The standard for proving negligence in medical cases is that required to prove a professional negligence claim. In other words, the claimant will need to show that the defendant doctor or doctors failed to meet the standard required of reasonable competent doctor of the same type. If the doctor is a specialist, for example a consultant surgeon in a particular specialism, the claim will only succeed if expert and factual evidence shows, on a balance of probabilities that the defendant failed to reach that standard.

In the case in question, Silverstone v Mortensen, reported this month, the patient, who had had previous illness and post surgery underwent an operation to reverse a colostomy carried out the previous year. The operation was undertaken by a renowned international specialist, and tragically, the Mr Silverstone subsequently suffered massive internal bleeding, in turn causing a heart attack, brain damage and death.

On the facts, the claim failed, as it was found that the operation had been carried out competently and that post operative care and attempts to deal with the internal bleeding after it arise had been of the required standard.

The other point to note form this case is that claims were made in the alternative. This was because the medical care was undertaken privately. This created a contractual situation between the patient, the doctor and also with the hospital where he was cared for. The deceased’s wife sued therefore for both breach of contract and for negligence, but lost the claims on both grounds.

As the saying goes, there is always a bull market somewhere, whether times are good or bad.

In these difficult economic times, survival skills come to the fore, and perhaps this goes some way to explain the extraordinary increase in personal injury claims in the UK. It appears that the much heralded compensation culture which many believe exists in the USA has arrived in the UK. Claims are being made at an unprecedented level, perhaps as the population, generally feeling economic stress, seek to find new ways to keep money coming in for survival.

However, if, as seems to be the case, many claims, particularly for whiplash, are in essence, fraud claims, something had to be done, and the English legal system is in the process of tightening up on the whole personal injury “circus”, which involves other practices which are perhaps less than moral such as rampant payment of referral fees, intermediaries pestering huge numbers of the population seeking to encourage them to make any kind of claim, and significant inducements being offered to potential clients by lawyers and others.

The coming clampdown will involve a ban on referral fees (although it remains to be seen how effective this will be), restrictions on legal costs recoverable and other potential steps. The worry with all this is that the genuinely innocent and those who have been injured, perhaps badly, via accident sand injuries that were caused by lack of duty of care.

Some in the personal injury sector are also finding other ways to redress the growing negative perception. Take, for example, Lloyd Green Solicitors. This firm advocates personal injury with social responsibility. Instead of paying referral fees, the firms has linked up with a major national charity. For genuine personal injury cases which the firm takes on on a no win no fee basis that reach the firm via the charity, the buy cheap cialis firm will then make a significant donation back to the charity. This seems to us like a very sensible way of doing business and helping to restore confidence in the integrity of lawyers and the legal system.

What Compensation is Awarded?

The basic compensation award is for employees to finance the accident which was suffered, which causes a penalty to the employer. Varying types of basic compensation claims has a limit of the amount of money which is able to claim. This has been introduced by the government to limit the amount of claims. The compensatory award covers the amount of money the employee is debited due to the accident. This can cover a range of losses suffered by the employee such as unpaid holiday, unpaid wages, lost wages and medical fees. However, not every case of construction claim accident is able to claim for this type of compensation.

Causes of Construction Accidents

The most common cause of these types of construction accidents is negligence. Usually, many factors cause these negligence claims, so it is difficult to blame one source for the accident. However, as the accident occurs in the workplace, the employer can be sued for this negligent behaviour. This is due to the work and safety laws in the United Kingdom, which make the employer responsible for each of their employee’s safety. This includes making sure that employees are able to perform their work to a satisfactory level; they are provided with safety equipment and are equipped with the correct materials in order to carry out their job properly. The employer is also legally required to review the employees’ work and train them for any dangerous equipment which they are expected to operate.

Regardless of these safety laws, construction sites are dangerous and prone to accidents. Employees can be injured or even killed by stray objects if projects fall astray. This is due to the range of tools used on these sites, making them dangerous for any individual. The injuries which could possibly occur, range from deafness to burns, electrical shock and death, all of which could cause a construction accident claim to arise.

