AN insurance-fraud gang racked up £8m by duping innocent motorists into crashing their cars. Crooks cut their own car brake lights before stopping sharply at roundabouts - so helpless victims rammed them from behind. The gang members then made hugely-insurance claims on the victims' policies. They often invented whiplash injuries to fictional `passengers' and exaggerated the damage to their own cars. And hundreds of drivers across Greater Manchester and Lancashire fell victim to the `crash for cash' scam, police believe.

The average claim was £20,000 per incident.

Twenty-five arrests have already taken place after a three-year probe - with more expected. Officers involved in Operation Contact have also seized cars, cash, drugs, a stun gun and a replica gun as part of the investigation. Police uncovered the fraud after noticing a high number of crashes at Eden Point roundabout at the junction of Three Acres Lane and the A34 Handforth bypass near Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, in 2005.

The gang's drivers would stop short of a roundabout and wait for a target to pull up behind, then accelerate to the roundabout before coming to a sudden stop, sometimes using their handbrake. The drivers would often engage the victim in friendly conversation as insurance details were exchanged. The crooks' cars would then often suffer mysterious `extra' damage, with claims put in for everything from recovery to replacement car hire. And personal injury claims were common.

`Crash for cash' scams form a rising proportion of insurance fraud, costing the industry £1.6bn a year and adding an average £40 to every premium. A group of MPs estimated in 2006 that there were 22,500 staged collisions across the country between 2001-2005.

A woman has finally won her compensation battle after her daughter was seriously disabled in a hit and run accident.  The accident happened in 2004 in Sale, Manchester and the Mother has been pursuing a personal injury compensation claim ever since.

The driver of the car was uninsured and so the claim was brought against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.  After a 5 year battle she has been awarded a £1 million lump sum and £40,000 annually. 

The woman’s daughter has a full time carer and has to attend regular rehabilitation sessions.  She has mobility problems, memory loss and struggles to identify people.

A boy who suffered catastrophic brain damage as the result of a short delay in his delivery is to receive £7 million in compensation from the NHS.

The boy who lives in a village near Andover is now 12 years old and will need 24 hours care for the rest of his life. 

Mr Justice Foskett found that the NHS was fully liable for the injuries and that the doctor responsible for the delivery delayed the birth by four minutes which led to the brain injuries.
 
Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust have this week agreed to pay the personal injury compensation claim.

A man has won compensation totalling £8.35 million in a compensation settlement which is one of the largest ever in the UK.

The man was involved in a car accident and sustained spinal injuries and brain damage.  He was a passenger in a car which went out of control finally careering off the road into a ditch.

As a result of the injuries sustained in the accident he is now confined to a wheelchair and suffers terrible mood swings.  He has been unable to return to work.

The driver responsible for the crash had no insurance so the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, who settle accident claims where the driver is uninsured, awarded the compensation payout.

Recently published figures have indicated that around 12% of drivers in Liverpool are uninsured.  The figures were released by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau last week.  Greater London had the highest number of uninsured drivers followed closely by Liverpool.  Driving without insurance is illegal in the UK and up to 500 uninsured cars are confiscated by police each day.

The report estimated that over 1.7 million people were driving without insurance in this country in 2008. However, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau is in place to provide compensation for people who need to make an accident claim when the other vehicle involved was uninsured.

A health and safety investigation, and possibly personal injury claim, have been launched after a 14-year-old girl suffered burns over 70% of her body using an unmanned tanning salon.

Kirsty McRae from Barry Island, Vale of Glamorgan had to be put on a drip in hospital after using a coin-operated sunbed for 19 minutes on Monday.

Her mother Jill said unmanned salons posed "an enormous risk" to users.

Kirsty who was on her half term break originally put £1 into a coin operated sunbed but felt she was not tanned enough so added more time.

She says that no one was at the salon to prevent her from using the beds or stop her from using the booth for as long as she did.

She left the salon in pain and was later taken to hospital where doctors told her she had suffered first degree burns, the lowest level of skin burn.

She was put on a drip and given oxygen while doctors rehydrated her and administered painkillers.

If you have suffered an injury resulting from an accident that wasn't your fault you may be entitled to make a personal injury claim and you should speak to an experience personal injury lawyer like First Personal Injury

Accident claims relating to winter sports are relatively common because of the dangerous nature of activities like skiing and snowboarding.

Recently reports revealed that, a woman who was paralysed after an accident on a skiing holiday has attempted to make an accident compensation claim.  The woman, who was a personal trainer and is a Mother of two, was involved in the accident whilst driving a snowmobile.

The woman was driving a high performance snowmobile back in 2007 when she lost control and sustained serious spinal injuries.  She is suing her holiday firm claiming that she was given inadequate instruction on the snowmobile.

She is now waiting for the results of her hearing

It is likely that accident claims could be made after a teenage girl was killed in a go-karting accident.

The incident, which was reported in a Cambridgeshire newspaper, involved an 18 year old girl whose scarf became entangled in the go-karts wheels and caused her to be strangled.

A representative from the Ambulance Service who attended said that the woman had a severe injury to her neck and was unconscious on their arrival.  She was rushed to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge but tragically died the following day.

A police spokesman confirmed that there were no criminal proceedings taking place and it was a matter for either the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or local authority to investigate. Civil claims may also be made by the family of the teenager.

Network Rail is likely to have to make significant accident claim payouts after claims that it could have prevented last Tuesday’s fatal accident on the level crossing in Halkirk. 

A woman who sustained serious injuries when her car collided with a train in the same location in October 2002 believes that the accident was completely preventable.  She has started a compensation claim case in which she is seeking £500,000 in damages from Network Rail.

At the same time she is leading a nationwide campaign to improve safety at level crossings.

The sudden and tragic death of actress Natasha Richardson has led many of us to question the fragility of human life.  It would appear that a relatively low impact skiing accident, from which the actress walked away apparently unscathed, later led to an excruciating headache and then her death.

The autopsy has shown that the actress died because of an epidural hematoma.  Put simply, this is bleeeding between the skull and the brain’s covering.

This condition is typical of an acceleration-deceleration head injury and there is speculation that the actress may not have even bumped her head but may have suffered from an injury similar to whiplash or shaken baby syndrome.

Whiplash injuries are more commonly caused by  road traffic accidents.  They occur when a car is hit from the rear and the force that travels through the car causes the passengers and driver to jerk forwards and then suddenly backwards.

Air France announced last week that it is to make preliminary personal injury compensation payouts to the families of the victims of Flight 447.

The initial payouts will be 17,500 Euros and Air France lawyers making contact with the families of all 228 victims to ensure that the money gets to them.

A multiple accident claim of this type can be very complicated and take a great deal of time to resolve. So, the initial payouts have been made in respect of the families of the victims.

A former bank worker has won £9,000 in an accident compensation claim for the work related accident in which she sustained a fractured ankle.

She is reported to have fallen down a hazardous step will carrying two boxes.  The accident meant that the worker had to employ a helper to look after her aging mother and disabled son.  She had to take 6 months off work to recover from the accident.

Scientists at Oxford University believe that the have developed a better and more sensitive test for diagnosing the asbestos related cancer mesothelioma.  The cancer which develops long after exposure to asbestos has led to many compensation claims.  Often claims are made after the death of the victim because life expectancy after diagnosis is so limited.

The new test identifies the levels of protein in the fluid around the lungs which is linked to this form of cancer.  It may aid efficient diagnosis and in doing so allow treatment to start more promptly. 

The cancer often develops in people who have been exposed to asbestos whilst the fibres are being broken down.  It is therefore most common in tradesmen like joiners, plumbers and electricians.  It can take decades to develop and it’s predicted that the number of cases will reach a peak in 2013.

Despite temperatures rising the recent severe weather has left us with a worrying potential for vehicle and personal injury through road traffic accidents. The number of potholes appearing, especially on rural roads, has dramatically increased due to ice causing the structure of the road to break down.

In one Mid Devon village locals reported that a stretch of the road through the village had several large pot holes and one in particular had caused several burst tyres and at least one smashed wheel. Luckily the local council took the situation seriously enough to send out a team to repair the  road on a Sunday, albeit in a temporary fashion.

Meanwhile, in Gloucester concerns over pothole-related hazards presented by a road have led to the council there saying they may resurface it.

The local Gazette reported, "It bent the alloy wheel in two places and took the tyre off. It happened to two other cars at the same time, so there were three of us changing wheels by the side of the road that night. There are lots of potholes along the road, some very deep, and it's got so bad it needs resurfacing."

Another motorist who has also suffered at the pothole ridden road warned "There is the potential that someone will get very badly injured unless something is done."

If you have been injured as the result of an accident that wasn't your fault, you could be entitled to make a personal injury claim and firstly you should speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer like First Personal Injury.

An electrician was seriously injured when his motorbike was involved in a collision with a car.  The motorcyclist, Richard Tait, is pursuing an accident claim and is hoping to receive £250,000 in compensation.

The accident happened in October 2006 and the car involved drove into Mr Tait’s lane from the left and collided with him.  He claims that the car driver was driving unsafely.  The driver has admitted liability but the amount of compensation to be awarded has yet to be agreed.  Mr Tait sustained serious injuries to his shoulder, hip, groin and hamstring.  Despite two operations he continues to have problems with his shoulder.

He has been unable to resume his work as an electrician and may never work again.

Birmingham City Council paid out more than £2.6m in accident claims, to its own employees, recently released figures under the Freedom of Information Act revealed.

One asthma sufferer received £17,500 in compensation due to the failure of the council to provide adequate protective equipment, resulting in his condition worsening.

Another employee received a £64,000 payout after he suffered a broken hand from faulty door in the workplace.

Councillor Ian Ward, deputy leader of the council was shocked, saying that “given the city council’s budgetary difficulties...I’m sure more could be done to reduce accidents at work”.

However, Steve McManus, the Unions Health and Safety Officer defended the accident claims saying that “every claim we deal with goes through a rigorous process”.

A council spokesman further added that the council employ 57,000 and that these figures need to be “put into perspective”.

21 people who were riding on the famous “Big Dipper” at Blackpool Pleasure Beach were injured in an accident last Tuesday. 

The collision left passengers with a variety of injuries like broken bones, back and neck injuries and whiplash – 3 of the passengers  were reported to be seriously injured but their condition was not thought to be life threatening.  The passengers were taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital where they were treated for their injuries.

The accident is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive and there are likely to be accident claims as a result.  The use of the Big Dipper has been suspended whilst the investigation takes place and until it has been declared fully safe

A schoolboy who sustained severe head injuries in a road traffic accident is due to receive an accident claim payout.

The incident happened in April 2007 when the boy was cycling across the A27 in Titchfield.  He was struck by a car and his head injuries were caused by the impact. 

The boy was in intensive care on a life support machine for a week after the accident and has long term problems with concentration as a result of his injuries.

A boy who sustained brain damage after a fall when he was a baby has recently made successful accident claims.  The accident happened when the nine month old baby fell from a changing table at a nursery.

The case was brought against both the nursery where the boy was being cared for and the NHS Trust who were said to be negligent by not diagnosing the severity of his injuries more promptly.

The boy, who is now five, is a quadriplegic because of the accident.  He requires feeding through a tube and 24 hours care.

The exact amount of compensation awarded has not been disclosed but is thought to be in the region of £5million.

A nine year old boy who was accidentally run over by his father whilst on a family day out has been awarded a personal injury compensation payment of £8.1 million today.  This is a record payout for a spinal injury.

The accident happened in March 2002 when the boy was only two years old.  He suffered spinal and brain injuries when his father failed to see him whilst reversing his car.

•        The Headway UK Helpline provides information, advises on sources of support, finds local rehabilitation services and offers a listening ear to those experiencing problems.
•        We publish a range of booklets containing information about aspects of brain injury that will be helpful to those directly affected, plus professionals, employers and members of the public
•        We promote understanding of brain injury and its effects
•        We lobby for better support and resources to be made available by statutory health and social care providers.
•        We campaign for measures that will reduce the number of brain injuries

The six male cancer patients whose sperm was damaged when a hospital freezer broke down have been told that they can claim damages in what is to be a landmark compensation claim.

The sperm was originally frozen when the men began cancer treatment in order to preserve their fertility.

Five of the six men claimed that had suffered psychiatric problems as a result of the incident at Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

The Court of Appeal ruled the samples, given after the patients were warned chemotherapy could make them infertile, belonged to the men.

The judges ruled the six men could therefore claim damages for the loss.

The hospital trust had denied liability, claiming the sperm samples were not property in the legal sense and there could be no damages claim.

The hearing will now be heard at Exeter County Court.

One of Britain's richest lawyers has been struck off for taking unfair cuts from compensation payouts for sick miners whom he was representing.

James Beresford, 58, and his colleague and Douglas Smith, 52, made tens of millions of pounds from personal injury claims under the Government's coal health compensation scheme, a hearing was told.

The pair, both from Beresfords solicitors in Doncaster, South Yorks, were barred from practice by the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal after being found guilty of several counts of serious misconduct for their treatment of vulnerable former miners and their widows. They were accused of failing to act in the best interests of their clients, not giving adequate advice and entering into contingency fee deals against the former miners' best interests.

A hearing in London was told last month that the pair saw their joint earnings rise more than tenfold in six years to £23 million a year thanks to compensation cases.

Britain’s “compensation culture” is a myth, according to a firm of personal injury solicitors. Research by Hubbard, Pegman & Whitley on workers’ expectations for workplace injury awards claims the majority have modest expectations for compensation after injuries at work, casting doubt on the claim Britain has a compensation culture.

HPW said its own experience is that people often stoically avoid seeking compensation for injuries, even for modest amounts, in case they are made redundant as punishment by their employer. The research claims to reveal that while more than 90 per cent expect some form of monetary compensation after an injury at work, people typically under-estimate how much they would receive and very few over-estimate, even though awards can be surprisingly modest.

As an example, the typical compensation awarded for an arm fractured at work is in the region of £6,000 (£4,000 for the injury and around £2,000 for loss of earnings for an average earner), but 44 per cent of adults expected £2,000 or less, 61 per cent estimated under £5,000 and only four per cent would expect a bumper payout of more than £10,000.

Only for very serious injuries did people, expect very substantial compensation. The typical compensation awarded for permanent loss of the use of both legs from an injury at work is at least £140,000 and generally substantially higher (depending on loss of earnings and effect on lifestyle), but 20 per cent of adults expected £100,000 or less, while 42 per cent expected more than £200,000, which in most cases people would get.

If you feel that you are entitled to compensation because of an injury in the workplace or at the fault of someone else, contact a First Personal Injury Lawyer today.

A British teenager is suing Disney after she had a heart attack while riding on one of its rollercoasters.

The girl, who was 16 when she and her family visited Disney-MGM studios in Florida, collapsed after riding the Tower of Terror several times.

Doctors thought that she might not survive after her heart stopped and she suffered a stroke before falling into a coma.

The resulting brain damage means she cannot speak and needs 24-hour care.
 
Three years after the incident, the teenagers family have filed a lawsuit in the US seeking to make a personal injury claim against Disney.  They are claiming that the theme park owner was negligent because they failed to provide adequate safety restraints.

A representative from Disney said the company hadn't  yet seen the lawsuit but that in their view the ride was working properly when it was used by the teenager in question.

The Tower of Terror is one of the most popular rollercoasters. Visitors ride in a 'hotel lift' that zooms up to almost 200ft and plunges down.

If you have suffered from an injury which you believe was not your fault, you may be entitled to make a personal injury claim and you should speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer like First Personal Injury.

The 24 British passengers who were involved in a bus crash in Bulgaria could now make accident claims after a judge ruled that the accident was caused by driver error.

The passengers were on their way from the airport to the ski resort of Borovets when the coach left the road and overturned down a bank.  The passengers sustained multiple injuries and it’s been reported that they could now make significant compensation claims.

A bus driver who was injured in a collision with a van has been awarded compensation as a result of his accident claim.

The driver sustained a broken leg and whiplash during the accident, which took place in Northumberland, and was forced to give up his job for medical reasons.  He now relies on a wheelchair for mobility.

Eight passengers were also injured during the accident but reports are unclear whether they will also make compensation claims.

Bus passengers suffered whiplash injuries when they were involved in a collision at at 12.20 pm on Friday 30th January in Dumfries.

About a dozen passengers received injuries when the bus collided with a van.  An ambulance was called and passengers were treated for minor injuries at the scene although several have subsequently developed the symptoms of whiplash.  The driver of the van was taken to a local hospital suffering from head injuries.

It is thought that passengers on the bus may seek to make personal injury compensation claims.

Six cancer sufferers who had their sperm frozen in case treatment made them infertile are appealing a court ruling that a hospital that destroyed the samples is not liable for damages.

The six launched their unique compensation claim after a long-term freezer tank at Bristol's Southmead Hospital failed in June 2003. One of the men has already died and some of the remaining five are not expected to regain their fertility so the mishap robbed them of their only chance of ever fathering children.

The hospital's managers, North Bristol NHS Trust, admitted breach of duty but, in earlier this year, a county court judge dashed the men's hopes of substantial damages payouts. Judge Jeremy Griggs compared the sperm samples to hair cut off by a barber and toenail clippings before ruling that the men ceased to have any property rights in their own sperm once it had left their bodies. For this reason, he said, their destruction could not be compared to physical injuries suffered due to medical negligence and so the claim fell outside the legal remit of traditional "personal injury".

James Townsend, for the five surviving men and the dead man's widow, told the Court of Appeal: "This is a grey area but, looked at correctly, we say this is a classic case of personal injury".

The sperm was "awaiting further use" for exactly the same purpose as it would have been had it remained in the men's bodies and, although in the hospital's possession, the samples could only ever be used at the men's direction, he added.

However, the trust's lawyers argue that "nobody owned" the sperm samples, which were not capable of amounting to "property" in the legal sense, and that the six men suffered no "personal injury" for which they would have a right to claim compensation.

A man who was paralysed as the result of a road traffic accident has been granted the go ahead by a judge to seek compensation through an accident claim.

The man had been riding his motorbike with his girlfriend near Northwich in Cheshire when a new driver pulled out from a side road.  He was forced to brake suddenly and both he and his girlfriend were thrown into the air.

He is expected to receive a substantial compensation settlement because of the severity of his injuries.

