April 2019 - The Compensation Experts

Whiplash is an apparently minor injury sustained in the event of a car accident or collision that throws your spine, neck and head quickly forward and backwards. It’s a painful and inconvenient injury to suffer, and in many cases, it’s the fault of another party who’s collided with your vehicle from behind. If this is the case, it’s best that you’re made aware of your rights so that you can plan for compensation for what is a troubling and disruptive injury. This article looks at those rights, and how you can work towards a claim that’ll grant you compensation for your injury.

Was Another Party Involved?

The first question you have to ask in the event of sustaining a whiplash injury is: is someone else to blame? That could be the person you collided with, or who collided with you. It could be the person who walked in front of your car, forcing you to perform an emergency stop. Or it could be the driver with their lights on full beam who dazzled you while you were driving.

Think through if there’s anyone who might be liable in the event of your whiplash injury. If you are yourself at fault, and you accept 100% responsibility, then you won’t have the right to make a claim. But in many cases, it’s difficult to assign 100% responsibility to one party in a multi-party injury scenario, so for those others involved, you may well be able to assign liability. So, ask yourself: how much can I claim for whiplash injury?

Personal Whiplash Injury Rights

So, as you’ve established that there are other people or another person partially or fully liable for the injury you suffered in your vehicle, it’s time to talk through your rights. If you find you have whiplash (this often needs to be verified by a doctor), you have the right to claim compensation. Compensation not only for the damage to your vehicle, but for the pain of the whiplash, the hospital and pharmaceutical fees, and the effect the injury has had on your lifestyle.

The best way to go about seeking compensation is to approach an experienced specialist who’s worked on many hundreds of whiplash cases just like yours. Where you’ll only know your basic rights, they’ll know the ins and outs of the law, and what you’ll be able to whiplash injury claim for, and the percentage culpability you’ll be able to assign to those other parties involved in your accident. Don’t neglect your rights when you suffer whiplash: approach a compensation specialist to help you build a case.

The Outcomes

Now that you have an injury law expert helping you to fight your case, there’s little you’ll have to do other than discuss the various outcomes of your claim. The expert will already be aware of the compensation you’re likely to win, and in some cases, the insurance companies you’re claiming against will grant a whiplash injury claim without fighting them first. In any case, you’ll be in open discussions with our legal team about the compensation we expect you are due – so you can relax and await the compensation that your rights affirm you are due. Remember: it’s a no win no fee whiplash claim. If you don’t win any money, you’ll not owe any, either.

Personal injuries are sometimes difficult to handle. They require you to take time off work, spend time and money at the hospital, and to occasionally undergo painful and traumatic surgeries or rehabilitation. It’s because they’re such unpleasant experiences that those who suffer injuries are often capable of claiming personal injury compensation if they follow a specific set of steps that this guide expands upon. For those reading this article who’ve sustained a personal injury, it should only take following the step by step guide below for you to assess your ability to make a claim, and to approach the specialists who’ll guide you through the claiming process.

Think About Your Case

Personal injuries vary wildly. Some constitute situations in which you are due compensation; others are unlikely to be granted any. It’s up to the individual to understand their rights when it comes to claiming compensation. What’s more, they need to see their injury as a case in which evidence will have to be produced and used for your claim. Start building the proof right away in the event of a personal injury.

Assign Liability

Naturally, if you’re looking for compensation, you’re going to have to assign liability to a third party. In many cases of personal injury, this is fairly obvious: if you slip on a wet floor in a shopping mall, it’s the operators of the mall who are liable. If a product you purchase malfunctions and injures you, it’s the producer of the product you’ll be approaching for compensation. Establish who is responsible (if there is a liability) before you consider contacting compensation experts for assistance.

Approach Specialists

Compensation experts in the field of personal injury are at hand to help you in the above process. They ask you to describe your injury and how it came about and to produce evidence of the costs that it’s accrued for you since you suffered it. Once you’ve provided all the information and evidence that the specialist requires of you, your part in the process will be mostly complete; it’s over to our experts to fight your case in your personal injury accident claim.

The Case

Specialists will then work on your case, compiling the evidence provided to form a personal injury compensation claim. Their experience in many similar cases will mean they’re aware of the rulings on cases such as yours, which means they’ll be able to give you a predicted quote early on in your dealings. They’ll send this case through to the organisation you’re claiming against and will await their response.

Your Offer

When your case is in the hands of those you’re claiming against, they’ll weigh up whether they’re fit to fight a case or whether they’ll grant the full compensation you’re asking for. In some cases, they suggest a split-liability compromise, which you’ll be able to discuss with your representative in our team. In these circumstances, you may just wish to take what’s offered – or you may want to fight for 100% liability upon the person you’re claiming against.

These steps will help you go from the event of your personal injury to the achievement of your due compensation, with as little disruption to your life as possible.