The Employer’s Duty of Care

Despite these accidents, the employer still has a legal duty of care to protect their employees from injuries. In order to claim, the employee must also prove that they have suffered loss arising from the injury, which was not too remote a loss from the injury. There are also a number of defences which may be raised by the employer during the claim, dependent on the case.

It is possible to seek a claim from a no win no fee solicitor who would not receive any payment from their client if the case is not won. However, where the construction accident lawyer is successful in their case, they would be paid by the business insurance.

Construction sites see amongst the highest number of injuries out of any profession. This causes plenty of claims to arise and employers will need to pay out damages to their employees. This compensation could either be basic or compensatory, dependent on the case which could also be capped by the government. Despite this, accidents continually happen within the work environment, and individuals are still successful in claiming compensation.

Unfortunately, there are some good reasons why the perception of both these industries is not positive, but the ramifications mean that the good get criticised just as much as the bad, and as with all things in life, generalisation is not helpful. In the personal injury sector :-

1. Far from all claim are fraudulent, made up or exaggerated

2. Not all insurance companies are selling claims to injury lawyers

3. many solicitors refuse to deal with claims companies or brokers who adopt cold calling or mass texting approaches

Whilst lawyers are in business to make money as well as to provide a professional services, our own opinion, although it’s opinion only, is that inducements such as offering cashback or expensive gifts to claimants when claims are accepted gives personal injury lawyers a bad name. Some years ago, lawyers were not even allowed to advertise, and whilst we think that this was too great a restriction, these kinds of inducements are unhelpful on a number of levels, especially when with many kinds of injury claims, it is vital that the claimant gets the right advice from the right lawyer, rather than the lawyers who offer the best gift.

All of the above has led to the whole personal injury industry having a rather tarnished reputation, so anything which  provides a contrast to this is both welcome and may reap benefits for the firm showing an ethical approach.

Llloyd Green Solicitors are at the vanguard of a new approach. The firm’s Senior partner, Lloyd Green, says that he is sick and tired of seeing the reputation of what he does diminished and the shame  which genuinely injured people seem to feel about making an injury claim. Lloyd has been associated with many charities for many years, but is now combining his charitable work outside of work with work activities. Lloyd Green have entered into a groundbreaking arrangement with the RNIB to ensure that for claims via the RNIB, the firm will donate a proportion of it’s fees to this fantastic charity.

The firm says that it hopes the initiative will encourage other personal injury firms to think of new ways of giving something back to the community and to restoring the good image of personal injury lawyers.

An accident solicitor (or “personal injury solicitor” as they are also known) can help you to bring a claim for financial compensation if you have suffered an injury as a result of a third party’s negligence i.e. if the accident and your resulting injury are not your fault. Your accident solicitor will investigate your claim and if it has merit then your accident solicitor will try and negotiate a settlement with the third party’s insurance company. If a settlement cannot be agreed then they will represent you at court.

Some accident solicitors only deal with specific types of claims such as clinical / medical negligence, whilst others are more general and will deal with all types of claims. The most common claims dealt with by accident solicitors are:

• Accidents at Work
• Road Traffic Accidents (RTA)
• Public Liability (including slips, trips and falls)
• Accidents on Holiday
• Sporting Accidents
• Criminal Assaults
• Military Injuries

When choosing your accident solicitor it is important that they have experience in dealing with your type of claim. Litigation can be stressful and time consuming, so it is important to instruct someone that is competent and that you can trust. It is also important that you instruct the accident solicitor as soon as possible as there are time restrictions for brining a claim in place. In general a claim has to be brought within three years from the date of the accident, although this is less for certain types of claims such as with some holiday accidents.