It’s been reported today that, a man who sustained head injuries resulting in brain damage in a road traffic accident has won a landmark legal case against his insurers.

The man who is from Cheshire was a passenger in his mother’s car which was being driven by one of his friends at the time the accident took place.  The friend was driving without insurance and went on to be convicted.

Prior to the ruling it looked as if the personal injury compensation claim was likely to be unsuccessful because it was claimed that he had given his friend permission to drive the vehicle.

Car insurance premiums could soar by a record 20% this year, insurers are warning. A rising tide of fraud and the increasing cost of personal injury claims are fuelling increases for the UK's 33 million motorists. They could push the average premium of a driver with a full no-claims bonus from around £400 to £480. Even conservative estimates suggest a rise of 10 %.

Patrick Smith, chief executive of the Swinton group, said: 'I would say that premiums are 20 per cent lower than they should be. They are seriously adrift. Within the next 12 months there will be a significant correction.' He said this could see the average motoring insurance policy rise by around £80.

The growing cost of payouts - more no-win, no-fee claims pursued by 'ambulance chasing' lawyers, as well as higher medical costs - was fuelling dearer premiums.

The AA also warned of rises but put the figure at nearer 10 per cent. Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, added: 'Our best estimate is that premiums will increase by 10 or 11 per cent over the coming year. The factors driving premiums up include fraud, which costs around £30 for every private car insurance policy in force. That has risen by about 17 per cent over the past year.'

The AA said 430,000 people claimed for whiplash injury last year. Their total compensation of £1.9billion is equivalent to about £66 for every policy. Whiplash accounts for about two-thirds of all personal injury claims in the UK - 40 per cent higher than the average across Europe. Comprehensive premiums have more than doubled since the AA Index started in 1994.

Recently released figures show that car insurance premiums look set to rise 12% next year, with a further 12% in 2010.

The average driver could see a rise of £50 for fully comprehensive insurance and a newly qualified driver could be looking at an increase of over £200.

Insurance companies maintain that increases in prices are mainly due to the increasing amount of successful accident claims. Public awareness has been raised due to television advertising from personal injury lawyers encouraging and making it easier for individuals to make compensation claims.

A well known price comparison website suggests that people should shop around for the best possible price for their car insurance to avoid these predicted increases. A representative from the comparison website claims “it is alarming so many motorists are prepared to waste their hard-earned cash by not looking for a better deal” resulting in insurance companies “rubbing their hands with glee”.

A woman from Sheffield has started a compensation claim after a motorbike road accident which left her paralysed from the chest down.  Her spine was fractured at chest level and she also suffered multiple bone and internal injuries.  She will have to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life and requires daily care.

Accident compensation is set to be awarded to a 6 year old Mansfield school girl who lost the tip of the ring finger of her left hand when a classroom door slammed shut on it in March 2007.

Doctors were unfortunately unable to reattach the severed part of her finger even though staff at the school acted quickly by taking her to a nearby hospital and putting the severed part of her finger in ice immediately. Her family decided to mount an compensation claim for the incident but were told by solicitors that they would have to pay £1,000 to obtain an engineers report. However, after contacting a no win no fee firm they were told they would be able to proceed with the claim without incurring any cost.

The engineer’s report states that a proper fire door in a primary school should not close with such force that it could chop off a child’s finger. Now, with the council admitting full liability for the incident, the path has been cleared for the girl to receive an appropriate sum of accident compensation.

Recent figures published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change have indicated that the Government is making progress towards settling the accident claims of former coal miners.

The coal miners, who have work related problems like Vibration White Finger and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, are pleased with the progress which has been made on the claims over the last six months with many reaching settlement.

Reports suggest that 198 claims have been settled for those who suffer from Vibration White Finger and that compensation claims totaling £2 million have been awarded.

2791 cases relating to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease have reached the final stage with compensation claims totaling £11.4 million being paid out.

There are still many active claims which have yet to reach a settlement.

  A recent survey compiled a lsit of the top questions asked of injury lawyers, here are the top three:

Q. How much compensation can I expect to receive?

A. The amount of compensation you will receive depends on the extent of your injury or illness and how this affects your ability to live a normal life. Your APIL accredited lawyer will be able to give you some idea before you decide whether to pursue a claim.

Q. What is ‘no win no fee’?

A. This term is often used to indicate that there is no fee to pay whether you lose or win your claim.

Q. What is the difference between a law firm and a claims management company?

A company in Liverpool which handles plastics-recycling has been fined £2,500 after an accident in which an employee sustained severed fingers.  It is likely that the former employee will now make a civil compensation claim. Accident claims connected with accidents which occur in the workplace where machinery is involved are fairly common.

In this case the man was trying to clear a jam in a guillotine when the accident occurred.  Doctors were able to reattach two of his fingers but he has limited movement in these two fingers.  He has been unable to return to work.

The company was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive and was later fined and ordered to pay costs

The maximum compensation for armed forces personnel injured in service has been doubled by defence ministers from £285,000 to £570,000. The increase is retrospective, which means around £10m will be paid out to 2,700 troops who have been awarded lump-sum payments.

All injured personnel who have received an award under the scheme will receive an increase of between 10% and 100% of their payment. Letters with details of the increased compensation payments are being sent to the 140 most seriously injured. They will get their additional money within the next few days, while those less seriously injured will receive their extra compensation over the next few months.

The plan was announced in July as part of a government paper outlining 40 measures to improve the lives of servicemen and woman. Defence minister Kevan Jones said: "Our armed forces are inspirational and they deserve the very best support - that is why I am determined to see through the package of measures we announced in the Service Personnel Command paper.

Compensation cases against employers are not always accident claims but are often related to industrial disease cases like this one.

A man who feel ill because of exposure to asbestos has been awarded compensation by his former employer.  The man worked at a college as a plasterer for 35 years and as part of his job he helped a joiner to insulate the roof of the college’s theatre.  He was not supplied with a mask or told about the danger involved and he was exposed to deadly asbestos particles.

The man has subsequently been diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma.  He decided to take legal action in order to pay for his care.  A compensation award of £45,000 has been agreed.

The family of a teacher, who was knocked off his bike and killed, in October 2004, have won their fight for compensation.

David Kerslake, 44, Head of Science at Sharples School in Bolton, was cycling to work when he was hit by a car. The driver lost control after suffering a hypoglycaemic attack.

The trade union, Unison, acted of behalf of Mr Kersales wife and daughter. The driver's insurer accepted responsibility and paid out £580,000 in response to the family's accident claim.

Jacqueline Kerslake, a nurse at North General Hospital said  “when we won it was a relief, it gave some recognition for his life”.

A significant amount of compensation has been awarded after a successful accident claim by a former soldier.  The victim was left with life threatening injuries after being knocked off his bike by a drink driver.

The accident happened on the A435 Bishop’s Cleeve bypass in August 2002 and the driver of the car was twice over the legal limit when he was arrested.

The victim was left with several fractures to his right leg, two broken vertebrae, broken ribs and damage to his kidney, bowl and lungs.  After many operations over a three year period the victim had to have his leg amputated below the knee.

Compensation has been paid to a hospital plumber following his diagnosis of asbestos related lung cancer.

Alan Ward successfully sued the Yorkshire and Humber Strategic Health Authority. He was employed by them between 1964 and 1972. It was found in court that the Authority failed to inform the claimant of the dangers of  working with asbestos They also did not provide adequate protective clothing.

The 61 year old received £175,000 in compensation following his accident claim. Mr Ward was supported  by Unison. A spokesman for the union commented that the money will help his final months but ”nothing can compensate him for what he is suffering”.

A 48 year old engineer has been successful in his accident claim over injuries he sustained at work.

The unnamed man was stabbed in his leg by a piece of machinery. This resulted in him receiving injuries including soft tissue and tendon damage.

The engineer who worked for Scanstick UK in Sawtry Cambridgeshire when the accident happened, claims he has been left with problems bearing weight on his foot. This has resulted with the man, a keen marathon runner incapable of running or training without pain.

Following his accident claim the sports enthusiast was awarded £5,250 in compensation for his injuries.

A businessman is set receive compensation through accident claims which could be worth millions after being horrifically injured after he was dragged underneath an articulated lorry.  The man was hit by the lorry in September 2007 as he got out of his car in Chesterfield town centre.  He was caught underneath the lorry and eventually his severely injured body was thrown into the road.

The man, who was a residential property developer, remained in an unconscious state for 2 months after the accident.  He lost both of his legs as a result of the accident and sustained injuries to his right arm and left hand.

The lorry driver has been found to be wholly responsible for the accident and the man can expect to receive a large amount of compensation.

A motorcyclist from Amersham who was travelling home from a party when he was pursued by the police and after stopping sustained injuries has been awarded partial compensation.  Accident claims brought as the result of police chases are often reported in the press.  In this case the incident took place in August 2004.

The man was injured after trying to evade officers from the Thames Valley Police force.  A court recently ruled that the motorcyclist was only 60% liable for the incident.

He sustained injuries to his right leg when, having pulled over, he dismounted his motorbike and became trapped underneath the police car.   His foot and ankle were crushed under the police cars wheels after he stopped outside his home in Penn Street.

The case was first heard in Reading County Court in 2009 but was dismissed.  On appeal he was found to be 60% responsible for the accident although the police driver was also found to be negligent.  The man had been attempting to claim £600,000 in compensation from the police force.

An HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) employee has received a substantial personal injury pay out after suffering a near fatal blood clot whilst at work.

The 53 year old woman developed a clot behind her leg as a result of sitting at her desk for long periods. She had warned her employees this might happen as she had previously had a similar clot.

The HMRC dispute this accident claim and say that they take the well being of their employees seriously.

Angela Lamberton claimed her concerns were ignored and stated "Now I will be on medication the rest of my life and the fear that I will develop another blood clot will always be with me”.

A rugby player from Swansea in South Wales will receive £1,500 in compensation after an accident claim.  He suffered a broken jaw when he was punched by a member of the opposite team in a match played on 12th December 2008.

A recent court case heard how Samual Pailor had violently punched the victim in the face after a insignificant exchange of words during the match.

Pailor was ordered to carry out 200 hours on community service and to pay £1,500 to the victim and £500 towards the cost.

A man who tried to kill himself has won a £90,000 payout from the hospital that saved his life.

The man was taken to casualty after taking 100 pills with rum and cola.

Doctors saved him from the lethal overdose by giving him neutralising drugs.

But lawyers claimed they gave him four times the correct amount, which caused severe damage to his right arm.

The man is reported to have said: "I know they saved my life but if you went in with a heart attack you wouldn't expect to leave with a limb you can't use." He claimed he lost 75% use of his arm and launched a 6 year legal battle before agreeing to the out-of-court settlement.

If you have been injured in an accident that wasn't your fault you could be entitled to make a personal injury claim and you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer.

If you have been burnt after using a sunbed you may be entitled to make a compensation claim against the salon or other establishment where you had the treatment. To have any rights again the tanning salon you would need to be able to establish that the sunburn was their fault. You may be able to do this if you can prove that the sunbed was faulty or that the advice given by the salon staff was inadequate and you therefore stayed on the sunbed too long. You will need to support this evidence with a report from your doctor.

If you can prove that it was the salon's fault that you were burnt, then the salon will be in breach of contract and you could would be entitled to make a compensation claim. If this is the case you should contact an experience personal injury lawyer and take their advice on how to proceed with the claim.

A woman has made a successful compensation claim having been taken ill after inhaling cleaning fluid fumes.

The woman was working as a swimming pool cleaner and using a product made by Cillit Bang.  Having used the cleaning product the woman suffered from a sore throat for several months.

The compensation was paid by her employer on the basis that she should not have been asked to use the cleaning product in a poorly ventilated and confined space.  It was acknowledged that the cleaning product is perfectly safe to use in the correct circumstances.

A man who suffered a whiplash injury as the result of a car crash which took place in North Yorkshire has received an accident claim payout.

The man’s car was hit from behind in a collision near the town of Molten.  As a result the man reported suffering from the classic symptoms of whiplash.  He had to take several weeks off work because of the headaches and pins and needles affecting his right arm.

The payout is reported to be £15,000 which was broken down between compensation for his injuries, the cost of repairing his car, loss of earnings, cost of medical treatment and recouping the insurance excess charge.

Fresh proposals have been put forward by a government agency which aims to make it easier for cyclists to prove liability and make accident claims.

Cycling England has submitted a proposal which suggests that in all accident claims, the owner of the more powerful vehicle should be held legally responsible irrespective of other factors.

If this change were implemented it would give more protection to bicycle and motorcycle users when involved in accidents.

The proposals have been put forward partially to encourage bicycle riding as a means of reducing the UK’s carbon emissions.

A man who sustained serious injuries after being run over on a dual carriageway is to receive a payout of at least six figures having made an accident claim.

The accident happened in July 2007 whilst the man was helping to push a car off the dual carriageway after its tyre had blown out.  He was injured when an articulated lorry ran over his right foot.

The injuries were so serious that the man had to undergo 30 operations eventually having four of his toes and part of his foot removed.  There is also a possibility that he may need to have he right lower leg amputated.

The man who is a PE teacher and swimming coach is no longer able to walk unaided.  The lorry driver has been found to be 80% responsible for the accident.

Many people underestimate how much money they could be awarded after an injury at work, according to research. Personal injury solicitors

Hubbard Pegman & Whitney (HPW) found that few people realised how high the average compensation payouts were. The firm insisted that the poll of 2,000 adults proved that the UK does not have a compensation culture. While total compensation awards for fracturing an arm at work are typically about £6,000, 61% of those surveyed estimated the payout would be under £5,000. The typical compensation awarded for a leg broken at work is £8,650, according to the solicitors, but 46% of adults expected £5,000 or less.

Charlotte Pegman, managing partner at HPW said: “Not only are most compensation awards unspectacular, but most people actually have very modest expectations – typically in-line with average awards or even expecting substantially less.

“Our research indicates to us that most people only want fair and reasonable compensation when they are injured at work.While large compensation awards for seemingly minor injuries and slights rightly attract hostile media attention, the reality is that awards for most workplace injuries – often nasty ones – are generally much more modest.”

If you have had an accident at work, you could be entitled to compensation. Contact a personal injury lawyer today.

A woman has been awarded compensation after being left unsatisfied with the results following cosmetic surgery.

Beverley Binks was admitted into the Transform Medical Group's Newcastle clinic. She underwent surgery for an eye and jaw lift. After a series of procedures went wrong, she was left with tight skin on her face and a protruding eyeball.

After her substantial personal injury claim payout the 43 year old said “ I have been suicidal. My face has been butchered.”

A spokesman for the Transform Medical Group, which have 22 clinics nationwide, said that the grievance was between the surgeons involved and not the clinic.

The family of a boy who sustained severe injuries to his face are making an accident claim against their local Housing Association.  Alfie Albrighton, who was six years old at the time of the accident, slipped and injured his face on spikes protruding from a fence.

The boy will require plastic surgery and spent three days in hospital after emergency surgery immediately after the accident.

The mother of the boy, Clare Metson, is taking legal action against the Housing Association in East London.

A construction worker who worked on the new Wembley Stadium has made a successful accident claim and received £6,500 in compensation.

Ian Pearson, who is 36 and from Nottinghamshire, was working as a steel erector on the football stadium in 2005 and because he was issued with the incorrect goggles he sustained permanent damage to his eye when a piece of galvanized metal broke off and shot into his eye.

He has been left with permanently blurred vision.

A construction worker who sustained severe cement burns after he was buried in concrete in an accident on a site has received a substantial compensation payout.  Accident claims like this one are best handled through personal injury lawyers who have experience in this area.

In this case, the traumatic accident happened when the man fell from scaffolding into the foundations on a building site and was then covered in wet concrete as it was poured into the foundations.

The man was rescued after an agonising 10 minutes but was left with cement burns which cover most of his body, a broken ankle and post traumatic stress.   He has needed counselling to help him cope with flashbacks and nightmares.  He doesn’t feel that he will ever be able to work on a construction site again.

The construction company that the man worked for admitted liability and made an undisclosed out of court settlement.

Parents of a pupil whose ankle was broken by a teacher are making an personal injury accident claim against a school in Coventry.

The unfortunate incident occurred when the teacher was demonstrating a rugby tackle to the pupil. Coventry City Council reported a significant increase in the number of unfortunate events that have occurred on school premises.

Over the last 3 years the Council have had 13 related accident claims made against them over incidents that have occurred on the school playing fields and playgrounds. As of yet none have been successful and the current case is still under consideration.

The National Union of teachers have stated that more and more parents are turning to litigation as a way of resolving issues with the school. It appears to be an easy option for parents to choose which in turn is causing increased concern among the teaching community.

Prawnik  od  szkód  dla  twojego  roszczenia  o  odszkodowanie

Wypadki, zranienia  czy  upadki  moga  sie  wydarzyc  kazdemu  i  w  kazdym  czasie. Ty  masz   ustawowe  prawo,  aby  zlozyc  roszczenie  o  odszkodowanie  i  dojsc  do  zdrowia  tak  szybko,  jak  to  tylko  mozliwe. Kiedy  wypadek  ci  sie  zdarzy  my  pomozemy  ci  zdobyc  odszkodowanie. Dochodzenie  odszkodowan  to  nasza  specjalnosc  i  wygrywamy  znaczaca  wiekszosc  spraw. Nasi  prawnicy  radza  sobie  z  kazdym  rodzajem  wypadku  drogowego  czy  uszkodzen  ciala. Nie  pobieramy  zadnych  oplat, jesli  nie  wygrywamy  sprawy  dla  ciebie. Wykonujemy  nasza  prace  profesjonalnie  przykladajac  wielka  uwaga  do  wszystkiego  od  poczatku  do  konca, tak  aby  wygrac  dla  Ciebie  100%  mozliwego  odszkodowania.

Specjalisci  od  wypadków

Posiadamy  ponad  10  letnie  doswiadczenie  w  roszczeniach  o  odszkodowania. Nasz  zespól   pracuje  wedlug  najwyzszych  standardów  prawnych  swiadczac  przyjazna  atmosfere  i  profesjonalne  uslugi. Upewniajac  sie, ze  twoje  roszczenie  jest  zrozumiale,  bezstresowe  i  zakonczone  sukcesem  w  mozliwie  najkrótszym  czasie. To  nie  jest  przypadek, ze  jestesmy  liderami  na  terenie  Wielkiej  Brytanii  wsród  Kancelarii  Prawnych  zajmujacych  sie  odszkodowaniami.

