  In a ruling given last year, the House of Lords upheld three test appeals in which it was argued that damages should be limited in cases involving several former employers,none of whom could be specifically blamed for the onset of the asbestos related disease,mesothelioma.

Previously, the House of Lords ruled that an employer who had negligently exposed a worker to asbestos could be held 100% liable, even if the employee had worked for several companies and it could not be proved which of them had caused the illness.  TheLaw Lords have now ruled however that that an employer’s liability should be limited on a percentage basis to reflect the extent to which it contributed to an employee’s exposure to asbestos. 

This important change in the law has far reaching implications.  Mesothelioma currently kills around 2,000 people annually in the UK, with the numbers rising each year (and expected to peak sometime between 2011 and 2015).

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs.  The only known cause of the disease is exposure to asbestos and it can be caused by a single asbestos fibre.  In most cases it is caused by negligent exposure to asbestos dust at work.  Many sufferers have had contact with asbestos in more than one job.

There is a delay between the harmful exposure to asbestos and the development ofmesothelioma.  This delay can be 15 years or more.  Because of this, employers have often gone out of business by the time that a compensation claim is pursued.  There are often huge difficulties in tracing the insurers for such companies. 

As the House of Lords represents the highest appeal court in England and Wales, the decision cannot be appealed.  Trade unions and asbestos victim support groups are however campaigning for parliament to introduce legislation to address the problem.

Judith Cole, comercrawley solicitors, Chancery House, Victoria Road, Diss IP22 4HZ Tel: 01379 644311