With such a wide variety of workplaces in which employees spend the majority of their waking lives, it’s little wonder that occasionally hazard perception measures aren’t enough to prevent an injury. If you find yourself one of the unlucky people to suffer an injury at your place of work, no matter how severe, there are four steps that you should follow to ensure you’re being treated respectfully by your employer, and that you achieve any compensation that you’re due. The below guide applies to anyone who’s suffered any kind of injury in the workplace.

Assess the Damage

Injuries vary from person to person and from relatively straightforward injuries to those that have a significant effect on your life and your ability to work. The first thing you should do after suffering a workplace injury is to visit your doctor. Ask them to assess the severity of your injury, and to write a short report based on their findings. Those injuries that have caused you pain or trauma, even if you’re able to continue working, are nonetheless befitting of compensation. More severe injuries that prevent you from working need also to be signed off by a doctor.

Talk to Your Employer

Your employer is no doubt aware of the injury you sustained in the workplace. You should make them aware of your injury as soon as it takes place, and ensure that you have witnesses to the event so that you can prove that the injury was sustained while you were working. Discuss paid leave with your employer in the case that you need time off – and if you don’t, it’s still best that they know you’re pursuing a work accident claim in the UK.

Make a Note of Costs

Injuries are costly – that’s precisely why they’re life events that are due compensation if encountered at work. You may have to pay hospital or doctor’s bills, transport costs, and other expenses that are attributable to the injury you’ve sustained. Keep a note of these costs and proof of their existence where possible so that when you come to make your claim, you’re fully compensated for all the additional costs that the injury at work has created.

Talk to the Experts

Now it’s time to look into the compensation that you are due. Your injury, the trauma endured, and the effect it has on your lifestyle, and of course the doctor’s fees, will all be taken into account before you’re presented with a quote. You’ll be able to ask for a quote on your compensation figure and the likelihood that you’ll be granted this compensation, from our experienced experts.

From there, you leave the compensation in their hands: they’ll work on your case, build an argument, and will approach your employer with a request for compensation that they may either refute or accept. In this way, there’s no stress on you throughout the procedure, and you’ll be granted your compensation as soon as the process of your injury at work claim is concluded.

Injuries at work can be costly and damaging to one’s lifestyle; that’s why you should claim compensation through the four steps outlined above.

There are a variety of reasons why you would want to seek out a compensation claim, many of which will be because of an injury at work. Perhaps you were injured at work because your employer failed to fix a fault that was reported to him. Perhaps you slipped and fell outside a store because they had failed to salt it. If so, you need to make a personal injury accident claim.

Some injuries are catastrophic. A medical negligence injury could leave you with a lifelong disability. It could even have put your life at risk. A drunk driver could cripple you or even kill you.

There are so many cases where someone else’s negligence could result in life-changing consequences for you. It is not right that you suffer through this time alone. Instead, you deserve compensation to cover the rehabilitation costs, the cost of aids, the cost of therapy, the coverage of income loss, and of course compensation for your pain and suffering.

What does No-Win-No-Fee Mean?

When looking for a compensation expert you might have come across the term “no-win-no-fee”, but what does this mean exactly?

No Win No Fee typically means exactly what you think it does. You take your case to the lawyer, and if they agree you have a reasonable chance of winning they will take your case. As the case’s goal is to seek out financial compensation they will not take money directly from you. Instead, they will take it out of your compensation earnings. If they lose the case, then you pay nothing.

What Types of Compensation Offer No-Win-No-Fee?

There are plenty of types of compensation no win no fee from workplace negligence to medical negligence. You simply need to find an agency that specialises in your type of case that offers no win no fee.

What Are the Benefits of No-Win-No-Fee?

The most obvious benefit of a no win no fee solicitors for medical negligence is that they do not take money directly from your account. Instead, they take their fee from the compensation you are given once they win. Unlike fixed fee or hourly lawyers, you don’t have to pay upfront. For those who have limited funds, this can be the best way to take your case to court or to settle it professionally. It is almost impossible to represent yourself successfully without a background in law.

If you have an NHS compensation claim, but don’t have the funds to hire a lawyer out of pocket, then a no win no fee lawyer is the best solution for you.

What are the Cons of a No-Win-No-Fee?

As most won’t have the pocket money to handle paying a lawyer upfront, there is often no downside to a no-win-no-fee lawyer, as the only other option you have is to drop the case. If you do have the money, however, fixed fee lawyers can help you keep the full amount of your compensation claim.

How to Find a Good No-Win-No-Fee Lawyer

To find great solicitors, you will need first to vet the lawyers themselves. You want to give your case a great shot at winning, and so you will need to find a firm that specialises in your type of negligence case; for instance, do you need to make a whiplash injury claim? We at The Compensation Experts hire specialists that cover all types of negligence cases and have a 97% customer satisfaction rate.