Roszczenie  powypadkowe ?  Jestesmy  tutaj, aby  ci  pomóc

Jestes  gotowy, aby  zrobic  roszczenie  powypadkowe ? Najwazniejsze  jest,  abys  wybral  wlasciwego  prawnika specjalizujacego  sie  w  tego  typu  odszkodowaniach  odpowiedniego  do  twojego  roszczenia.
Nasi  prawnicy  beda  upewniac  sie, ze  roszczenie  powypadkowe  ma  szanse  na  uzyskanie  odszkodowania  -   w  najszybszym  mozliwym  czasie.
Nasi  prawnicy  posiadaja  bardzo  szerokie  doswiadczenie  w  odszkodowaniach,  zarówno  drogowych  jak  i  obrazeniach  ciala. Oni  doskonale  wiedza  jak  wygrac  kazda  sprawe  o  odszkodowanie.

Prawnicy  eksperci  od  odszkodowan  

 
Kiedy  ty  potrzebujesz  takiego  prawnika, zadzwon  do  nas  a  twoje  roszczenie  powypadkowe  bedzie  we  wlasciwych  rekach.
Mamy  doswiadczenie  i  wiedze, jak  bezpiecznie  i  prawnie  skladac  roszczenie  o  odszkodowanie  zaczynajac  od  wypadków  drogowych  a  konczac  na  wadliwych  produktach. Jesli  zdarzyl  ci  sie jakis  wypadek, nasi  prawnicy  moga  ci  pomóc  wygrac  wszystko  co  ci   sie  nalezy.

Umów  spotkanie  w domu  czy  pracy

Skontaktuj  sie  z  naszym  prawnikiem  juz  dzisiaj.  Dlaczego  chcesz  zwlekac ? My  mozemy  odwiedzic  cie  w  twoim  domu  czy  pracy,  aby  porozmawiac  o  twoim  roszczeniu  po  polsku. My  powiemy  tobie  czy  masz  powód  do  roszczenia  o  odszkodowanie  i  zajmiemy  sie  wszystkim.

Akredytacja

Biuro  Doradztwa  dla  Obywateli  mówi, ze  twoim  ustawowym  i  obywatelskim  prawem  jest  dochodzenie  roszczen  powypadkowych. Ale  69%  z  nas  nie  sklada  roszczen . Nie  przegap  tego  co  ci  sie  prawnie  nalezy.
First  Personal  Injury  jest  nazwa  handlowa   Kancelarii  Prawnej  pod  nazwa  Jefferies  LLP  i  jest  zarejestrowana  na  terenie  Anglii  i  Walii  pod  numerem  handlowym  OC30993. Regulowanym  Rozporzadzeniem  Prawa. Numer  VAT  588703887.

A road crash victim who had his compensation bid blocked - because a legal document was served just one day too late - has had his hopes of a substantial payout restored by top judges.

Stephen Cain, suffered orthopaedic injuries when his motorbike collided head-on with a car that pulled out into his path in August 2004.

Despite much gruelling reconstructive surgery, he remains badly disabled by his injuries and has never been able to return to work. He looked certain to win six-figure compensation when motor insurers for the other driver involved in the smash admitted full liability. But that was before a solicitor's "simple oversight" led to Mr Cain's claim form - the document that launches any compensation case - being served a day after the expiry of the three-year time limit that applies to personal injury claims.

Then, in November last year, Mr Cain suffered every litigant's worst nightmare when a county court judge refused to waive the "limitation period" and dismissed his damages claim. By that time, Mr Cain had received interim damages payments from the insurers, to pay for the rehabilitation and care he needed. But the court heard that, with his claim formally dismissed, the other party's insurers had sought repayment of almost £90,000 from Mr Cain. However, three top judges ruled that the county court had got it wrong and it was "fair and just" that the strict time limit should be waived in his case.

At the beginning of February we highlighted the potential dangers of the increasing number of potholes in our roads.  The cold weather had increased the number of potholes, particularly on rural roads, because ice was causing the structure of the road to break down.  These potholes had worrying implications for road users and were likely to result in accident claims.

For example, it has now been reported that a 45 year old man sustained multiple fractures when he was unable to avoid cycling straight over a deep pothole in a road in the West Sussex village of Milland.  The man fell from his bicycle and sustained multiple injuries.

The man is now considering a personal injury claim against the local council for failure to maintain the road properly.

A cyclist has recently been awarded £2,000 in an accident claim for an incident which took place two years ago.

Di Domenico sustained shoulder, arm, knee and hip injuries after she slipped on an oil spillage in Lancashire in June 2007.  Initially, the claim against the Highways Agency was rejected but after an appeal the case was won.

The spillage was caused by a farm vehicle and was not reported to the Highways Agency.  They are encouraging road users to report any hazards like this immediately in order to avoid accidents like this.

A cyclist who was injured when he hit a sunken drain and was propelled over the handlebars of his bike has been awarded damages for facial injuries.

The bike accident happened in Edinburgh and the man sustained a smashed cheekbone even though he was wearing an appropriate cycle helmet. The injury to his cheekbone has caused ongoing numbness and a difficulty in chewing.

The man has been successful in his accident claim.

Personal Injury Claim payouts for cyclists involved in collisions which are not their fault could be cut by 15% as the result of a recent ruling.   Critics say that the move would be unfair because helmets cannot prevent injury in very serious, high speed accidents and are only effective in minor bike accidents.

The ruling was made in relation to a case brought by a cyclist who was knocked off his bike by a speeding motorcyclist.  The accident happened in Essex in 2005 and the cyclist sustained a serious brain injury as a result of the bike accident which wasn’t his fault.

The British Medical Association would like wearing cycle helmets to be made compulsory by law.

In support of this the judge ruled: "There can be no doubt that the failure to wear a helmet may expose the cyclist to risk of greater injury."

He went on to say that, in some cases, "any injury sustained may be the cyclist's own fault" and cyclists themselves could be held partly liable.

Although in this particular case the speed of the collision meant that the helmet would have made not difference to the cyclists injuries, it is thought that the ruling may impact on future personal injury claims.

The family of Jean Charles de Menezes are to claim at least £300,000 damages from Scotland Yard in compensation for the disastrous police operation that led to his death.

Harriet Wistrich, the de Menezes family lawyer, said yesterday that the family would revive its compensation claim in the courts now the inquest into the 27-year-old Brazilian’s death in the Stockwell shooting had returned an open verdict.

The move came as Ken Livingstone, who was mayor of London at the time of the shooting in July 2005, praised the senior officer in charge of the police surveillance operation that led to de Menezes being shot dead on a train after being mistaken for a fugitive suicide bomber. Critics of the Met have expressed astonishment that the two most senior officers in charge of the bungled shooting operation have been promoted and have not faced any disciplinary action.

If you believe that you or a member of your family has been involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you could be entitled to compensation and should seek advice from a First Personal Injury Lawyer.

Pamela Green, 74, was awarded the six-figure sum in an out-of-court settlement more than two years after being knocked over near her home as she walked her dog.

Mrs Green has suffered brain damage which led to memory loss, plus pelvic fractures which have stopped her walking. Her ailments forced her to stop working.

Mrs Green received £2.75 million without any admission of liability from the driver's insurer. It is believed to be one of the highest individual personal injury payments ever made in Britain.

Motorists will face a range of new health checks to determine whether they are fit to drive under the most comprehensive reform of the driving licence system in decades. Drivers will have to declare every 10 years whether they are medically able to get behind the wheel, according to proposals to be set out early in the new year.

For the first time, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will issue a series of minimum physical and mental requirements motorists must fulfil including eyesight performance and reaction times. Tests, costing up to £80, will be offered to drivers to check whether they are fit to drive. Anyone who chooses not to take the tests but declares themselves able to take to the roads will be committing a criminal offence if they fail to meet the established standards.

The move is designed to weed out tens of thousands of motorists – many of them elderly – who use their cars while suffering from conditions which could make them a danger to themselves or others. By 2021, there will be an estimated 3 million over-70s driving on the country's roads. The Association of British Insurers has found that this age group is three times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the road than those aged 40-65.

A Department for Transport spokesman said that an overhaul was needed. "The demands on the driver licensing system are very different to those of 30 years ago," he said.

The weather forecast is for snow and ice to hit throughout the UK overnight tonight and for temperatures to plummet.

Here are some important tips to follow when driving in snow and ice and to help avoid the likelihood of a road traffic accident.

1. Stopping distances are 10 times longer in ice and snow – so keep your distance. 

2. Make very gentle stops and turns. Try to maintain a constant speed. 

3. Wear comfortable dry shoes – snow covered boots could slip easily on the pedals. 

4. Select 2^nd gear when pulling away, easing your foot gently off the clutch to avoid a wheel spin.

5. When driving downhill choose 3^rd or 4^th gear to prevent skidding.

6. Always apply the brakes gently.  Release them and de-clutch if the car skids.

7.  If you get stuck straighten the steering wheel and clear the snow from the wheels.  Put a sack or old rug in front of the driving wheels to provide the tyres with some grip.

A TERMINALLY-ILL mum is suing the council – claiming asbestos exposure at school gave her cancer. The 48-year-old from Huyton has undergone chemotherapy and surgery for mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer.

The woman is seeking damages from Knowsley council, claiming her illness was triggered by asbestos dust at her old school – Bowring Comprehensive in Huyton. Her Liverpool-based solicitors, John Pickering and Partners LLP, will tell a judge asbestos dust allegedly released during classroom renovation in the 70s was to blame for the cancer she was diagnosed with in spring, 2007. The claim is believed to be one of the first of its kind in the country.

Ruth Davies, of John Pickering, said: “I can confirm we will be representing our client and seeking damages against Knowsley council for personal injury.”

The woman was a pupil at the Western Avenue school between 1972 and 1978. It is her case that when it was first built the school had an open plan layout. But when noise from other classes affected the quality of teaching and learning, the classrooms were enclosed using materials which allegedly produced asbestos dust.

An electrical engineer who suffered terrible injuries as the result of a roadside bomb in Basra has been unsuccessful in his £1 million compensation claim.

Graham Hopps was injured in October 2003 and took action against his former employer Mott MacDonald and the Ministry of Defence.  The basis for his claim was that the men should have been supplied with armoured vehicles to take them to and from work in Iraq.

An Iraqi man lost his life in the blast and Hopps lost his right shoulder and received multiple fractures to his right arm.  He now has little or no movement in his arm and his hearing has also been impaired. His injuries have left him unable to continue with his former career.

Mr Hopps’ injuries were not covered by the employers’ liability insurance and the judge in the case concluded that he was unable to determine whether the outcome would have been different if an armoured vehicle had been u

Recent research has revealed that a significant proportion of skiers are not investing in adequate travel insurance.

These are the findings of a study undertaken by the Post Office. They discovered that 22% of travellers failed to take out insurance when going on a skiing holiday, in a misguided attempt to save money. Skiing however is a high risk sport.

75% of accidents claims, the Post Office highlights, are for medical bills and if you have no insurance it can be costly. A broken arm, for example, can cost as much a £9,000.

Rachel Croft, Head of Travel Insurance at the Post Office commented that “winter sports are great fun but there are greater risks involved”. She went on to add that due to the high cost of medical bills “adequate travel insurance is crucial”.

A man, previously employed hotel porter, who was left with serious injuries after he was run over, has won a substantial amount of compensation in accident claims.

The accident happened in 2006 and having been hit by a car, the man was left with head injuries, internal injuries and broken bones.  Because of the severity of his head injuries he will require round the clock care for the rest of his life and he now lives in a residential home.

The compensation award was settled in the High Court and it was ruled that the driver of the car involved was at least 50% responsible for the accident.

A man is to sue a council over all fall that happened whilst he was a student.  It has been reported that the man fell 20ft into a supermarket car park sustaining serious injuries back in 2003.  The man is making accident claims against the council on the grounds that they failed to maintain the fence over which he fell.

The council deny responsibility for the accident claiming that the man had been on a night out and that he had drunk eight pints at the time of the accident.

The man was hospitalized for eight months after the accident, and having sustained a brain injury he still has difficulty walking and talking. 

Recently released figures show that twelve accident claims have been made by motorists over the winter period, following falling ice causing damage to their cars.

The motorists were travelling over the Severn Bridges when the incidents occurred. As a result the Bridges were temporarily closed until they could be made safe.

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said that they were now working closely with the Met Office to ensure that these incidents do not reoccur, he went on to add that “it makes sense to use them as they are experts”.

The Highway Agency is also considering investing in Japanese technology which monitors ice build up and can act as an early warning system.

Following a recent helicopter crash, families of the victims are to seek compensation for the loss of their loved ones.

The Super Puma helicopter came down in the North Sea near Buchan,  Aberdeenshire in Scotland. 14 passengers and 2 pilots died in the accident. They were returning from the BP Miller oil platform.

Lawyers for the victims families are unable to predict how much the accident claims against the insurers of the helicopter owners could be worth. Factors such as the men's salaries and how many children they leave behind will be taken into consideration.

The family members of two young people killed in a road traffic accident in Donegal in 2005 have made successful accident claims and have been awarded compensation. Five young people were killed in the tragic accident. 

The driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident has subsequently been jailed for dangerous driving.  His car was travelling on the wrong side of the road when it collided with the victims’ car. 

The family of a worker who died in a bus accident is likely to mount civil accident claims after a hearing which found the bus company he worked for responsible for the accident.

The accident happened in 2004 when the man was working at a garage in Uxbridge, Middlesex.  The man was working on one of the buses in the garage when the bus that was parked in front, which had faulty gears, suddenly lurched backwards and crushed him.

A Health and Safety investigation found that the bus company were responsible for the accident and were in breach of the Health and Safety at work act.  They bus company were fined £400,000.

Mother of 5 year old Rupert Parsons is seeking £1.5 million with an interim personal injury compensation claim against the Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust in a unique 'wrongful birth case'.

The High Court in London heard how mother Francesca Parsons,25, has the 'extraordinary demanding' task of caring for her son. Rupert was born with severe disabilities including congenital heart defects, a cleft palate and vertebral abnormalities.

Lawyers for the family say that Rupert's father, Lee Parsons, suffers with congenital heart problems and his maternal grandmother was born with spina bifida. Given the family history Mrs Parsons pregnancy was high risk so further test should have been undertaking.

 The NHS 'admitted liability' in 2006 and it is on the basis of this compensation claim that the interim payment has been made. The NHS are disputing this amount.

The family of a 42 year old are seeking substantial compensation on behalf of their son who remains critically ill in hospital.

Chris Corder was a victim of a hit and run on September 27th 2009 which resulted with him receiving life threatening injuries. He still remains in a coma at the Colman Hospital in Norwich and will require constant care for the rest of his life.

The driver was identified as Andrew Boyd, the manager of rock star Pete Doherty, with whose car he was driving at the time. Mr Boyd was jailed for 12 months after admitting driving without insurance, leaving the scene of an accident and driving recklessly.

The Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) stated that in order to assess accident claims of this nature it is necessary to consider “all of the information to ensure the right level of compensation is granted”.

The father of a soldier from Manchester has today spoken of his family’s sorrow at his loss.  The soldier was killed in an explosion whilst he was patrolling in a lightly armoured Snatch Land Rover back in 2006.

The family is amongst four others who are seeking to make a compensation claim against the MOD because the Land Rovers did not give reasonable protection.

The MOD have been widely criticised for failure to protect troops in Iraq and Afghanistan from roadside bombs.

An MoD spokesperson has responded by acknowledging that over the last 14 months, they have received four compensation claims as the result of deaths involving Snatch Land Rovers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said, "The MoD pays compensation wherever th In these cases we remain profoundly aware of the enduring grief of the four families who lost their loved ones in combat."

The family of a young woman who was badly disfigured as the result of a head-on collision are making a compensation claim for £500,000.

The road traffic accident took place in November 2004.  The claimants Fiat Panda was hit head-on by a white van whose driver was racing with another vehicle. He was going 55 mph and attempting to pass a car on the brow of a hill when the accident occured.

The driver of the white van has recently been sentenced to 18 months in prison for dangerous driving and an additional six months for failure to turn up to court.

The claimant, who was only 18 when the crash happened suffered brain damage, a broken leg, a broken arm and serious cuts to her face which have left her with permanent scarring.

The judge at Guildford Crown Court told the defendant, “as a result of what witnesses describe as racing, you being in the second of two vans, you collided with a vehicle driven by a totally innocent young woman, who was badly injured. No sentence I can impose can compensate her.”

If you have been injured as the result of an accident which wasn’t your fault you could be entitled to make a personal injury compensation claim.

The family of a Royal Marine who was killed in action in Afghanistan is mounting an accident claim again the Ministry of Defence.  

The soldier was shot during an attack against a Taliban fort in Helmand province in 2007.  The soldier was killed by friendly fire and his family believes that had he and his patrol been equipped with night vision goggles the accident would never have happened.

An inquiry into the soldier’s death revealed that they had night vision goggles but had been ordered to put them away.  A fellow Marine told the inquiry that, "there was poor visibility and the need to use night vision goggles".

A farm working who was injured by falling bails of hay has made an accident claim.  The accident happened on a farm in Worcestershire.  The 24 year old was knocked unconscious and sustained serious injuries in the accident which took place whilst harvesting.

He was rushed to hospital and a brain scan revealed no brain injury although he sustained a severe gash to the head and a broken leg.  He will be unable to work for at least a couple of months.  The farmer has admitted liability and offered to make an out of court settlement of £5,000.  But, the solicitors acting on behalf of the man have negotiated a settlement of £10,000.

A farm worker who lost two fingers in an accident whilst harvesting apples has received compensation totalling £45,000 from his employer.

Accident claims relating to farming injuries are quite common because workers use heavy machinery and work with animals.  In this case two of the victim’s fingers were severed by faulty machinery in an accident which happened in December 2006.

Not only was he unable to resume his previous job but he was also forced to move out of his rented cottage.

The inquiry has opened into a fatal digger accident and the findings are likely to result in an accident claim.

The accident happened in Ross-shire in July 2006.  Julia Mackay, 49, was driving the car and her friend Christina Fraser, 24, was a passenger.  Christina was tragically killed when a run away digger caused the car to crash.  The haulage firm was fined last April for breach of Health and Safety law.