Funding

Bringing a claim can be very expensive and so there are funding options available to a claimant to ensure that everybody has access to justice. Accordingly, regardless of the claim you are brining, your accident solicitor is likely to deal with your case on a no win no fee which is also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement or CFA. This means that if your case is unsuccessful you will not pay any of your legal fees and if it is then your legal fees will be paid for by the third party’s insurance company in addition to any financial compensation. Under a CFA your accident solicitor will also have a provision for a “success fee”, the purpose of which is to compensate the solicitor for the risk of taking on your case. If you enter into a CFA with an accident solicitor you will also require some form of insurance which will cover any disbursements (such as court fees, barrister’s fees or expert medical reports) and the third party’s costs if your case is unsuccessful.  

Compensation

Compensation is awarded to injured parties because the law places a duty of care on certain people i.e. doctors to their patients or road users to each other. Any breach of that duty (such as a speeding driver) resulting in injury entitles the innocent party to bring a claim for compensation against the guilty party. The amount of compensation you can receive will of course depend on the seriousness of your injuries and their long term implications. If however you are partly to blame for your injuries (for example, by not wearing a seatbelt in a road traffic accident) then the amount of compensation you are entitled to may be reduced under the principle of “contributory negligence”.

As well helping you to reclaim your legal fees and getting you financial compensation for your injuries, an accident solicitor will also help you to recover any expenses that you have paid out (such as medical bills) and any future losses (such as income if you are unable to return to work for however long).

If you have been the victim of a road accident then you can make a claim, either through a personal injury solicitor, a specialist road accident claim solicitor or through your insurance company if you have legal expenses insurance cover as part of your policy. Regardless of who you choose to deal with your claim, they are likely to deal with your case on a no win no fee basis, which basically means that if you lose your compensation claim following a road accident you will not have to pay your legal costs, which we all know can be quite expensive. If however your claim is successful then your legal costs will be paid by the other party or more accurately their insurance company (which is one of the reasons why road users are legally required to have insurance).

In order to bring a claim your solicitor viagra online will aim to establish that the other party was negligent and that the negligence has resulted in injury. In some cases it is easier to prove negligence and apportion blame such as if a driver has been speeding, whilst in other cases it may not be so straightforward such as in a head to head collision. Once negligence has been established an injury as a direct result of the accident has to be proved. The most common road accident claims result in whiplash, which is where a passenger’s or driver’s neck is strained following the impact of a car accident. However any type of injury is covered under road accident claims provided they are caused by the accident. The only limitation of this rule is that if the victim is wholly or partially to blame for their injuries then they may either received reduced compensation or none at all, for example if they are not wearing a seatbelt.

In order to increase your chances of making a successful claim after a road accident you should adhere to the following procedures (as best as possible):

• Exchange details with the other road user including names, addresses, phone numbers, insurance details and registration numbers
• Inform the police if you have suspicions about any of the details you have been provided by the other party or if they refuse to provide you with their details
• Establish who everyone involved is for example, who is the driver and who is the passenger
• Note a description of the vehicle involved
• Note the exact location
• Take photographs of the surrounding area and the scene of the accident
• Take down the details of any witnesses
• Report the incident to your insurance company
• Seek medical advice

If your claim is successful then not only will you be able to get compensation for the injuries you have suffered but you will also be entitled to recover any expenses (such as medical costs) and any loss of income if you are unable to return to work.

It is important that you bring a compensation claim as soon as possible following a road accident as any claim has to be issued within three years from the date of the accident. If a child is involved in the accident then their claim can be brought within three years of their 18^th birthday. Although any claim should not really be delayed longer than necessary as details relevant to the accident will be harder to recall.

What are the rules for bringing a claim?

There are certain rules to bringing a tort or negligence claim. The first is that the negligent party has to have owed a duty of care to the victim. This is relatively simple to establish as in most cases one party will obviously owe the other a duty of care. For example, drivers on the road owe a duty of care to each other, employers owe a duty of care to their employees, professionals such as doctors owe a duty of care to their patients and so on.

The second element is that there has to have been a breach of that duty. This can be simple to establish, for example if one of the parties to a car accident is found to have been speeding. In other cases it may not be straightforward, mainly because the negligent party may not accept that they have breached their duty and therefore they will deny liability. This is where the personal injury solicitor will undertake a fact finding exercise to gather as much evidence as possible to prove that there has been a breach of the duty.

