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Month: April 2020

  • Accident at Work – what to do next

    Accident at Work – what to do next

    There’s a lot out there about claiming compensation after an accident at work, so much in fact that you can feel flooded with jargon terms like ‘no win, no fee’, ‘personal injury claim’ and the like. Below is an easy summary of the criterion needed to make a personal injury claim and some advice about how to do it, with special relevance for those who work in the Lincolnshire or Yorkshire areas of the UK .

    Can you make a claim? 

    The criteria for making a claim is pretty simple. If you’ve suffered an injury, illness or disease because of your employer’s negligence then you can make a personal injury claim for compensation. “Personal injury” covers everything from a twisted ankle to asbestosis. All you have to do is prove that your injury was caused by the negligence of another party and you have grounds for a claim. In the work place this often relates to unsafe equipment, poor health and safety regulations or anything which puts an employee in danger as they carry out their work. Last year there were more than half a million non fatal injuries at work as reported by the Health and Safety Executive. Although health and safety is gradually improving, injuries do happen.

    Who to go to 

    If you’re reasonably confident you’ve got grounds for a claim the next step is to get in contact with a specialist solicitors firm. A solicitors firm is a safer bet than an accident claim company, as the latter simply act as a middle man between you and a solicitor, selling cases on for a profit. This means they sometimes don’t have the expertise they claim to.

    Go to a firm which deals primarily in personal injury claims. They’re more likely to know the minutiae of detail relating to personal injury law than a firm which offers a broader variety of services, and naturally they’ll have extensive experience in personal injury claims. Find a firm that is able to provide a no win no fee service with a clear fee structure..

    A really important thing to look for is a firm which can offer a face-to-face service. An accident at work can be a traumatic experience so you’ll want to make the process of claiming as stress-free as possible. If you live in Yorkshire or the surrounding area, there are firms available that will come to your home in order to talk through what happened and what you want to do. Seeing your solicitor in the flesh gives you the opportunity to control exactly what your case will be made up of and the reassurance that you won’t become an anonymous voice amongst many. Make sure you have basic details like the date of the accident, what happened and any kind of evidence you can gather that can be used in your case.

    If you are ready to make a claim for your accident at work – visit our form here and one of our team will get back to you.

    If you are sacked for refusing to work in an unsafe environment then you can potentially claim unfair dismissal at an Employment Tribunal.

    If you’ve had a workplace accident due to manual handling, a fall from height, poor PPE, or defective equipment, call 0114 2678780, email Richard Meggitt at [email protected], or complete our online form today to submit a claim.

  • What are “Special Damages”?

    What are “Special Damages”?

    In a personal injury case, the compensation is split into two different types of loss: general damages and special damages. The differences between the two types of damages are subtle but profound. We’ll start by discussing what general damages are before explaining what special damages are, and further breaking down the different types of special damages.

    General Damages

    General damages refer to damages to the individual relating to pain or suffering caused by an injury. General damages cover physical or psychological damage caused directly by the accident, including loss of amenities. Because all injuries vary slightly from case to case, the amount received changes depending on the case and the severity of the injury. The amount is determined by your lawyer and is then either approved by the compensator or decided by a judge. The Judicial College Guidelines set out the parameters for valuations to ensure a general standard is adhered to.

    Special Damages

    The difference with special damages is that they relate to financial losses caused by the accident, rather than for any physical pain or psychological suffering endured by the individual. Special damages also differ from general damages in how they are calculated. Special damages have a fixed monetary value.

    There are plenty of examples of special damages, here are just a few:

    Loss of Earnings

    If an injury results in the individual having to take a substantial amount of time off work, the injured person would be entitled to claim for the income they otherwise would have received had they been able to work. Sometimes this is in the form of sick pay rather than a loss of earnings. If this is the case and if for any reason you have to repay your company, this would be reflected in your claim, which would then cover the repayment.

    Claims can be made for more than just loss of earnings, however. In some cases, depending on contract details, it may be possible to claim for loss of overtime or bonuses too. On top of this, if your company has a pension scheme it is also possible to claim for lost pension. If an injury requires the individual to take an early pension when they weren’t planning to, the compensation can be very large.

    Self-employed people are also entitled to loss of earnings and loss of profit providing they can show accurately the sum they would’ve expected to receive by presenting accounts and tax returns as evidence.

    Finally, if for whatever reason the injury causes the claimant to take a lower paid job because they are no longer physically able to do their previous job, they are entitled to compensation equal to the difference in the two salaries.

    Medical

    Fortunately in the UK we are lucky to have one of the best health services in the world, where we can get most treatments for free. However, if for whatever reason a person requires treatment above and beyond the scope of the NHS, or the person chooses to use private health care even if they could use the NHS, they are still entitled to have this covered by the claim. For example, physiotherapy, chiropractor visits, and dentistry can be used by the claimant in the knowledge they’ll be covered.

    Similarly, the cost of any medicine needed can also be claimed for, including subscriptions and medical equipment.

    Care & Assistance

    In a lot of cases where someone has been injured, especially injuries serious enough to take time off work for, the injured person often requires care and assistance. Usually this care is provided by friends and family.

    However in some cases the individual may not have anyone like that to help them and they may require assistance from a third-party care provider. In these cases, such expenses can be covered by your claim, and in some cases it is even possible to claim for the care provided by friends and family, even if they have not been paid for it.

    Especially serious cases of injury, like paralysis or head injuries, can result in much larger pay-outs for care and assistance as it is likely they will require some form of daily care for the foreseeable future. This is significantly more expensive than a one off or a short spell of visits to a physiotherapist, for example.

    Travel

    If the injury requires the claimant to attend medical appointments to which they are required to travel, they would be able to claim compensation for these journeys. Things such as taxi fares, bus fares, mileage if travelling by car, and parking are all claimable.

    By no means is this an exhaustive list all of the special damages that are available to be claimed, but it does give a good selection of the most common ones. Most expenses, if it can be proven that they were directly caused by the accident, can be claimed for in one way or another.

    It is strongly advisable that you employ a qualified lawyer to assess your claim, as special damages can be especially hard to calculate. Making sure your claim is accurate and nothing is missed is in your interest as people who try to settle their own claims, more often than not, receive much less than those who contact a personal injury solicitor.

    If you have been injured and need some assistance, the team here at Accident Solicitors Direct would love to help. We have over 35 years of experience in personal injury litigation, giving us the tools required to help you receive the compensation you deserve.

    If you’ve had a workplace accident ,  traffic road accident, pedestrian, cyclists, or motorcyclists accident  and suffered injuries, you can make a claim by calling on 0114 2678780, email Richard Meggitt at [email protected], or complete our online form today to submit a claim.