Earlier this year an appeal judge increased the fine from £3,750 to £30,000.

A Father is making accident claims because of an incident in a class room in which his son’s eye and brain were penetrated by a paintbrush.

The boy fell onto a classmate’s paintbrush at a primary school in Motherwell in April 2003.  The paintbrush penetrated his left eye and brain leaving him with permanent disabilities.

The boy, who was 10 at the time of the accident, was painting sheets of paper for the scenery for a school production.  He was kneeling over the painting when a girl knocked into him causing him to fall onto another classmate's paintbrush.

The boy was hospitalised for over a month after the accident.  He has no sight in his left eye and has been left with several permanent disabilities.

The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on the UKs roads has risen sharply recently.  In turn there has also been an increase in the number of accident claims.  Department of Transport figures released last week revealed that the number of cyclist killed in the first 3 months of this year was 820.  This represents an 19% increase on the same period last year.

It’s unclear whether the increase is due to new and inexperienced cyclists having accidents or more experienced cyclists who bend the law by jumping red lights etc.

A fireman is attempting to make a personal injury compensation claim of approximately half a million pounds after he was injured whilst attending a house fire.

The incident happened back in February 2008 when the fireman received 35% burns whilst attending a blaze in which a woman died.

The fireman claims that his colleagues were issued with the wrong instructions and as a result the fire intensified.

The fireman spent 10 weeks in a specialist burns unit and has undergone several operations and skin grafts.

If you have been injured in a work related accident which was not your fault you could be entitled to make a personal injury claim and you should contact an experience personal injury lawyer.

The widow of a fisherman who drowned 5 years ago has received a significant compensation payout after a successful accident claim which was eventually settled out of court.

His widow took legal action against her husbands employers after her husband drowned having fallen into the water whilst trying to board the boat.  She claimed that it was the responsibility of the skipper to ensure that her husband had a safe means of boarding the boat.

It was reported that the woman was relieved to finally be able to draw a line under the tragic accident and that the compensation would be equally divided between their 3 children.

It seems that there is a general downtrend in pedestrian accident claims for trips and falls on badly maintained pavements.  That said, councils in England have reportedly paid out more than £82 million in compensation over the past 5 years.

Leeds City Council has paid out the highest amount of compensation with their payouts totalling £10.2 million between 2004 and 2009.

It seems that although some councils are investing heavily in improving the quality of their pavements, there is still a long way to go.

A former Altrincham footballer received £32,000 in compensation following an injury he received in a football match against Ashton United.

The 34 year old suffered a broken tibia, fibia and an open fracture to his shin as a result of a tackle from defender Danny White, ending his football career.

Salesman Marcus Fallows payout from the High Court included potential loss of earnings over the past five years.

Ashton United’s Chairman, David Aspinall responded, saying that the club does not have the financial means to pay any accident claims made against them. They are considering appealing the decision, but this could spell the end of the club.

A company is due to pay £75,000 after one of its forklift trucks overturned in an accident, causing the death of the driver.

Welwood Roofing Services has been fined £50,000 plus costs due to the Health and Safety breaches, which led to the tragic event. A second company, Building Research Establishment, is being fined £17,500 plus £12,000 in costs for its role in the fatal accident.

The employee was killed while he was manoeuvring a forklift truck, that he had not been trained to use, in order to help him dismantle a fire test rig.

Alison Ashworth, a Health and Safety Executive inspector, says she hopes employers will learn to improve their policies after this case. She describes the death as avoidable if the businesses had taken sufficient precautions in confirming their workers' training.

Work related accident claims are common.  For example, a former paramedic who was injured whilst trying to save a patient’s life has recently made successful accident compensation claim for £200,000.  The man was forced to retire from his job after the accident which took place in March 2003.

The man claimed that dangerous equipment caused him to fall when he was responding to a call to a cardiac arrest.  He claims that the heavy responder bags had caused a number of accident and muscular injuries and that the local NHS Trust had not done anything about the complaints.

As a result of the accident the paramedic sustained serious shoulder injuries and was initially unable to work for a month.  Later he lost the feeling in his arm and then began to suffer excruciating pain in his back and neck.  His symptoms got worse and eventually he lost the use of his left arm and became unable to work other than for short distances.

The responder bags have since been replaced by lighter, more practical rucksacks.

Four people are receiving hospital treatment following separate car crashes in Northern Ireland.

A woman, aged in her 20s, was hurt after the car she was driving crashed on Ballydrain Road, a few miles from Comber, at about 2200 BST on Saturday.

On Sunday, a man was seriously injured when the car he was in overturned on Ballydonaghy Road near Crumlin.

Two women sustained minor injuries after a car left the Boucher Road in Belfast on Sunday and hit barriers.

According to a recent survey carried out by a well known price comparison website the number of people staging fraudulent accidents in order to make false accident claims is on the rise largely due to the recession.

It was found that 3% of drivers have considered staging an accident and 1% have actually done so.

The types of accidents apparently fall into 3 different categories.

• Staged accidents where two vehicles deliberately crash to make a claim.
• Contrived accidents where a claim is made for a crash that didn't happen.
• Induced accidents where a driver forces the vehicle behind to crash into them – for example, by braking suddenly.

According to the results of the survey men are more likely to stage an accident than women and drivers in their 20s are the worst offenders.

Drivers found guilty processing fraudulent claims are warned that they will find it almost impossible to get car insurances in the future.

A little girl who was shaken so violently by her evil father that she went blind has been awarded £500,000 compensation. Amy Laycock, four, was left blind and brain-damaged after her father attacked her in hospital.

The youngster was violently shaken by David Charlton when she was just 10 weeks old, but now solicitors have secured a half-a-million-pound payout, the highest possible amount available under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2001. As well as being blind and severely brain-damaged, Amy is also epileptic, unable to walk or talk and will be wheelchair-bound for the rest of her life. The payout will cover the costs of the essential care Amy requires, including accommodation, transport, equipment and the cost of additional carers.

Emma, who also has a son Robbie, six, added: 'I am so grateful to my solicitors for being able to arrange this payment for Amy and to my family, who have been so supportive and who help so much with my daughter's care.

Irwin Mitchell solicitor Paul Brown, who represented Amy and Emma, said: 'The assault that Amy was subjected to was horrific and left her requiring 24-hour care for the rest of her life. 'The payment that we secured will be used to provide an improved quality of life for her for the future. Irwin Mitchell and her family will ensure it is spent with her best interests in mind. 'The payment that we secured for Amy will be used to provide an improved quality of life for her for the future. 'While we are pleased to have secured £500,000 for Amy's future care, the maximum possible award in cases like this, we would have preferred the scheme to have been much more generous to accurately reflect Amy's true needs. 'Usually in personal injury cases, the settlement would be carefully assessed, to ensure it accurately reflects the long-term care needs of the victim. 'However, because Amy was unfortunate enough to have been inflicted with such serious injuries during a criminal assault, her payout is capped at this level by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).

If your children have been injured in an accident that wasn't their fault, you could be entitled to compensation. Contact a personal injury lawyer today.

A golfer is planning to mount accident claims which could total £50,000 against a club where he slipped on the shower floor.

The man, who is a retired Lloyds underwriter, has not been able to pursue his golfing hobby since the accident and has had an operation costing £5,000 and physiotherapy treatment.  He has said that the accident has ruined his life particularly because he is no longer able to play golf.

He is claiming that the golf club, in East Sussex, was negligent in failing to use sufficient anti-slip measures.

The California Supreme Court has been accused of undermining the concept of the Good Samaritan after it allowed a paralysed woman to sue the friend who pulled her out of a crashed car.

Alexandra Van Horn claims that Lisa Torti pulled her out of the vehicle, which had just crashed into a lamp post at 45mph, "like a rag doll" and contributed to her injuries. Miss Torti, who was travelling in the car behind, says she believed the wrecked vehicle was about to burst into flames. In a landmark decision that critics have said only proves the maxim that no good deed goes unpunished, the court decided that California's Good Samaritan law only protects people from liability if they are administering emergency aid.

Justice Carlos Moreno noted in the ruling that people were not obligated to come to someone's aid but, if they did so, they had a "duty to exercise due care". The 4-3 ruling was criticised by dissenting judges as "illogical" and that the legislation clearly aimed "to encourage persons not to pass by those in need of emergency help, but to show compassion and render the necessary aid".

"The moral here is if you are rescuing or helping someone in an emergency, be sure and administer some medical care. Carry Band-Aids!" said Jim Porter, a California lawyer.

A grandmother is to join the growing number of people who are making accident claims as a result of the icy weather.  She had to be taken to hospital after falling on an untreated road and is now seeking compensation from Waltham Forest Council.

She was treated for concussion and a head injury at Whipps Cross University Hospital after the fall.

The accident happened on 23rd December but she is still suffering from dizzy spells.  The local authority is being blamed for her accident because it is claimed that they did not adequately grit the road surface.

With more heavy snow forecast and a shortage of grit motorists are warned to take even more care than usual.  It has been reported that the treacherous roads could lead to more road traffic accidents and in turn an increase in personal injury claims.

For example, gritting in Warwickshire will be limited to 33 main roads after the council's salt suppliers warned they were running out of stocks.

Warwickshire County Council said secondary routes would not be gritted and grit bins would not be filled to ration the remaining stocks.

Forecasters have warned there could be heavy snow overnight tonight across Coventry and Warwickshire.

They said there could be up to 8ins (20cm) in parts of the West Midlands.
The council said it would still ensure accesses to hospitals and at least one road into every village were gritted. 
 

It has been reported that some insurers, particularly in Northern Ireland, are deliberately settling accident claims quickly in order that victims don’t get a chance to seek the advice of a solicitor.  This means that they are likely to receive a lower amount in compensation which is obviously a good thing for their insurers.

The Law Society are arguing that it can take several weeks for the full extent of injuries to be known and therefore an early settlement could be a disadvantage to the accident victim.  Some insurance companies are apparently contacting accident victims a couple of hours after the accident occurred.

Insurers should always tell claimants that they have a right to seek legal advice.

Leading health and safety authority the British Safety Council (BSC) today welcomed the deterrent provided by the introduction of the Health and Safety (Offences) Act.

The BSC was already concerned that businesses should not cut back on crucial training and systems for short term gains in these difficult economic times, and believes that the Act will help to strengthen awareness of the need to maintain vigorous risk controls and safety management systems to avoid costly payouts, fines and even imprisonment.

Brian Nimick, CEO of the BSC said: “With the new risk of higher fines and possible imprisonment for health and safety offences, this law should act as a deterrent and increase awareness of the need to adequately train and protect workers. Risks including accidents, illness and even deaths among the workforce could cost far more in the long term than the short term savings gained from cutting back on training.” \

• Such incidents already cost British businesses £7.8b a year, which equates to £250 a second.
• The BSC 2008 annual survey of employer and worker perceptions found that 2 out of 3 (62%) of workers had had little or no safety training at work, and almost half of Britain’s bosses had offered no training nor had any audits or risk assessment systems in place.
• 229 people died at work during 2007/8 (HSE).
• 34 million working days were lost overall to work-related illness and injury
• annual bill for employers in payouts and costs for accidents and injuries at work is £7.8 billion
• cost to the overall economy of £31.8 billion (3), the health and safety risk is costing the nation £1000 every second

To the economy as a whole (including NHS and benefits costs) the cost is £31.8b which is the equivalent of £500 for every man, woman and child in the UK or £1000 pr second, and could build 10 brand new NHS hospitals! While many companies take their responsibilities very seriously, BSC is concerned that in the present climate some employers (especially small businesses) may see training as an easy target to cut costs.

Personal injury claims could also rise in the absence of adequate training and H&S management systems (with an average cost to businesses of £30,000 per claim).

Whether a global business, a small business, a public body or a charitable or voluntary organisation BSC is urging all organisations to ensure that their staff have the right training and information to understand and appreciate the risks they face at work and are taught how to manage the risks effectively. It is essential that workers are trained and where appropriate qualified to identify and manage the risks they face in the workplace.

According to the findings of a recent survey 62% of employees believe that their employers are putting less money into health and safety measures and are cost cutting in this area due to the recession.

This could back fire on employers and prove to be a false economy with employees taking more time off work to recover from sickness and work related accidents.  We are also likely to see a significant rise in the number of personal injury claims.

A Coventry Man has won the right to take legal action against the hospital he believes to be responsible for his severe disabilities sustained during his birth.

 Jonathon Khairule, 27, who has cerebral palsy, has started a legal challenge against Tameside General Hospital which is in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester. He is arguing that the North West Strategic Health Authority should be held responsible for the injuries that he suffered during his birth.

The authority has argued that it is too late for him to bring this claim quoting the law which states that personal injury claims must be brought within 3 years. In relation to children the 3 year period starts when the claimant turns 18.

It was argued by Jonathon Khairule’s lawyer that the ruling is up the discretion of the judge.

Mr Khairule requires round the clock care and is only able to communicate using a key board. He explained that it wasn’t until he was in his 20s that he started to investigate the circumstances of his birth and whether he might be entitled to compensation.

The High Court officially found in Mr Khairule’s favour in July 2008, meaning he is now free to take action against the Strategic Health Authority.

The Highways Agency is likely to face a number of accident claims for failing to adequately protect Westcountry motorists during treacherous weather earlier this year.  A stretch of the A30 between Okehampton in Devon and Bodmin in Cornwall had to be closed on 21s January after a number of accidents were caused by sheet ice on the road.

The law states that the Highways Agency and local authorities have a duty to keep the roads clear of snow and ice.  It is being claimed that they failed to fulfill their duty in this case.

Some of those involved in the accidents sustained serious injuries and have long term problems as a result.

A man who sustained life threatening injuries after he was hit by a drunk driver has made successful accident claims and has been awarded £1.1million in compensation.

The man sustained a traumatic brain injury, and multiple fractures to his face, left leg, left shoulder and arms.  He also had lacerations on his scalp and lost the majority of his tongue.

He was in a coma for six weeks after the accident and was in hospital for a further 2 months and then spent 9 months in a rehabilitation unit.  He now needs a part-time carer.

A personal injury writ, issued at London's High Court, highlighted a catalogue of complaints alleged at a tour operator following a stay in an all inclusive hotel in the Dominican Republic.

409 holidaymakers claimed they suffered from acute gastroenteritis whilst staying at The Bahia Principe Hotel in San Juan. Guests complaints included witnessing unwashed and undercooked food being served, the buffet area covered in flies, animals being allowed in the hotel, mice on the tables and bottled water being replaced bytap water.

Tour operators, First Choice Holidays, say “we are concerned to learn of any alleged illness...The Bahia Principe continues to be a popular resort” with guests “experiencing the high levels of quality they expect from First Choice”.

The holidaymakers hope to receive full compensation for illness, disappointment, anxiety and distress that they suffered and there are likely to be accident claims as the result of their experiences.

A court ruling earlier this year which stripped a Medway teenager of an estimated £1 million compensation for injuries he received in a freak accident on a bouncy castle has won the backing of the highest court in the land – the House of Lords.

Three law lords have refused permission for an appeal on behalf of tragic Samuel Harris, now 13, against an Appeal Court ruling that he is not entitled to compensation for the devastating injuries which have left him wholly dependant on others. In what is believed to have been the first claim over a bouncy castle party accident Samuel, through his mother, Janet Harris, had sued Timothy and Catherine Perry who had booked the castle for a party for their 10-year-old triplets.

In May this year Samuel’s claim was allowed by a High Court judge who ruled that there should be a later hearing to assess how much should be paid in damages. However, it was unofficially estimated that the amount could be as high as £1 million.

The Health and Safety Executive recognises that slips and fall are more likely to occur during cold weather and that these conditions could lead to an increase in accident claims.

They offer advice to employers and business owners on how to reduce the risk of slips on ice, frost or snow.

Firstly, they suggest that you identify the areas which are most used by pedestrians and therefore most likely to become icy like the entrances to buildings. 

Monitor the weather conditions and take action when the forecast is for freezing weather.  They suggest checking the Met Office Website, BBC Weather Website and the Highways Agency website for information.

They suggest the following measures for preventing falls on slippery surfaces – use grit, covering walkways to prevent overnight freezing, diverting pedestrians via alternative and routes when ice forms.

The icy weather is likely to increase the number of accident claims being made.  There has been a marked rise in the number of fracture cases treated in hospitals throughout the country because of the icy weather.  The incidents involving pedestrians slipping on icy pavements has increased as well as car accidents.

Heads of accident and emergency departments have reported a higher number of patients being treated with some hospitals reporting being stretched to the limit.

The bad weather is putting additional strain on all hospital emergency departments with an increase in waiting times.

Industry News: Drug compensation awards

More than 59,000 people have registered for the personal injury settlement against pharmaceutical company Merck.

Merck agreed in November 2007 to pay out almost $5 billion in damages to people who suffered adverse reactions to their drug  Vioxx.

Vioxx was a globally popular general painkiller, which the company was forced to take off the market in 2004 after a clinical trial showed that it increased the chance of strokes and heart attacks.

Administrators have enough records to review over 9,100 of the 59,000 claims. Merck agreed to the $4.85 billion settlement with hopes of ending the 50,000 personal injury lawsuits against them. "Without this settlement, the claims might very well stretch on for years," Merck executive vice president Kenneth Frazier said during a conference call.

 It was less than many thought the company would wind up spending, and Merck’s initial strategy of challenging cases one by one (and winning most of them) still looks like a smart move…But with the benefit of hindsight, we wonder if the company might have settled for less if it had held out for longer

Noting the decision many were quick to point out that although in settlement terms, it was a substantial amount, compared to Merck’s financial clout it is something of a drop in the ocean

 For Merck, which has already spent more than $1.2 billion on Vioxx-related legal fees, the settlement will put to rest any fears that Vioxx lawsuits might bankrupt the company, or even have a significant financial impact. While eye-popping, the settlement payment represents less than one year’s profits for the company, the third-largest American drug maker.

A construction worker who was seriously injured when a wall he was helping to demolish fell on him could make a compensation claim after a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) ruling.  The building company that he worked for has been fined £8,000 by the HSE.

As a result of the accident the man suffered multiple fractures to his leg, collar bone and arm as well as back injuries.  His injuries were so severe that he has been unable to return to work since the accident happened back in July.