The final element is showing that there has been a loss as a direct result of that breach of duty. A breach of duty is not enough on its own and neither is a near miss. There has to have been some loss suffered. Sticking with the example of car accidents, this would include injuries such as whiplash.

Bringing a claim

It is up to the personal injury solicitor to establish whether these elements exist in order for you to bring a claim. As this may not be apparent from the outset, either to the solicitors or the victim, most personal injury solicitors work on a no win no fee basis. Therefore the victim will not have to pay legal costs if their claim is unsuccessful and in the event the claim is successful the victim’s legal costs will be met by the negligent party or their insurance company. The personal injury solicitor will also calculate the applicable amount of compensation to which the victim is entitled to (the greater the loss the greater the compensation), taking into account costs such as medical expenses, hire cars etc.

In order to assist the personal injury solicitor with their fact finding exercise claimants should follow certain procedures after an accident has taken place (if possible). This includes taking photographs of the scene and obtaining details of witnesses so that they can be contacted at a later point.

If you have been the victim of an accident that was not your fault then you should contact a personal injury solicitor as soon as possible. This is because claimants only have three years from the date of the incident to bring a claim, or in the case of a child three years from the child’s 18^th birthday. If the claimant wishes to bring a claim outside of this time period then they would have to seek special permission from the court.

It is important to note that most personal injury solicitors should be able to deal with most types of personal injury claims. However, there are some cases where a specialist personal injury solicitor should be used, such as cases of medical negligence, as these claims require specialist assistance and need an experienced team to deal with the case.

Whiplash is an injury to the neck following a sudden impact, usually after being hit from behind in a car accident. It can also be caused by falls or head banging. In some cases it can be very minor whilst in others in can lead to severe problems. Whiplash is an injury to the neck caused by its extension or sudden movement. Its symptoms include back, neck and shoulder pains and headaches. Sometimes the symptoms appear straight away and in other cases they become visible after a few days.

To make up for the pain and suffering following whiplash, victims are legally entitled to make claims for compensation, which will be paid for by the negligent party’s insurance company. Compensation is paid out because drivers on the road have a duty of care towards each other and whiplash injuries will normally be the outcome of a situation where one party has breached that duty.

Compensation

Your solicitor will negotiate your compensation claim on your behalf, which will fall into two headings: General and Special Damages.

General damages is compensation for the pain and suffering as a direct result of the accident. They can

also include psychological or emotional pain (such as depression) and loss of life enjoyment. The amount of compensation awarded will depend upon the severity of the injuries and will ultimately be determined by medical reports and examinations.

Special damages are compensation for certain losses arising from the accident. Usually they encompass loss of earnings (including future loss of earnings) and expenses such as hire cars and medical bills. In order to make a special damages claim you should keep copies of all receipts.

Depending on the amount of compensation awarded it can either be paid as a lump sum or in very serious cases with large payouts it can be paid in instalments. In some cases, if you are partially to blame for your injuries (for example – by not wearing a seatbelt) then the amount of compensation you are entitled to may be reduced.

Making a Claim

You should appoint a personal injury solicitor to deal with your whiplash compensation claim, who you can either appoint privately or through your insurance company if you have legal expenses cover as part of your insurance policy. You are unlikely to be disadvantaged by appointing a solicitor privately as they will deal with you case on a no win no fee basis. This means that if you lose then you will not have to pay your legal costs, which of course can be quite expensive, and if you win then your legal costs will be paid by the other side.

To ensure that liability is admitted by the negligent party and to make sure that you get the full amount of compensation that you are entitled youu personal injury solicitor will begin a fact finding exercise. To ensure that the solicitor has as much information as possible from you, following a whiplash accident, you should try and gather as much evidence as possible (if you are able to do so). This includes: taking photographs of the scene and taking down the details of any witnesses.