We are all familiar when it comes to common accidents, from an injury at work to needing to make a whiplash injury claim. Perhaps you tripped and fell at work, strained your muscles from repeated actions, were hit when trying to reach a file box too high up. Crashes, cuts, toxic fumes, sound-related injuries, clumsiness, and even fights are common.

What about the uncommon accidents? Though rare, they can be devastating in their consequences. Knowing first-aid, how to respond, and more importantly, your rights afterwards can help you recover from these extreme incidents faster, so that you can successfully move on with your life.

Uncommon Accidents at Work

The top uncommon accidents at work include:

Fire-Related Accidents

Fires are still relatively rare, though certainly not unheard of. From smoke inhalation to burns, a fire that breaks out in your workplace can pose serious dangers to your health and even your life. Then there are the psychological damages that can occur from being trapped, facing the very real reality of either choking to death on the smoke, or dying from being burned alive. If this happens to you, seeking out compensation is critical. Most fires are not flukes and instead caused by a fault.

Dangerous Chemical Absorption

When the chemicals or products you use, as per your employers’ instructions, cause serious disease, illness, or disability, they are at fault. They are especially at fault if they did so with the knowledge of the dangers their product possessed.

Building Collapse

Another employer fault that is, thankfully, rare in the UK is a building collapse. This occurs when the building is not kept up to code or worse, unlawful and unsafe extensions are added. A building collapse can result in immediate tragedy, and even if you manage to make it out of the building unscathed, can cause severe psychological trauma.

Animal Attack

Almost 75 farmers have died in the last few years not from dealing with a dangerous animal but instead dealing with a cow. We tend to forget docile creatures are inherently dangerous due to their size and strength. That is why, though animal attacks are uncommon at work, they do still happen, and sometimes even result in death.

Robbery

Robberies are incredibly uncommon but do still happen. The worst part is that those who are conducting the robbery are very unlikely to be calm and organised. One wrong move or a loud noise could set off their nerves and you could be harmed in the proceeding. It is your employer’s responsibility to provide you with a safe working environment, which is why you will see banks, post offices, and similar institutions have glass guarding their employees against the customers.

What to Do if You Have Been Injured at Work

If you have been injured at work, you will want to:

Learn your Rights
Contact a Lawyer
Build a Case
Get the Compensation You Deserve

If you have been injured at work, then contact us today to see if you have a case. From making claims at work to personal injury claims, there is a solicitor for you. If you do, we will work for you until you have the compensation you need to move on from your injury and recover successfully.

Animal attacks can occur anywhere, at any time. From dogs to even animals as docile looking as cows. These attacks can result in terrible physical injuries, psychological damage, and even death. Claiming compensation after such an attack is a smart move, as it will allow you the financial buffer necessary to pay for private rehabilitation and therapy. It will also be able to cover any income loss and be able to cover the cost of any aids you will need in the future.

You should never feel bad about claiming compensation, especially for a personal injury accident claim. You were the victim, but with animals, you need to ensure that there is a basis of negligence.

The Difference Between a Wild Animal Attack and a Domesticated Animal Attack

There are two main kinds of animal attacks you can suffer from. If you are in the wild, you might be attacked by an animal if you intrude on its territory or get in-between it and its offspring. In cities and human-owned and managed wildlife safaris, it is up to the owners to provide a safe environment for their guests.

Wild Animal Attack

You won’t be able to make a compensation claim if you are in, say, a national park and are attacked by an animal. The area is not supervised, and you accept the risks of using the area when you enter. They are wildlife reserves in most cases, with some of Britain’s national parks even categorised as a UN nature reserve. Instead, the animal in question might be put down.

Domesticated Animal Attack

Domesticated animals like household pets, livestock, and safari animals or zoo animals can all be put under one category. Namely, there are humans who own them and who have a legal responsibility to ensure these animals do not hurt other people. Zoos must keep their animals in specially created pens that protect their guests; safaris must also take measures to protect their guests, and so on. In this case, even if you were in Africa in a wild safari, if you were injured in an animal attack, the negligence could be placed on your tour guide or the tour company you were with.

When Can You Make a Compensation Claim?

You can make a compensation claim within three years of the attack. In some cases, this might be extended to three years after you were made aware of the issue, but extensions are rare for animal attacks.

It is important to note that in some cases you do not even have to prove that the owner or manager of the animal was negligent. Dangerous species that are not domesticated in the UK are under the Animal Act 1971, meaning their inherently dangerous nature makes the owner responsible for all injuries regardless.

What Steps Should You Take if You Have Been the Victim of an Animal Attack?

If you have been the victim of an animal attack, then you will need to make a police statement. This, along with medical records and witness testimonies, will help you build a solid case against the owner. It is important to note that, though you can sue owners, that you might not always get compensation, as most people are not insured in this way. You will get the most compensation from organisations or businesses.

To help solidify your case and get the compensation you deserve for your injury at work claim, then you will want to hire a lawyer experienced in these sorts of cases.

Month: April 2019

Whiplash: What Are My Rights?