It is likely that after the ruling the man will look at the possibility of making accident claims against his former employer.

Nearly three years after being involved in a near fatal accident, a cyclist is claiming for compensation for personal injury.

The 72 year old was knocked off her bike and hit her head on the kerb when a motorist opened her car door. The lady from Woodford Green suffered a blood clot to the brain which required emergency surgery. This was followed by nine months of recuperation in hospital leaving her with brain damage.

Since the incident in 2007, Mrs Abbess has been taken care of by her husband Christopher. An accident claim had been submitted in relation to her injuries and the driver is being accused of negligence. He husband confirmed that legal action was underway but he made no further comment.

Accident claims relating to different types road traffic accidents are on the increase.  For example a lorry driver who was injured when his vehicle was blown over in high winds has recently won £86,000 in compensation from the haulage company that he worked for.

The man sustained ankle, shin and wrist fractures as well as injuries to his face.  He will be unable to return to this type of work and may never work again.

The man’s solicitor argued that the vehicle, which was full of empty plastic bottles, was too light and should not have been used on that day.  Haulage companies have a duty to protect their drivers in bad weather conditions.

A 29 year old man is to receive a large sum in compensation for his injuries following a car accident and for the medical negligence which ensued.

The man, from Romford Essex, was travelling in the passenger seat of a car. He momentarily unfastened his seatbelt to deal with his 18 month old child when the car, driven by his partner, collided with the one front.

Tragically, the crash caused the man to break his back resulting in paralysis. His condition was further aggravated by the hospitals failure to identify a 'deteriorating neurological condition'.

The claimant is expected to receive between £2 million and £3 million in compensation. 80% from the NHS for medical negligence and 20% from his partners insurers for his accident claim.

A mechanic has been given the go ahead to take legal action to seek compensation for injuries he incurred at work.

Martyn Coope was at the controls of a fork lift truck when it crashed into a lorry due to brake failure. He had previously reported this fault to his employers.

The 17 year old received extensive injuries to his arm. Following skin grafts and the insertion of metal rods, he still has not retained full use of it.

Mr Coope's employers, William West Distribution, have since admitted that they had been in breach of health and safety laws. The firm was fined £27,000.

Following this ruling, he will now submit an accident claim against his former employers in the civil courts.

An inmate is suing the Prison Service after injuring himself by jumping off a roof in a failed escape bid. Convicted robber Nathan Brooks, 31, broke bones in both feet when he jumped 30ft from the roof three years ago.

He is now seeking compensation amid claims he did not receive sufficient treatment because he was moved from prison to prison. Brooks' action is costing the taxpayer thousands of pounds in legal costs after hiring a firm of solicitors and a barrister to fight his case.

Conservative MP David Davies blasted the publicly-funded damages claim. He said: "Yet another bunch of lawyers will have made a mint pursuing this spurious claim on behalf of a criminal.” The fact that such a ludicrous case has come to court just goes to show how little common sense there is in this country when it comes to dealing with justice. "It's ridiculous that a prisoner trying to escape can make such a claim against the prison authorities."

Brooks,  was injured leaping from the roof of Usk prison in South Wales, in an attempt to escape. Prison staff found him collapsed on a road outside the jail and he needed surgical plates inserted into both heels. He was left with osteoarthritis and cannot walk unaided. He claims he has gone through 20 months of extreme pain waiting to have one of the plates removed.

It was revealed last night that a woman’s last chance for a child was shattered when her embryo was mistakenly implanted into the wrong patient.

The woman has received damages of £25,000 from Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust.  The mistake is being blamed on a trainee who failed to follow the correct checking procedure.

The rise in serious blunders relating to IVF treatment is likely to result in a rise in personal injury claim cases.

Statistics show that a growing number of people are having to make claims after developing latex allergies. Many professionals come into contact with the material, but those most often exposed to it are healthcare workers, car mechanics and caterers who all use latex gloves in the course of their daily work.

There are plans by the government to amend legislation to make animal keepers liable for injury.

The initiative to amend the law has come in the wake of the tragic accident which took place in Yorkshire when a woman died having been trampled by a herd of cows whilst walking her dog.

However, the proposed changes are thought by some to be likely to over complicate the law surrounding accident claims and animals and potentially lead to more complicated litigation to clarify the meaning of the law.

A Yorkshire law firm went under the miners' compensation microscope at a hearing in London this week - hot on the heels of two Doncaster solicitors being struck off for dishonesty. Six solicitors from Raleys, based in Barnsley and Wakefield, will face several allegations of misconduct during a four week inquiry in front of the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal.

It follows soon after the decision of the tribunal to strike-off Jim Beresford and Douglas Smith, both formerly of Lakeside-based Beresfords Solicitors, for professional misconduct.

Raleys pursued more than 50,000 personal injury claims for miners and their families under the Coal Health Compensation Scheme. It is alleged that the law firm advised retired miners that if they agreed to pay part of any compensation to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), it would fund their legal claim.

Raleys deny any wrong-doing. The firm is thought to have gained £332m in payouts for miners through the compensation scheme - earning £92 million for its work on coal-health claims. Beresfords Solicitors acted in more than 83,000 cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and over 14,500 cases of Vibration White Finger (VWF).

The Law Society is offering advice on how to go about making accident claims due to the icy weather.  Reports suggest that there is likely to be an increase in claims because of the freezing weather conditions which have swept through the UK recently.  There is also likely to be some confusion about what sorts of accidents can be claimed for and how.

The advice of the Law Society is to contact a specialist solicitor, like First Personal Injury, if you think you may be entitled to make a claim rather than pursuing your claim through a claims management company.

In a recent interview, Law Society president Robert Heslett explained that, "Solicitors are very approachable and many offer free first interviews for personal injury claims so there is no need for consumers to use a claims management company to make a claim. Consumers should always approach a solicitor directly when they want advice about a personal injury claim. Going through a claims management company could delay your case and will introduce a middle man who offers no benefit."

A report today by the BBC suggested that there is a link between the toxins present in the air systems of commercial airliners and neurological damage suffered by pilots.

Research carried out on behalf of campaigners has found a link between the illness, which has developed in some airline staff, and the fumes which are sometimes present in the cabin and cockpit of jet engines.  It is thought that up to 200,000 UK passengers could be exposed to the dangerous chemicals each year.

The aircraft manufacturers BAe and Boeing say the air supplies in their planes meet  the required health and safety standards but it is thought that the discovery could lead to a number of compensation claims.

A man who was injured in a work related accident has received an accident compensation claim payout.

The man, who was working for a company in Salford Manchester at the time, sustained injuries to his spine when an air conditioning unit fell on him, whilst it was being moved.

The man was unable to work for a year and has been unable to return to the job he was doing at the time the accident occurred.

A  22 year old man from Newquay in Cornwall is attempting to make a personal injury claim for an eye injury caused when he was 14 in a school playground. 

The man was hit in the eye by a stone and the injury he sustained has left him with sight problems.  The man had hoped to pursue a career as a professional footballer.

He claims that Cornwall County Council is responsible for what happened because there was inadequate playground supervision at the time.

A man from South Devon is facing a High Court claim for unlimited damages for leaving a teenage motorcyclist a 'paraplegic'.

A High Court writ has been issued against the man for personal injury compensation and losses as a result of the accident which happened in Hampshire in April 2006.

The claim is for at least £300,000 but could end up being higher as the boy will need considerable care for the rest of his life.

A 29 year old man is seeking compensation for horrific injuries he received whilst taking part in the Isle of Man Grand Prix.

Alan Jacksons motorbike frame allegedly split in two causing him to lose control. He was dramatically airlifted to hospital.

The motor bike enthusiast has since had to give up his £40,000+ job due to the nature of his injuries. He claims one leg is now shorter than the other.

In his accident claim Mr Jackson is seeking £300,000 compensation from Suzuki alleging that the welding on the frame was ineffective and that the company was negligent in not following correct safety checks.

A man who was badly injured when the factory he was working in exploded has been successful in his accident claim.

The man was working at a factory operated by ICL Plastics and ICL Tech in Glasgow when the accident occurred in May 2004. 

The explosion killed 9 people and injured 33 and has been described as one of the most serious accidents of its kind.

The man was almost killed in the accident and because of the resulting injuries his house has had to be adapted and he requires on going care.

An out-of-court settlement has been reached with ICL. 

A businessman who has been paralysed as the result of a skiing accident has launched a High Court action for millions of pounds in personal injury compensation.

Graham Anderson is 46 and lives in Devon. He was injured whilst on a skiing trip to the French Alps in February 2004. The accident occurred when he was skiing off-piste and crashed into a tree. He is now a tetraplegic. He is suing the ski company who are based in Cambridgeshire alleging a breach of duty on their part for allowing the instructor to take him on the run. Mr Anderson claims that he only had limited experience and should not have been taken on the run.

The case is expected to last 6 days.

A cyclist who knocked over a schoolboy at a pedestrian crossing has admitted careless cycling he was granted a 12-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £75 personal injury compensation to the boy for the minor injuries sustained during the accident.

He had hit the boy after cycling past stationary traffic at a red traffic light, Oxford Magistrates' Court was told.

There has been growing concern about the number of bike accidents in which injury is caused to pedestrians. 
 
Jason Howard, 36, was fined £2,200 last July for dangerous cycling after he knocked over Rhiannon Bennett, 17, as she walked along a pavement in Buckingham. She later died of her injuries.

In November 2007 Peter Messen, 28, was ordered to do 300 hours of community work after killing a pedestrian while riding his mountain bike on a pavement in Truro, Cornwall. Gary Green died of a fractured skull.

A man has been awarded compensation after successful accident claims totalling £3 million.  The man, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, was with a blind friend and attempting to cross a London road in 2007 when they were knocked down by a speeding car.

The crash left the man with a serious spinal injury and the psychological damage has been lasting.  The man has been traumatised by the incident and now requires 24 hour care.

Work related accidents and subsequent accident claims could often be avoided.  Recently a man has received compensation after breaking his arm in an accident which took place in a factory in Staffordshire.  The man was carrying out tests on a vehicle when a faulty step caused him to fall and break his arm.

The man had to have two operations on his arm and he needed more than a year off work to recover from his injuries.  He now has 30% disability in his arm.

He has been able to work but in a different role.  His employers admitted liability and made a substantial out of court settlement.

After being involved in a car accident that was not his fault, a Cornish motorist has pursued a claim for personal injury compensation.

The motorist was stationary waiting to join a roundabout on the A30 in Cornwall when another driver drove into the rear of his vehicle, damaging his car and injuring him. The impact caused soft tissue injuries to his neck and lower back as well as considerable anxiety for several months afterwards.

The personal injury claim was successful and he received £5,400 in car accident compensation.

A 21-year-old man has won his court case for a personal injury claim against West Midlands Strategic Health Authority after staff at Sandwell General Hospital starved him of oxygen at birth, which led to brain damage.

He is now expected to receive compensation, from the health authority, totalling seven figures after the four-day High Court trial.

The claimant’s mother says she had a completely normal pregnancy but that problems were picked up with her son’s heartbeat during labour. A specialist was called but failed to turn up and midwives took longer than necessary to deliver the baby as they were unqualified to use forceps.

The health authority always denied that the delays during the labour were the cause of her sons the cerebral palsy.

The judge on the case concluded that, if the specialist had arrived five minutes after being called, which was possible, the baby would have been delivered nine minutes earlier. As he did not arrive, the baby was born 15 minutes later, which could have caused severe oxygen deprivation, which caused the cerebral palsy.

If you have suffered an injury during an accident which wasn’t your fault, or been a victim of medical negligence, you should speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer like First Personal Injury.

A man who sustained a fractured skull in a work related accident has received a substantial personal injury compensation payout.

The man was given the accident claim payout for an incident which happened in July 2007 when he was working for the Severn Engineering Company.  The man was involved in fitting a handrail at the University of Wales.  He was struck on the head by a metal post which fell from the top of the staircase.

His injuries included a fractured skull, facial and soft tissue injuries.  He was unable to work for two years and still suffers from memory loss.

A recent article in the Oxford Times reported that a man has been successful in his personal injury claim after a road traffic accident in which he sustained serious injuries. 

The man was a passenger in a car and was being given a lift home from his job at a fast food takeaway restaurant when the accident happened. 

After the accident the man had to be cut from the car and received emergency surgery and later reconstructive surgery to his eye.

The man has recently been awarded a payout of £340,000

A man seeking to make a personal injury compensation claim from his local council after his wife died after slipping on an icy path has been given renewed hope because a new witness has come forward.

The 66-year-old man is seeking damages from Angus Council, claiming council workmen failed to grit the pavement, on which his wife slipped, until after her accident.

The witness who has come forward recently has agreed to state how icy the path was in an attempt by the claimant to prove that the path had not been gritted prior to the accident involving his wife.

As a result of a bang to the head sustained during the accident the woman fell into a coma and later died.  The claimant is seeking significant damages.

A spokesperson from the council, which has launched an investigation into the accident, which occurred on 4 February stated, "I can confirm the council's winter roads maintenance policy was adhered to." It denies there was any gritting shortages in the area.

If you’ve been injured in an accident which wasn’t your fault, you could be entitled to make a personal injury claim and you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer.

A man who was hit by a car as he stood on the pavement outside a shop is attempting to make an accident compensation claim.

The man who was 38 at the time of the accident had to spend over 3 months in hospital and after countless operations, had to have his leg amputated below the knee. He is unlikely to be able to return to his former employment because of his injuries.

The driver of the car is thought to have lost control of the vehicle and mounted the pavement.

The injured man is planning to seek damages for medical care and loss of earnings.

An asylum seeker was being sought by the authorities last night after the car insurance fraud he masterminded was uncovered.

The fraud involved staging hundreds of bogus road accidents to take advantage of the no win, no fee system offered by many personal injury lawyers.

His accomplices took out insurance and then deliberately staged fake accidents.  After the accident they would complain of neck back and whiplash injuries and make personal injury claims using the insurance cover.

Detectives believe that gang may have involved 1000 members.

A man, who sustained serious injuries when the car he was a passenger in crashed, is making an accident claim.   The road traffic accident happened in 2006 and the man was left with serious damage to his chest and a head injury.

At the time the man had been training to be an apprentice carpenter.  He was travelling in the front passenger seat of the car when the accident happened between Oakhan and Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.  The three passengers in the back of the car died.

He is attempting to sue the driver of the car who he believes was negligent.  As a result of the accident the man is at increased risk of developing epilepsy, suffers from memory loss and extreme fatigue and aggression.

He is suing for £250,000, which includes £100,000 for loss of earnings.

A man who sustained an injury in work related accident is attempting to make a personal injury claim.  The man’s finger was crushed whilst he was using a crane to move the frame of an aircraft.  The frame swung round causing his finger to be trapped between the crane and the frame.

It has recently come to light that the man’s employees have admitted liability and have agreed to make a settlement.

A man whose back was broken in a road traffic accident has received a accident claim payout of £300,000.

The man was involved in a head on collision in Crawley, West Sussex in June 2006.  He suffered four broken vertebrae, head injuries and fractures to his hand and thighs.

He needed extensive hospital treatment and operations. He now walks with a stick and his ability to work has been affected. 

The driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident was convicted of drink driving and banned for 4 years.

A business in Wolverhampton has been ordered to pay £8,000 after a personal injury claim by a man who was injured in a work related accident when he fell from a crane onto a concrete floor.

The accident happened in June 2008 and the man sustained multiple injuries including fractures to his skull, a broken collarbone and broken ribs.  It was claimed that the crane had not been maintained properly.

The business were ordered to pay the man compensation and also to pay the costs of the case.

A man from Frome in Somerset has won a large personal injury compensation claim payout after his teeth were damaged.

The man’s teeth were damaged after he bit into a biscuit which contained a stone the size of a hazelnut.  The biscuit was bought from Sainsbury’s and was part of their Taste the Difference range.  After an 18-month battle the man has been awarded £11,000 settlement.

The man required a large amount of expensive dental work as a result of the accident.

A man from the Midlands was seriously injured on Christmas Eve 2007 when a delivery lorry ran over his leg twice.  The man has since made a successful accident claim and received £350,000 in compensation.

The accident happened whilst the man was helping a colleague to deliver beer to a pub.  They were maneuvering the lorry in the pub car park when the accident happened.  The lorry reversed over the mans leg and then drove back over it again before the driver noticed.

The incident has left the man psychologically scarred as well as physically disabled.

An electrical engineer from Rotherham has received compensation through successful accident claims after shattering and later having to have his leg amputated after a fall at work.  The man was fixing cabling and had not been provided with an appropriate harness when he fell and severely damaged his legs.

The man’s left ankle was so badly shattered in the fall that his leg had to be amputated below the knee.  The man has received £450,000 in compensation from his employers on the basis that he should have been provided with scaffolding or a safety harness to prevent the fall occurring. 

Two men who attempted to make bogus accident claims against Oldham Council have been jailed for total of 10 months.

One of the men claimed that he had injured himself in a fall on defective steps in June 2004.  His claims were supported by a friend who said that he had witnessed the accident. An investigation found that the man had been alone at the time of the accident and it had not been witnessed by his friend.  Subsequently, the case was referred to the Crime Prosecution Service and the police.  The man was order to pay court fees totalling £6,405, then charged and later jailed along with his friend.

Miners who suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee have been given the go ahead to make compensation claims.  The condition is caused by long hours working underground and Miners who have worked in the mining industry in the North East for at least 10 years are now able to claim for Industrial Disablement Benefit.

This condition is one of the most common types of osteoarthritis and occurs when the cartilage which joins the thigh bone to the shin becomes worn and weakened.  This leads to thickening of the bone which in turn leads to pain, inflammation, stiffness and swelling.

Former Miners have been advised to get in touch a Jobcentre Plus in their area who will be able to give them the forms which need to be completed in order to make a compensation claim.

Last week, the street identified as the most accident prone in Britain was made safe last week with the use of 1,500 sq metres of bubble wrap!

Literally everything including cars, bins and lamp posts were wrapped up.  According to research by a car insurance comparison website the residents of the street – Somerville Road in Worcester – have made the highest number of accident claims in the whole of the UK.

It was also bubble wrap's 50th birthday last week, which will be celebrated with the tenth annual 'Bubblewrap Appreciation Day'.