Limitation

You should get in touch with a personal injury solicitor as soon as possible. This is because you only have three years from the date of the accident to bring a claim for whiplash compensation. In the event of a child needing to make a whiplash compensation claim then they will have three years from their 18^th birthday. Any claims brought outside of these time periods will require special permission from the court, which will only be granted in limited circumstances.

We all know that accidents can happen anywhere. They are a fact of life and this is recognised by the law which is why those who are susceptible to being sued in the event of an accident are legally required to have insurance cover in the event of an accident claim. This includes drivers on the road, employers, owner occupiers and even professionals such as doctors, dentists and lawyers.

In order to make a claim there are three things that have to be established before an insurance company will pay compensation:

• That the insured party owed a duty of care;
• That there has been a breach of that duty; and
• It has resulted in loss for the victim

Establishing whether the insured has a duty of care is not usually difficult. All professionals have a duty of care to their clients, road users have an established duty of care towards each other and employers have a duty of care towards their employees.

In order to prove there has been a breach of duty evidence has to be collected. This is why following any accident you should take photographs, note the details of any witnesses so that they can be contacted afterwards and seek medical advice so that there is a record of any injuries you have sustained.

The accident must result in a loss. Compensation will not be made for any party involved in a near miss situation. Proving loss may sound a bit unusual as in many cases the result of an accident will be obvious, however this is not always the case. For example, if you have suffered from whiplash following a car accident, there may be no physical marks. This is why it is recommended that you seek medical advice immediately so that a recorded assessment can be made. Losses also include any out of pocket expenses (such as prescriptions or other medical bills) and any present or future loss of income and therefore you should keep copies of all receipts and provide your solicitor with your payslips if you are unable to return to work.

The amount of compensation that you are entitled to will depend on the seriousness of any injuries sustained and its long term implications. Obviously the more serious an injury the more compensation you are likely to receive. Equally if the injury results in extended periods away from work or an inability to return to work then you are likely to receive more compensation. Depending upon the

amount, compensation will usually be paid by insurance companies either as a lump sum or through periodical payments.

If you have suffered from an accident and would like to make a claim then you should contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. If you have suffered an accident which is complicated, such as with medical negligence cases, then you should obtain advice from a specialist lawyer. The time limit for brining a claim is usually within three years of the date of the accident, although in some cases it can be as little as two years. In the event of an accident happening to a child they generally have three years from their 18^th birthday to bring a claim.

Most lawyers will deal with accident insurance claims under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), more commonly known as a “no win no fee” agreement. Accordingly you will not have to pay your legal fees in the event that you either do not have a claim or if your claim is unsuccessful. If your claim is successful then your legal fees will be paid by the losing party (or more accurately, their insurance company).

Every Local Authority in England & Wales has a range of statutory duties to ensure public safety in a number of ways. The most common types of claims, according to Waring personal injury solicitors, are against such Authorities are in relation to accidents on the roads and pavements within the Borough or County, specifically made as a result of obligations on the Local Authority under the Highways Act 1980.

All local authorities are under a duty to maintain roads and pavements which are public and the most common forms of claim are for tripping and slipping accidents as a result of uneven surfaces or due to weather conditions such as ice and snow. The Local Authority has a statutory duty to show that reasonable steps were taken to avoid such hazards.

As a result of the above, many claims are made against Local authorities each year and in line with concerns about fraud in personal injury claims having been on the rise generally, many Local authorities are now far more actively seeking to defend claims and to deal vigorously with any suspected fraud.

As an example, Caerphilly Council is reported to have refused suspected dodgy claims valued nearly £18 million in the last 6 years. This Council’s more active defence has apparently reduced the number of claims down from 1,600 in 2005 to 350 a year now and they have prosecuted 5 people for contempt of court.

Of particular interest is that apparently the Council suspect that as many as 60% of all claims are fraud and an example of this cited is a claim for 2 injuries at the same time ! One an alleged trip on a pavement and

the second a fall from a bus over half a mile away.