Dozens of motorcyclists' lives could be saved every year if air bag jackets were made compulsory, accident and emergency doctors have said.

The jackets are the equivalent of car air bags and inflate if the rider is thrown off during a motorcycle accident.

In one version, the jacket is attached to the bike by a lead which detaches when the rider has come off suddenly.

The Department of Transport said it had no plans for a new law but said it welcomed anything to improve safety.

Although motorcyclists make up just 1% of road users, they account for 20% of fatalities. Figures for 2007 show that 561 bikers died on the roads in bike accidents.

Andy Parfitt, an A&E doctor at St Thomas' Hospital in London, said: "There is a shocking number of deaths of motorcyclists on the roads. I think dozens of lives could be saved if these jackets were made compulsory".

If you have been involved in an accident that wasn't your fault you may be entitled to make a personal injury claim and you should speak to an experience personal injury lawyer like First Personal Injury.

A potentially multi-million-pound accident claim case began yesterday.

The case is being brought by the family of a cyclist who represented Guernsey in the 1998 Commonwealth Games but who was severely injured whilst out training when he was struck by a car in November 1998.

The man sustained serve physical and brain injuries and his family are claiming £18 million from the driver of the car.

Liability for the accident is not in question but the amount of damages is.  The case is expected to last approximately six weeks.

A 48 year old woman in suing Essex County Council after injuring both her ankles on a badly resurfaced road.

Mandy Goldman was alighting from a bus on Loughton High Street, when she stumbled on uneven tarmac which caused her to fall. As a result she broke one ankle and damaged cartilage in her other.

Mystery shopper Mrs Goldman said that council safety officers were aware in 2007 of the damaged road surface and despite their recommendations for it to be repaired, nothing was ever done. She went on to say that “I am in a lot of pain. The council don’t seem to care-it still isn’t fixed.”

A council report states that they have received no other accident claims relating to the site but Mrs Goldman believes other people may have been injured. A spokeswoman for Essex council refused to comment further on the subject saying “it was a private matter between the individual and ourselves”.

Middlesbrough Council is introducing new rules to govern where and when businesses can put out signs and goods on the pavement.

The rules have been introduced because of the increasing number of personal injury claims by pedestrians who have been injured after tripping over signs or goods which are displayed outside shops.

Local trader will now have to apply to the council for a license before anything can be placed on the pavement.

Clinical negligence payouts by the NHS in England are expected to rise by 80% next year.

NHS Trusts have set aside £713m to cover costs of personal injury claims, up from about £400m this year, figures obtained by the Tories show.
 
Shadow health minister Mark Simmonds said the payments would have a severe impact on hospital budgets.

But the government insists the payouts, which have increased partly because of changes in the way cost of care is calculated, are "fully covered" so will not impact on the budgets allocated for patient care.

The NHS litigation authority collects money every winter from health trusts to cover expected clinical negligence payouts.

 Steve Walker, chief executive of the NHS Litigation Authority, said part of the increase was prompted by a recent ruling in the Court of Appeal - the Thompstone judgement - which changes the way that payments for care are calculated.

He also said the move to more "no win no fee" cases had increased costs "dramatically" because it meant that solicitors were picking their cases carefully. "The proportion of successful claims has gone up and is rising," he said.

A spokesman for the Department of Health insisted that the anticipated increase in clinical negligence payments had been fully funded and that "there is no black hole." He added: "The premium collected in 2009/10 is substantially higher than previous years because of delayed settlement of more than 100 high-value cases.

A growing number of pupils are making personal injury claims againt their schools.

In Norfolk alone between 2006 and 2009 more than £16,000 has been paid out in compensation to students. Accident claim instances range from £832 for a pupil being run over by a vehicle on school premises to £5,500 after a student slipped on a wet floor.

Norfolk County Council and Child Services say they are making every effort to work together assessing risks in order to avoid accidents occurring.

The number of personal injury claims being made is currently on the rise for a variety of reasons.

People are struggling financially because of the general economic downturn and are therefore possibly more inclined to make an accident claim.

The costs associated with Health and Safety have become less of a priority as employers struggle to stay afloat.

People often lose their private health insurance cover when they are made redundant and this means that as more people turn to the NHS for treatment, there are more medical negligence claims.

However, not all of the reasons are financial, we’ve mentioned a couple of times the very cold weather in January which led to an increased number of potholes in our roads which in turn led to an increase in road traffic accidents.

If you have been injured in a work related accident or road traffic accident which wasn’t your fault, you could be entitled to make a personal injury claim.

A US Court has award $6 million to a 63 year old Musician after a botched injection led to the amputation of her right arm.  The woman is delighted with the payout but would still rather have her arm.

She is reported to have said, "People say that: 'I would give my right arm.' They might even say `I would give my right arm for $6 million. I say I would give $6 million for MY right arm. I'd much rather have that".

The woman, who was a professional musician, played guitar, piano and bass in a band and performed for children before her world fell apart in 2000. She was suffering from a migraine headache and went to a clinic where she was given painkillers and received an intramuscular injection of Phenergan.

When she still felt nauseated, she was given an "IV-push" of the drug, with the second injection accidentally puncturing an artery. Gangrene set in. Several weeks later, the arm was amputated.

"It basically took away my whole musical identity. I'd been playing music for 30 years, working with kids, writing songs. I played guitar, piano, bass in a rock band. I couldn't do any of those things anymore," she said.

If you’ve sustained an injury as the result of an accident which wasn’t your fault, you should contact a personal injury lawyer who may be able to help you to make a personal injury claim.

The Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman was the driver in a recent road traffic accident during which his passenger, with whom he was romantically involved at the time, sustained a whiplash injury.  The claimant has filed the case because she says that the accident changed her life and she suffered both physically and mentally as a result of it.

Her legal case claims that he was driving dangerously, without due care and attention, at the time of the accident.

The exact figure which she is claiming has not been disclosed.

If you have been involved in a car accident which wasn’t your fault and have suffered an injury you should explore the possibilities of making a personal injury claim by speaking to an experienced personal injury lawyer.

A 26 year old former bricklayer, from Dobwells, Cornwall, was awarded over £2m in compensation as a result of the injuries he suffered in a car crash near Liskard in 2003.

Anthony Bennett was a rear seat passenger in a car driven by his friend Jonathan Stephens. Unfortunately, Mr Stephens, 19, died in the accident which occurred when Mr Stephens lost control and hit a boulder.

As a result of the crash, Mr Bennett was left a paraplegic and wheelchair bound. He stayed in hospital for several months after sustaining serious spinal injuries.

Following long running negotiations between the two sides, Mr Stephen’s insurers finally settled with accident claims in the region of £2m. Neither Mr Bennett nor his family were in the court.

The BBC reported again today on the group of parents who are suing Mclaren over injuries to their children’s fingers.

At least 15 families in this country are making accident claims against Mclaren claiming that the manufacturer was aware that its pushchairs had injured children and took no action to prevent others being hurt.

The BBC reported that they have been contacted by at least 30 families whose children have been injured in this way.

A parent’s of a baby who died shortly after birth have been awarded £50,000 in compensation.

In October 2006 Katherine Harmen was admitted to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in order to give birth to her baby.  Medical staff failed to notice that the baby was in the breach position and as a result used the wrong equipment during the delivery which led to the baby being starved of oxygen.

Attempts were made to resuscitate the baby and she was placed on a life support machine.  Tragically, the damage was so severe that she died 5 days later.

The successful accident claim was reported earlier this month.

Former patients of a plastic surgeon are considering taking legal action after a medical disciplinary panel issued the surgeon with a warning.

Dr Ashish Dutta who is based at a clinic in Sunderland was issued with the warning by the General Medical Council because it was found that his actions in the case of two eye lift operations constituted misconduct.

The panel also found that because his skills had improved since the two operations he was fit to practice. He had recognised that he was at fault and had sought additional training to improve his skills.

Both former patients of Dr Dutta are now considering making claims for personal injury.

A woman who suffered permanent injuries as the result of a road traffic accident in 2004 is to receive a large personal injury compensation payout.

The accident has been partly blamed on an un-even road verge and although the judge felt that the claimant should have been more careful whilst driving in icy conditions.  He stated that the local County Council were 50% liable for failing to properly maintain the verge which had a dangerous drop-off of at least 4 inches.

Despite the claimant’s damages being reduced by 50% her injuries are so severe that she will still be due a significant sum in personal injury compensation.

A council worker from South-end-on-Sea has made a successful accident claim and been awarded £10,000 after sustaining a slipped disc because she was made to use a broken chair.
 
The woman had to undergo a near fatal back operation as a result of the injury and the in the long term she is constantly in pain in her lower back region.  She has also had to take early retirement.

Her claim was handled jointly by her solicitor and Union.

Office workers are protected by strict health and safety guidelines and the woman should never have been forced to use the faulty chair.

A pensioner has claimed almost £4,000 in compensation for his injuries after a car accident on the motorway in which he was struck by a mattress which had fallen from a lorry.

Accident claims relating to car accidents are on the increase as our busy roads and motorways have become more congested than ever.  In this case, the 71 year old man was driving along the M8 near to Glasgow when the incident occurred.  The driver of the lorry admitted liability for the accident.

A pensioner from Dundee is attempting to make an accident claim against a supermarket after she was hit by a falling Pineapple.  Mary Raimo who is 76 was hit on the head whilst shopping in a Tesco supermarket and sustained concussion having been knocked to the floor.  She claims that the fruit had been badly stacked.

The Tescos supermarket were unable to comment and simply said that the matter was in the hand of their legal team and that customer safety was of paramount importance to them.

A pensioner has received an undisclosed personal injury compensation claim payout after she sustained serious facial injuries having tripped on an uneven paving slab.

The accident happened in 2007 in Sheffield and the pensioner smashed her dental bridge, knocked a tooth out and chipped all her other teeth.  She also needed stitches in her chin. 

Sheffield Council admitted liability and has made an out of court settlement.  The figure has not been disclosed.

Maria Madera who is 81, who was temporarily blinded over night, has had to take anti depressants as a result of the experience.

A pensioner is planning to make accident claims against Doncaster racecourse after a court ruling.  Doncaster racecourse received a fine of £25,000 after a court found that they failed to take action which would have avoided the accident which blinded the pensioner after her car was struck by an unfastened barrier.

The pensioner was blinded in one eye and sustained severe facial injuries when the metal barrier swung through the windscreen of her car.  She is now considering making a separate civil compensation claim for her injuries.

A Pensioner has been successful in her personal injury claim receiving a payout of £20,000.

The accident claim was brought because she was injured when she was trapped for more than 24 hours underneath a heater which hadn’t been installed properly by workmen.

The accident happened in October 2005 and she sustained injuries including a broken ankle and fractured hip.

A personal trainer who was paralysed whilst on a winter sports holiday is making a compensation claim for £300,000.

Every year several people are injured on these sorts of holidays and make accident claims.  This case involves a personal trainer who was severely injured in a ski-doo accident.  The injured woman is claiming that she was given inadequate instruction before using the ski-doo and that was the cause of her accident.  She was unable to stop the ski-doo and was unaware of where the emergency stop button was situated.

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) agreed to pay $894 million to settle the bulk of litigation and state government probes surrounding its pain drugs Celebrex and Bextra, which were linked to increased risk for heart attacks and strokes.

The New York drug maker said it reached agreements in principle to resolve personal-injury cases, consumer-fraud cases and claims by state attorneys general regarding Bextra, which Pfizer pulled from the market in 2005.

However, the settlement isn't final, and Pfizer's announcement apparently caught some parties off-guard. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal issued a statement Friday afternoon saying "no settlement has been filed or approved by the court," and that Pfizer's announcement was "premature and inappropriate." Connecticut is part of the 33-state coalition that's been looking into Pfizer's drug marketing. Pfizer noted they are agreements in principle.

In addition, claims surrounding Celebrex - which remains on the market - will be resolved following what Pfizer described as "key court rulings" in its favor. Pfizer said the settlement is expected to resolve about 90% of the personal- injury cases for both Celebrex and Bextra.

Pfizer didn't disclose the number of lawsuits it faces over the drugs, or the average payout expected to plaintiffs. Jayne Conroy, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys in the case, estimated there are about 8,000 to 12,000 cases. In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer had struck tentative settlements with some law firms representing plaintiffs, with an average offer of about $ 200,000 per Bextra client and $40,000 to $50,000 per Celebrex client.

The personal-injury lawsuits generally alleged that use of the drugs caused heart attacks and other problems, and that Pfizer failed to adequately warn of the risks.

"It puts the substantial majority of the civil litigation the company is facing with regard to [Celebrex and Bextra] behind us," said Amy Schulman, senior vice president and general counsel of Pfizer. "And I think the view was, putting these matters substantially behind us was the right thing to do."

In an interview, Schulman said the company is hopeful that it can resolve the remaining 8% to 10% of the Celebrex and Bextra personal injury cases that were not included in the settlement. None of those cases have reached the trial stage. "We are fully prepared to try one of these cases if we need to," Schulman said.

The settlement also doesn't resolve a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the marketing and safety of the drugs, primarily Bextra. State probes in Mississippi and Louisiana aren't part of the settlement. And the settlement does not cover securities fraud litigation that has been filed in connection with Celebrex and Bextra.

Conroy said plaintiffs agreed to the settlement because of the risk that a trial jury might not agree with plaintiffs' depiction of the "dangers of the drugs." She also acknowledged that court rulings favorable to Pfizer in the Celebrex arm of the litigation factored into the decision. Conroy represents about 200 clients in the personal-injury litigation at the law firm Hanly Conroy Beirstein Sheridan Fisher & Hayes in New York.

The Pfizer settlement comes nearly a year after Merck & Co. (MRK) agreed to pay about $4.85 billion to settle personal-injury claims for its former pain drug, Vioxx, which Merck pulled from the market in 2004 after it was linked to higher risk for heart attacks.

Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra all belong to the same class of pain drugs known as selective Cox-2 inhibitors. They were designed to provide effective pain relief while minimizing certain side effects, such as gastrointestinal problems, associated with older pain relievers like ibuprofen. But studies began to emerge several years ago suggesting the Cox-2 drugs might increase the risk for heart problems.

In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration concluded the increased heart risk appeared to be a class effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, which include not only selective Cox-2 inhibitors but also older drugs like ibuprofen. The FDA asked Pfizer to voluntarily remove Bextra from the market in April 2005 after concluding the drug had an unfavorable risk-benefit profile.

FDA also said Celebrex was associated with an increased risk in a long-term trial compared with a placebo, but didn't ask Pfizer to remove the drug from the market.

Pfizer has since strengthened the prescribing label for Celebrex to warn of the potential heart risk. Pfizer said Friday it stands by the safety and efficacy profile of Celebrex, which is approved to relieve arthritis pain, stiffness and inflammation.

Celebrex had $2.29 billion in sales last year, up 12% from 2006. Sales have rebounded since a decline in 2005 over the safety concerns.

Pfizer said it has received favorable rulings in federal and New York state courts concluding that plaintiffs' lawyers failed to present reliable scientific evidence to prove Celebrex can cause heart attacks or strokes at its most commonly prescribed dose, 200 milligrams. Pfizer said these rulings probably would have limited the scope of the cases if the litigation had continued.

Pfizer also is settling consumer-fraud allegations in which plaintiffs alleged economic loss relating to the promotion of Celebrex and Bextra.

The consumer-fraud cases included those brought by about 30,000 insurers, union health plans and consumers who alleged they paid too much for Bextra, arguing that Pfizer promoted the drug as superior to older pain relievers even though it wasn't, according to plaintiffs attorney Steve Berman of the law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro in Seattle. Pfizer disputed these claims.

The consumer-fraud plaintiffs chose to settle because "we're facing risks on getting a class certified, risks in proving the case, and we had many years of litigation ahead of us," Berman said. "We felt that given the size of the settlement the class is better off taking the settlement."

The company reached agreements in principle to resolve claims brought by 33 states and the District of Columbia, primarily relating to alleged Bextra promotional practices. Pfizer will pay $60 million to the states and adopt compliance measures that complement policies previously established by the company.

Pfizer has taken a third-quarter pretax charge of $894 million, comprising the $60 million to be paid to the states; $745 million to resolve to personal-injury cases; and $89 million for the consumer-fraud class action claims. Pfizer said it has insurance coverage for a portion of the personal-injury settlements. The charge will total $640 million after tax.

A man from Plymouth has made a successful personal injury claim after a work related accident. 

The man, who was a labourer at the time, slipped on a wet ladder and sustained a serious ankle injury. 

Despite several operations the man finally had to have his leg amputated below the knee.

His employees were found to be liable for the accident because they had not maintained safety standards and the man should not have been made to use the ladder.

Accident claims relating to work place injuries are relative common although this case is an extreme example.  A police officer who was shot during a training course has been awarded a substantial amount in compensation although the exact amount hasn’t been disclosed.  The accident happened at Thames Valley Police’s headquarters in Kidlington in 2007.  The officer suffered physical and psychological injury and hasn’t been able to return to work since.

Thames Valley Police admitted liability for the accident and has since improved its training procedure.

A police officer is to sue a hospital over its failure to detect a blocked artery resulting in the amputation of his leg.

In November 2009, PC Miles Wilson was taken to Southampton General Hospital after injuring his knee whilst on duty. Due to a backlog, the officer had to wait five days for a MRI scan but in the meantime he contracted “an infection, had a high temperature and suffered hallucinations”. Doctors were unable to save the officers leg and unfortunately had to amputate.

Mr Wilson claims that the loss of his leg could have been avoided if he had been operated on sooner and is seeking substantial compensation.

Medical Director Michael Marsh said “our inquiry is still ongoing”. Accident claims of this nature take time and “we are committed to ensuring that the process is completed as swiftly as possible”. PC Wilson’s legal action is being supported by the Police Federation.

Children from the poorest families in England and Wales face greater risks of dying from injury than children in all other social groups, a study has claimed.

The death rate from injury  for children in the lowest social class was five times greater than that for children in the highest social class. Inequalities were greatest for house fire and pedestrian deaths.

In a study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers from London's School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine examined child injury death rates by social class to test whether these inequalities still exist.

The researchers analysed all deaths of children aged between 0 and 15 due to injury in England and Wales using population data from the 1981, 1991 and 2001 censuses. Each record included the year of death, the underlying cause of death and the parents' socio-economic class.

The death rate for children of parents classified as never worked or long-term unemployed (social class 8) was 13 times that for children of parents in higher managerial and profession occupations (social class 1).

The report found that children in these families faced greater risks of dying in road traffic accidents, in fires and from undetermined causes than children in all other social groups. In short, the authors stated, these children have been excluded from the reductions in injury mortality made over this period.

The authors of the report said that explanations of the results were speculative, but probably lay in different exposure to risk.

A postal worker received compensation after receiving a personal injury from overfilled post bags.

The worker was injured after trying to lift an overfilled postbag. There was a shortage of bags so they were frequently overfilled and the worker suffered a sprain to his thumb and was unable to carry out his normal work duties for several weeks. Upon returning to work, the employee was only able to carry out light manual work and it was some time before the worker was able to return to full duties.

The worker had complained about the weight of the bags before suffering the injury. A judge ruled that the firm had breached regulations. They had imposed time restraints on their employees and had not provided training showing them how to correctly lift the bags. The worker was awarded compensation for the injuries suffered.

A Yorkshire postman secured a successful compensation payout after trapping his finger in a letter box whist delivering letters.

Denis Coleman received hospital treatment to his finger, which required three stitches. He argued that the personal injury suffered was so painful he had to remain off work for six weeks. The 52 year old, a keen amateur darts player, alleged he was unable to compete in local darts tournaments which resulted in the possible loss of cash prizes.

Mr Coleman received £3,000 in damages as a result of his personal injury accident claim. His settlement came from the household insurers and not Royal Mail.

Since the recent extremely cold weather our roads are full of potholes.  It’s been estimated that it could cost £100 million to repair our roads and in the meantime they present an increased accident risk and there is likely to be an increase in accident claims.

Some of the most badly effected roads are reported to have craters measuring a metre wide.  There have been countless accidents because of them and councils are inundated with reports and complaints about the condition of the roads.

Some local authorities have even resorted to road closures because the condition of the roads is so bad.  If you've been injured in an accident caused by a pothole in the road you should seek the advice of an experienced personal injury solicitor like those at First Personal Injury.

A prison officer has been awarded workplace accident compensation after a work related accident.

The incident happened while the 42 year old prison officer was on duty at HMP Wolds which is a category C training prison for adult males.

During the incident the officer was attempting to restrain a prisoner and suffered serious injuries to his hands which will prevent him from returning to work in the same capacity.

Having spent five months off work the man has taken a new position as a warehouse operative for a mobile phone company. 

GSL UK who employed him at the prison has admitted liability and they have reached an out of court settlement.

If you have been involved in an accident at work you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer for advice.

Most injury types that result in a permanent injury or a requirement of prolonged rehabilitation often have a support group or organisation associated with providing people with the support and care they need. Over the coming weeks we will highlight a particular group that provides support after injury.

 The term musculo-skeletal disorder is used to describe a number of conditions such as tenosynovitis, carpal tunnel, and tendinitis. Many of these conditions are known as Repetitive Strain Injury or RSI. Repetitive Strain Injury is a term similar to that of 'sports injury' in that it tells more about how the injury was sustained, rather than what the injury actually is

In 2006 nearly half a million people in the UK suffered from some form of RSI. The problem is increasing principally through the intensive use of computers and other technology that involves large amounts of keyboarding. Posture related health problems are also growing due to the sedentary nature of many jobs.

Those suffering from some form of RSI may get vauable information from the RSI advice website www.rsi.org.uk/index.asp

A horse-rider who was injured by a speeding motorcyclist is to make a personal injury claim. The road traffic accident took place in 2006 when the motorcyclist failed to respond to the horse-riders hand signals to slow down.

As a result of the excessive speed of the bike the rider’s horse bolted and jumped a gate at which point the woman fell off and sustained serious spinal injuries which resulted in paralysis from the chest down.

She is set to receive a significant payout from the Motor Insurers Bureau as the motorcyclist was uninsured.

Recent reports suggest that fraudsters are accepting jobs in order to later stage fake accidents in order to make accident claims.  It’s thought that the rise in this type of fraud is largely due to the recent clamp down on fraudulent car accident claims as many crash-for-cash rackets have recently been foiled.

Its thought that gangs have now started to take on part-time or short-term contracts in order to make fake accident claims.

When asked the Health and Safety Executive said that it was not aware of any examples of this type of fraud.  However a representative from the Association of British Insurers made it clear that they are constantly watching out for new scams like this one.

As a result of severe weather conditions in the UK, there has been a substantial increase in the number of accident claims due to potholes on the British roads.

This was the view of the AA in a recent report. Potholes cause not only damage to a car but they can also have deadly consequences. Cash strapped local councils have been criticised for just “patching up the roads”. But they are laying the blame firmly in the hands of the utility companies who fail to resurface roads properly after repairs have been carried out.

Simon Douglas, Director of AA insurance, called on the Government to solve this “pothole epidemic”. The motoring body are urging the Government to put the extra money they have received from VAT on petrol into resurfacing roads. This in turn would not only reduce the number of compensation claims but needless accidents would also be avoided.

Escaped livestock are increasingly the reason for injury compensation claims. Cheshire farmer Stephen Lawson, says there is a rising trend in compensation claims for injuries caused particularly by escaped horses and cattle.

“Unfortunately, this area of law is so complex that farmers could end up paying hefty compensation awards, even if they are not responsible for the accident that has occurred,” says Mr Lawson, who is urging animal keepers to make sure they are fully insured against such claims. Even without negligence, a farmer could still be found to blame for an accident involving escaped livestock.

Apart from taking steps to prevent escapes, the advice is to be fully insured against claims. “If an accident occurs as a result of some negligence on the part of the animal keeper, most people would accept that an innocent victim would have the right to make a legal claim,” says Mr Lawson.

If you have been involved in an accident involving livestock then you could be entitled to claim, contact a Personal Injury Lawyer today.

A former fitness instructor receives £1 million in compensation after she was knocked down by a van in 2003.

As a result of the impact the 35 year woman suffered severe brain damage resulting in paralysis.

The accident also led to the woman having a stroke which has left her with memory loss.

 After the High Court ruling in London the mother of the woman said the family were expecting at least £4 million from the accident claim. Her daughter requires 24 hour care and she feels 'absolutely disgusted at the unacceptable amount of compensation'.

Road users are still being "needlessly killed" through the flouting of mobile phone rules five years after they were introduced, accident prevention chiefs have said.

A new law banning the use of hand-held phones while driving was brought in on December 1 2003.

Last year, there were 23 fatal accidents, as well as 64 serious-injury and 259 slight-injury accidents, involving illegal mobile phone use.

An ex-rugby player is trying to make a personal injury compensation claim against a referee after he was injured during a rugby match.

The Durham University student was playing in a rugby match when the scrum collapsed and he was injured.  He alleges that the referee did not manage the scrum properly.  The man sustained a broken neck and a dislocated spine.

He was treated in a spinal unit for 6 months but will rely on a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Family of travellers killed when a Russian airliner crashed on Sunday have been promised accident compensation.

The Boeing-737-500, belonging to a branch of the national airline Aeroflot, was on a flight from Moscow to Perm, near the Ural mountains.

Aeroflot, the company at the heart of Russia's worst plane crash since 2006, has said that it will pay out accident compensation of up to £50,000 for each person lost.

Twenty-one foreign passengers were on board the Aeroflot Nord flight.

One witness reported, "It was burning while still in the sky and it looked like a falling comet."

General Gennady Troshev, a close ally of prime minister Vladimir Putin, was also on the plane.

As yet there is no confirmation as to whether the affected families will be accepting the accident compensation offer. It is possible that some may decline the payout and instead claim compensation through a personal injury solicitor.

70 firms cashing in on compensation cases are struck off by watchdog.

Ambulance-chasing claims firms are preying on victims of crime, road accidents and financial mis-selling by cashing in on hundreds of millions of pounds worth of compensation. More than 70 claims businesses have been struck off or suspended this year after breaching compensation rules in this boom industry, which has mushroomed from 500 companies to 2,300 in the past 18 months.

In the worst cases, cowboy companies have unfairly taken compensation from the pockets of victims of personal injury and violent crime, while others have staged road accidents to make bogus claims. Some of the more unscrupulous companies have tried to cash in on the recession by sending teams of sellers to housing estates to trawl for new claims.

There has been a rise in unscrupulous tactics, some of which include illegal "cold calling", combing newspaper reports for injuries, trawling hospital casualty departments, producing misleading ads, and selling compensation claims on to solicitors.

Many of the victims end up with reduced or little compensation after they have paid fees to the companies. Others are vulnerable to exploitation, not realising that a claim for compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is free and requires no assistance.

A schoolboy from Lincoln is to receive an accident claim payout after he sustained a head injury which left him brain damaged.

The boy banged heads with another pupil during a football match at school in 2004.  Afterwards he complained of a headache. 

His Mother made several calls including one to NHS Direct and to the out-of-hours service run by West Lincolnshire Primary Trust.  She was told to give her son painkillers and let him rest. 

During the night the boy began to vomit and his Mother was again advised to let him rest. 

Later that night he began to fit and was rushed to Lincoln County Hospital.  He underwent emergency surgery to remove a blood clot and was in hospital for over six weeks.

The level of compensation has not yet been agreed and will depend on the predicted cost of his long term care and potential loss of wages.

Warwickshire Police ran a week long campaign last month to monitor and reprimand non-seatbelt wearers.  Shockingly they stopped 207 people who were not wearing seatbelts.  This marks a sharp increase from one year ago, when during the same campaign 129 people were given fixed penalty fines during the week long operation.

The law is in place to protect road users and demands that people wear seatbelts, in the front and back seats, if a vehicle has them fitted.

Chief Inspector Lewis, from the Warwickshire Force explained that, "All too often the emergency services have to see the additional carnage that results from collisions where people have not been wearing seat belts. What could have resulted in minor whiplash injury can be escalated to a serious injury or death.”

If you’ve been involved in a car accident which wasn’t your fault you should contact a firm of experienced personal injury lawyers.

Slough has been named as the most likely place for you to have a motor accident for the third year running.  The figures, from a survey by a well known high street insurance company, are based on the number of accident claims made by drivers and the results found that Slough is 41.3% above the national average.

The figures showed that the safest UK towns, with figures well below national average, are Belfast, Bangor and Swansea.

Ironically, Slough has been at the forefront of road safety developments in the past.  During the 1950s they were the first to introduced linked traffic lights allowing drivers to pass through without stopping is they stuck to the speed limit.

Victims of allegedly toxic sofas could receive a compensation pay-out in the next few months. Thousands of people nationwide have suffered severe skin reactions blamed on leather sofas sold by High Street stores. Extreme cases have involved customers needing hospital treatment and extensive time off work, and there has even been one death blamed on the sofas, said solicitors.

There are about 30 cases of people who say they have had reactions to the sofas. They are part of a huge group litigation claim which could see some victims receiving compensation in the next few months. The group litigation is against Argos, Land of Leather and Walmsleys, which sold the allegedly dangerous sofas, made by a Chinese firm Linkwise and another company called Eurosofa.

A report by a consultant dermatologist at Birmingham City Hospital said there is "conclusive evidence" to show a fungicide used to stop the furniture going mouldy is linked to the skin reactions.

Solicitors have said that Land of Leather has admitted liability on more than 70 sofa models, Home Retail Group, which includes Argos and Homebase, has admitted liability for eight sofa models and Warmsleys on four models. Land of Leather and Argos have now stopped selling the sofas and apologised to those who had problems.

An initiative to install an automatic speed-restricting device in cars was harshly criticised. Automatic speed control devices should be installed in cars to force motorists to stick to speed limits, an influential pressure group recommended today.

The Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT), a government transport advisory group, said that up to 29% of injury accidents on the road could be prevented by the voluntary introduction of intelligent speed adaption (ISA). The system, which the report recommended drivers installing on a voluntary and not compulsory basis, would automatically slow a car down to within the limit for the individual road on which it is being driven. However opponents of the report, co-written by the pressure-group Motorists Forum, claimed the idea was dangerous as drivers would enter "zombie" mode, where they fail to pay proper attention to road conditions.

Sir Trevor Chinn, chairman of the Motorists’ Forum, said: “The UK has an enviable record on road safety but we still kill nearly 3,000 people on our roads each year. “This report shows the potential substantial savings in injury accidents that could be achieved through the introduction of ISA. “The fact that the report is backed by our members, who represent interests across the motoring spectrum, is testimony to the desire of the motoring world to work with government to make our roads even safer.”

However, the proposals were immediately criticised today, with some saying the devices would potentially numb drivers' reactions to road conditions. Claire Armstrong, from the road safety charity Safe Speed, told the BBC that the device would be "highly dangerous" for driver reactions. "You've taken the responsibility away from the driver," she said. Derek Charters, from the Motor Industry Research Association, added: "The last thing you need is one car to be overtaking and then pull back in, in front of the cars in front, because that braking event will then cause everybody to start to slow down, which will then compress the traffic, which then causes an incident."

A woman who sustained injuries when a pile of doormats fell on her in a hardware shop received £20,000 in compensation.  Accident claims of this nature are fairly common and it is the responsibility of shop owners to take reasonable measures to ensure their customers safety whilst on their premises.

The woman was struck on the head and shoulder and sustained soft tissue injuries which have resulted in restricted movement to her upper body. It is likely that this restriction to her movement could be permanent and prevent her from carrying out normal day to day activities.

In addition to this claim another woman is currently making a substantial compensation claim against Marks and Spencer after falling and injuring herself in one of its stores.

A bus driver who was involved in a near fatal head on crash has won £250,000 after a successful accident claim.

The man who was 60 at the time of the accident was extremely lucky to survive when a van crashed into his bus on a road near Cramlington.  He sustained serious life threatening injuries including a shattered left leg and had to be airlifted to hospital for treatment.

After a legal battle which has lasted two years the insurance company of the van driver has agreed to pay compensation.

A man who sustained head injuries in a car crash has been successful in his accident claim and has been awarded £340,000 by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau. 

The man, who was a passenger in the car at the time of the accident, reported that his head injuries have led to memory problems and epilepsy, for which he takes medication. He has found it difficult to work since the accident.

If you have been injured as the result of a road traffic accident you may be entitled to make a personal injury compensation claim.

A young soldier from Sunderland has received £330,000 in compensation after a successful accident claim against the MoD.

Private Charles Bradlaugh, joined up at 16 hoping to follow in his fathers footsteps but he never saw active service because of damage to his hearing caused during training.

During his training at a camp in Scotland Private Bradlaugh was instructed to remove his ear defenders.  His hearing was subsequently damaged by gun fire.  He has permanent damage to his left ear and although he is not completely deaf he is no longer able to pursue his dream of being a helicopter pilot.

He has now been discharged from the army on medical grounds.

After the accident the army admitted liability and offered Private Bradlaugh £2,000 compensation which he declined.  He then instructed his own solicitor to make a civil claim on his behalf.

A Blackpool taxi driver may make a personal injury compensation claim against the local council after he was involved in road traffic accident last month. 

The man swerved to avoid badly illuminated roadworks and crashed into the sand dunes on Clifton Drive North in Blackpool.  He suffered whiplash injuries and cracked ribs.

It has been reported that there was no lighting to warn drivers of the potential danger and the conditions were foggy.  The man is a very experienced driver – having been a taxi driver for 8 years

A Teaching Assistant who worked in a school in Essex has made a successful compensation claim for a back injury.  Accident claims of this nature are becoming more common as people become more aware of Health and Safety issues and their rights in relation to work related accidents. In this case the 48 year old sustained a slipped disc when she was lifting heavy insulated boxes which contained the school lunches.

The incident happened in 2006 and aggravated an existing spinal condition.  She is now in continuous pain and is unable to work.

The amount of compensation has not been disclosed although it is believed to be a significant amount.

A 16 year old won a guaranteed compensation payout for injuries he suffered in a horrific car crash in Swinton, in May 2003.

William Stanton was passenger in a car driven by Matthew Collinson, when it collided with an oncoming car. Stanton and three other passengers were severely injured and the driver died.

The crash left William with appalling brain damage and injuries to his hand. He will require constant care and attention for the rest of his life.

It was originally argued that the teenager was partly to blame for his injuries as he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and had a passenger on his knee. The Appeal judge however, accepted that wearing a seat belt would not have prevented Stanton’s injuries.

Accident claims regarding such devastating injuries usually amount to seven figures. A final amount is yet to be decided.

Council facing multiple claims from young people born with upper limb defects A schoolboy whose family claims his painful birth defects were caused by exposure to toxic waste before he was born has won the right to sue a local authority for personal injury and public nuisance.

George Taylor, of Pitmedden, is one of more than 20 young people with upper limb defects taking action against Corby Borough Council. His family believes the mismanagement of dangerous waste dumps at a redundant steelworks in the Northamptonshire town caused his health problems.

The council reopened 16 steel pits when the industry went into terminal decline in the early 1990s. Lorries ferried the waste — found to contain up to 40 toxic chemicals including arsenic and mercury — in sealed containers around the town. A civil trial involving the council has already been set for February 16 next year at the High Court in London. The local authority will face allegations of negligence and the Court of Appeal has now also granted claimants the right to sue for personal injury and public nuisance.

One of the key elements of the case will be trying to prove that the waste affected the children. George’s mother, Fiona, 46, believes that it happened when she and her Fraserburgh-born husband Brian managed a pub frequented by workers at one of the sites disposing of the waste. George, now 15, was born with health problems and a slight deformity to his hand, which got progressively worse as he got older.

In 2005 he developed fibramatosis and faced the prospect of having his hand amputated or having surgery to stem the rapid growth of a tumour. He opted for surgery, which preserved two of his fingers and constructed an artificial thumb out of another finger. George’s condition is so rare that doctors cannot even put a name to it.

• Offer support and assistance from the moment of injury and for the rest of a paralysed person’s life
• Provide services to increase an individual’s quality of life
• Increase knowledge and awareness of the causes and consequences of spinal cord injury

The father of a 3 year old toddler plans to sue a Scottish hotel following a fall during a family holiday.

William Nisbet, from Kennoway Fife, is seeking a personal injury claim of £4000 on behalf of his daughter against the Crief Hydro Hotel in Perth.

Sheonaidh was walking past the Brasserie Restaurant at the hotel with her father, mother Aileen and brother Liam. She lost her footing and tripped over a protruding metal water service cover. The fall resulted in the girl sustaining cuts to her chin which could lead to possible scarring.

Consultant plastic surgeon JD Watson backed the family in court regarding the accident claim stating that “scars takes longer to mature in children, even as much as two years”.

The hotel is fighting this claim saying the parents had a 'duty to take reasonable care for the health and safety of their daughter”.

The parents of a toddler who was attacked by a Bull Mastiff dog at a pub in Cumbria have been awarded £25,000 in damages.

The victim, Zion Kasaija, sustained horrific injuries during the attack and it took three adults to retrain the dog and rescue the child.

The toddler, who is now five, was on holiday with his parents and older brother when he was attacked by the dog.

The lawyer acting for Zion and his parents William, 41, and Beatrice, 35, has confirmed that an accident claim figure has been agreed to compensate them for their ordeal.

William, who was bitten on the head during the attack, was individually awarded £14,500 while Beatrice, who along with their other Gideon witnessed the attack, was compensated with £10,500.

A compensation award for Zion’s injuries is being considered separately.

A tower crane driver who was run over by a bendy bus in London could make an accident claim.  The accident happened in November 2007.  It was raining and the man ran to catch the bus and slipped and fell under its wheels.  The bus finally stopped when passengers alerted the driver to what had happened.

He has had 15 traumatic operations and hasn’t been able to resume his job as a power crane driver.

He has not yet started a compensation claim against Arriva London although they acknowledge the incident and say that they made a full investigation at the time.

Toyota recently announced one of Britain’s most comprehensive safety recalls because of a fault with the accelerator in some of its cars.  This weekend Toyota revealed that there have been 250 complaints by British drivers some of which are likely to lead to accident claims.  This represents a far higher number of problems than first reported.

The problem appears to be centered on the UK as there have been no reports of problems elsewhere.  Here, 180,000 Toyota owners have been asked to take their cars into dealerships for repair and modification.

Christmas comes just once a year: a fact for which insurance companies are no doubt profoundly grateful.

It isn't just a slew of burglary claims they have to deal with. Fire claims also rise. According to More Than, the number of homes damaged by fire rises by 300% on Christmas Day - most starting from mishaps with candles or malfunctioning ovens.

Certain festive items present particular hazards. Christmas trees are responsible for a fair few disasters. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents about 1,000 people were injured in Christmas trees incidents last year. A spokeswoman for Axa said they dealt with numerous claims each year for furniture damaged by fallen or "carelessly handled" trees. Many topple over if not firmly weighted down, children and pets often being to blame. One family even had the misfortune of their tree catching fire.

Putting up decorations can be similarly hazardous. People balance on chairs, perch on stepladders and clamber over furniture to hang tinsel, paper chains and mistletoe. One slip can result in personal injury claims as well as claims on your contents insurance for damaged furniture. You would think festive food would be fairly harmless (so long as it is cooked properly).

Allianz recently handled one case involving a grandmother who tripped while carrying the roast turkey to the table and sent the bird flying across the room. It isn't just turkeys causing chaos. One policyholders reported damage to her kitchen carpets and walls after two Christmas puddings exploded.

The Water Company denied liability, stating that the claimant was not a visitor or an invitee, nor was she covered by the Occupiers Liability Act 1957, hence they did not have any duty to her to inspect the land. They refused negotiation for a settlement, but the client’s personal injury lawyer took the case to court.

At the trial, it was discovered that the water company had previously been advised about the missing manhole cover which was in such a poor state of maintenance that it had fallen into the access point, leaving the hole completely uncovered.

The judge was in favour of the victim, stating that the company should have instigated a system of routine inspection of the manhole cover to ensure it was intact. The judge awarded the woman over £8,000 in personal injury compensation.

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau was set up in 1946.  It’s an organisation which handles accident claims when someone has been injured or has sustained damage to property because of an uninsured driver or a driver who is untraceable.

Insurance companies who deal with road accident claims have to be member of the MIB and make contributions towards its funding.

The role of the MIB is to pay out compensation when the negligent driver is found to be responsible but is uninsured or cannot be traced. 

According to the MIB, 1 in 10 18-34 year old drivers don't know that car insurance is a legal requirement and approximately 900,000 drivers below the age of 30 are currently driving without valid insurance.

Whiplash and whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) represent a range of injuries to the neck caused by or related to a sudden distortion of the neck.

Whiplash is commonly associated with car accidents usually when the vehicle has been hit in the rear however the injury can be sustained in many other ways, including falls from bicycles or horses or even headbanging!

In many cases especially those involving other parties or equipment maintained by others, accidents resulting in whiplash often give rise to a claim for compensation.

If you have suffered a whiplash injury please contact us for advice about a claim.

Whiplash claims have increased by 25% in the last five years, totalling six times the number of workplace injury claims, according to a new report from the Association of British Insurers (ABI). In 2007 over 430,000 people made a whiplash claim, resulting in compensation payments of nearly £2bn.

Whiplash accounts for 20% of the typical car insurance premium, £66 on average. The report warns that business productivity can suffer when employees take time off to recover from whiplash. It encourages employers to have driving at work policies that include information about safe following distances.

Tailgating is one of the factors behind the rise in claims. It can take up to two years to resolve a personal injury claim. Government proposals to improve this situation include early notification of claims, early admission of liability and reduced timelines for response between parties.

WHIPLASH IN NUMBERS (Source: ABI)

• One in 140 people in the UK make a whiplash claim every year
  
• Each GP consultation for a person with whiplash costs the Government £18, adding up to £8m per year
  
• A correctly fitted head restraint can reduce the chance of sustaining a whiplash injury by 24%
  
• People in cars fitted with advanced whiplash prevention systems have a 50% lower risk of sustaining long-term whiplash injuries
  
• Fraudulent claims represent 5% of whiplash claims, costing the insurance industry between £75m-£110m every year

Road accidents involving cars  are the most common road traffic accident and whiplash is the most common injury, so what causes whiplash injuries? Being struck from behind in a car is the classic cause of a whiplash injury. About one in five people involved in such a collision ends up with problems with their neck and/or surrounding area.

This sudden impact pushes your car forwards. After a brief delay, your body follows. Your shoulders move forwards until they're under your head. When you brake hard, the car stops suddenly, throwing your head and neck back until they hit the headrest.

This sudden forwards and backwards movement stretches and tears the soft tissues of the neck - the tendons, ligaments and muscles - and may damage the nerves and other structures in the area. This soft tissue damage is known as a whiplash injury, or cervical sprain or hyperextension injury.

Most people recover in a matter of a few weeks, but for a few it can be the start of years of trouble.

The standard treatment used to be to encase the neck in a supportive collar to prevent movement.

These days it's thought better to use a soft collar for a short period and to gently encourage movement of the neck after 24 hours.

Whiplash syndrome

Like any severe soft tissue damage, the pain and other symptoms can take several weeks to fully settle. However a few people have ongoing problems including headaches, stiffness, tingling and other sensations in the arms or legs, tiredness, poor sleep and low mood.

This is referred to as Whiplash syndrome and is similar in nature to other conditions where pain and other symptoms develop as a result of damage to the nerves (called neuropathic pain). Treatment from a pain specialist may be needed.

Recently published research by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has highlighted that UK citizens have become one of the higheset claimants for whiplash injuries. Compensation claims for whiplash have risen by 25% in the last 5 years.

Figures show that whiplash is cited as a result of 75% of car accidents in this country compared to only 40% in mainland Europe.

An increase in tailgating and badly fitted and designed headrests are blamed for the discrepancy.

A young mother says that she was flabbergasted to receive a letter from the Highways Agency demanding compensation for the cost of replacing a motorway barrier. The claim relates to a car accident which took place in December 2008 in which the woman suffered from whiplash. The accident took place on the A14 in Suffolk.

The woman is disputing the claim by the Highways Agency and says "I think it is just wrong. I can't believe they are trying to get the costs for this from me. I think there is a problem with the road. When I had my accident the road was clear. I aquaplaned, lost control, and went into the barrier. Then we watched another car do exactly the same thing."

The Highways Agency deny that there were problems with the road saying that drainage problems on that particular stretch of the A14 had been resolved some time before the incident. If this is found not to be the case the woman will be entitled to make a whiplash compensation claim.

The widow of a man who died in a work related accident is launching accident claims against her late husband’s employers.

The woman is making the claims after the results of the inquest found that her husband’s employers were not liable for his death.  However, the Health and Safety Executive are carrying out an independent investigation into the incident.

The man died following a gas explosion in the factory he was working in.  He sustained severe head injuries having been blown off his feet when a large drum of carbon powder exploded.

As the result of the accident the company has taken the decision to stop using the equipment the man was working with at the time.

The wife of a potential Olympic athlete has lodged a £500,000 compensation claim following the death of her husband in January 2008.

Jason Macintyre was fatally injured by a council van veering into his path whilst he was out training for the Commonwealth Games.

After admitting careless driving, Robert McTaggart, 36, was banned from driving for 6 months and fined £500. In order to substantiate accident claims of this nature an inquiry into the incident is scheduled for this week.

Mrs Macintyre is seeking compensation from the Highland Council and the driver of the van. However, on the eve of the inquiry reports show, that sadly the family on both sides have fallen out over their grief.

A 9 year old girl who was delivered early by caesarian section in 2001 after a car crash has launched accident claims against her Father and the doctor who treated her. 

The girl’s Mother was a passenger in the car driven by the child’s Father when she was 28 weeks pregnant.  They were involved in a car accident.

The Mother was rushed to hospital and the baby was delivered by caesarian section.  The baby had a tube inserted to divert fluid away from her brain.

According to the claims made by her Mother, the girl was 3 years old when the tube became blocked and she suffered brain damage as a result of the blockage.

The Mother is now claiming damages from the Father saying that the accident happened because of his negligent driving and is also claiming damages from the doctor involved in the case.

A woman has made a successful personal injury compensation claim after breast reconstruction surgery went wrong. 

Diane Greenman who was 53 at the time was treated at Barnsley Hospital which is run by Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.  She underwent the reconstruction surgery immediately after a mastectomy because she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The breast implants were positioned incorrectly and caused infection and Ms Greenman required several more operations. The whole process left her in a great deal of distress and she feels that no amount of compensation will make up for the experience she has been through.

A 50 year old woman has died tragically in an accident involving a faulty lift. Horrifically, the accident was witnessed by her daughter and grandchildren.

The woman was trapped between the faulty doors and then sustained fatal head injuries as the lift started to go up. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman’s daughter claims to have told the local council that the lift was faulty on several occasions.  There is likely to be an accident claim by the family against the council.

The accident happened at the Lambourne Court in Woodford, East London.

A woman who was hit by a bottle during a Christmas night out has been successful in her accident claim and earlier this month received compensation after an 18 month struggle.

The girl was injured when a fight broke out outside a pub in Reddish, Greater Manchester on Christmas Eve 2007.  She sustained a deep cut above one of her eyes as well as several other lacerations.

The woman made her claim with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) which compensates victims who have been involved in violent crime.  The victim claimed that the police had failed to gather sufficient evidence – according to the victim they only took down basic details and failed to obtain CCTV footage of the incident.

After several failed attempts, she has now been awarded £1,500 in compensation

Accident claims against local councils are reportedly on the increase.  Recently an elderly woman, who was severely injured when a tree collapsed in high winds, has mounted a civil action which could total £75,000.  She claims that the council was negligent because the tree was not inspected thoroughly and the accident could have been avoided.

The woman who injured her back neck and head in the accident which happened 2007 is making the accident claim against Haringey Council.

The woman’s injuries were both physical and psychological.  They include headaches, dizzy spells, anxiety, and loss of confidence, nightmares and flashbacks.  She has required help on a daily basis since the accident. 

A woman who had a car accident because of the mud on a Fenland road is hoping that other people who have had similar accidents will come forward to help in her accident claim.

The victim, Jo Ward, 22, sustained severe concussion and was unable to work for 9 months following the accident.  She still suffers from headaches and has to use a TENS machine to try to alleviate the pain.

The accident happened when she was driving at nighttime at approximate 40mph she skidded on a patch of mud on a corner and crashed into a ditch.  A pensioner was killed on the same stretch of road in a similar accident just prior to hers.  She is making her compensation claim because she feels that the stretch of road should be kept clear of mud in future. 

A woman from Andover has made a successful negligence claim against the hospital where she was born in 1988. 

The woman’s pregnant mother was carrying twins when she was admitted to hospital. 

The hospital staff failed to recognize that an emergency caesarean was necessary.

As a result of distress during the labour she now suffers from mild cerebral palsy and has learning difficulties.  Her twin died during the deliver.

The woman has made a personal injury claim and the award she has received takes account of the on-going care she will need and earnings she would have received during her adult life.

A number of dissatisfied women who underwent breast surgery have made successful accident claims.

The women, many of whom were having constructive surgery due to breast cancer, were all treated at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and their resulting surgery left them disfigured.

The surgeon involved in the cases is now only allowed to practice under strict conditions.  He can only work under supervision and has to undergo re-training.

A woman has received more compensation than she anticipated after successful accident claims.

The woman was involved in a car accident in 2007 and sustained a serious back injury.  Initially her insurers told her she would be entitled to claim £1,250 in compensation.  However, having pursued her claim through a compensation lawyer she has now received £9,000.

Victims of accidents don’t always realise that by pursuing their case through independent solicitor they may be able to receive more of the compensation they are entitled to.

A major construction company has been fined after one of their employees was run over by a van leaving him with life threatening personal injuries.

Carillion JM Ltd was found guilty, at Manchester Crown Court, of three health and safety offences. They were ordered to pay £185,000 in response to the claimants personal injury accident claim. Michael Gresty was knocked over by a reversing transit van leaving him with broken ribs and left foot, a fractured spine, dislocated hip and the loss of a kidney. He remained in hospital for 4 weeks and is still in constant pain.

Health and Safety Executive Neil Martin said Mr Gresty would not have “suffered agonising injuries” if Carillion had “someone responsible for reversing vehicles”. This was an avoidable accident.

As the recession tightens and businesses across the UK look at ways of reducing costs in order to stay afloat, the British Safety Council (BSC) and a leading lawyer in the field of personal injury have issued a stark warning to business leaders that reducing spend on controlling risks to workplace health and safety could endanger lives and cost companies an average of £30,000 per claim along with significant reputational damage.

“There is a danger with the credit crunch that firms will cut back on health and safety planning and implementation, leading to an increase in personal injuries at work,” says Grahame Aldous QC of 9 Gough Square Chambers, “This may provide more work for lawyers, but the reputational and internal ethos damage to firms may be considerable if they let this area of their operations go. Despite the myth of a compensation culture, personal injury claims have been reducing, but firms should not be surprised if that reverses if they let health and safety go to cut costs.”

Research conducted last year by the BSC, a leading authority on work-related health and safety, revealed that despite long established laws on health and safety, two out of three UK employees have had little or no safety training, while barely half of their bosses had arranged a safety audit or had a health and safety management system in place. The annual bill for employers in payouts and costs for accidents and injuries at work is £7.8 billion[1] which is the equivalent of £250 a second (source: HSE).

Brian Nimick, BSC Chief Executive, said: “Last year 229 people were killed at work. If businesses now choose to reduce their spending on health and safety training and management, there is a very real danger that employees are going to be at far greater risk of injury or ill health.

It has been revealed that a total of £2.3m has been paid out by the Northern Ireland Civil Service over the last five years in relation to work related accidents.

This is the equivalent of £1,250 per day for personal injury claims for everything from stress to exposure to hogweed in that period.

One Department of Finance and Personnel employee was paid £300,000 after falling down a flight of stairs. The Department for Regional Development had 80 successful claims, paying out £778,498 since August 2003.

A PENSIONER who writes children's stories has lost a claim for damages after she was injured on a bus in Manchester.

Letchumy Appavoo was thrown from her seat on a Stagecoach double decker when the driver braked suddenly. But the 82-year-old lost her damages case against the company after a hearing at Manchester Civil Justice Centre was told the driver had been forced to break when a man walked into the road.

The civil court hearing was told that the author couldn't use a keyboard or hold a pen after her right index finger was fractured in the incident four years ago. She said she had also been left unable to play the organ, and still suffers pain in her legs as a result of being 'catapulted' out of her seat in the incident at the bus station in Piccadilly Gardens. She told the hearing she believed the driver had been at fault because there had been no genuine reason for the emergency.

But her claim for personal injury damages against the bus company was thrown out by District Judge Graeme Smith. He was told that the driver, Darren Munroe, from Fallowfield, had had to brake hard to try to avoid hitting a pedestrian who stepped out directly in front of him. The judge said he had heard nothing to suggest the driver had been negligent. Dismissing her claim, he said she had failed to make out a case for the driver carrying out the braking manoeuvre without good reason.

Anne White, representing Stagecoach, told the hearing there were numerous inconsistencies in Ms Appavoo's evidence, and that she had never even mentioned the alleged fractured finger until eight months later. She said medical reports suggested that far from it being caused by the braking incident, it was due to arthritis.

Driver Mr Munroe said: "I was only doing around 5mph when the guy stepped out from behind some public toilets, right in front of me. I did a full emergency stop, there was a minor collision, and he rolled over two or three times, then got up and dusted himself off. He opened my door, popped his head inside and said `Sorry mate' then went on his way."

Ms Appavoo said after hearing the judge's ruling in the case, which included an award of £3,820 in legal costs against her: "I'm disappointed, but not really surprised. It was never about the money, it was about justice."

A recent study by a high street insurance company found that younger drivers are more likely to be involved in accidents that older drivers.  The are therefore also more likely to make accident claims.

The study found that 13.2% of 17 year old drivers and 12.8% of 18 year old drivers had had car accidents.  This is much higher than an average of 6.5% across other age groups for a similar one-year period.  Those over the age of 50 were the least likely to have an accident and only 2% of them crashed during the same period.

The study also found that claims made by younger drivers were likely to cost significantly more.  Their data suggested that the younger age group were more likely to have serious crashes whilst travelling at higher speeds.

Other statistics from the Institute of Advanced Motorists and a poll carried out for Road Safety Week in 2009 indicated that a quarter of all fatal or crashes where serious injury was sustained involved the under 25s and that 18% of 18-25 year olds admitted to drink driving.