Personal Injury news & Compensation Claim info

After previous campaigns by the British public, Justice Secretary Jack Straw has announced that British people suffering personal injury in terrorist attacks abroad will receive compensation, once changes are made to the law in the coming month. At present, those wounded or even killed overseas are not able to claim any compensation for their losses.

The news is welcomed after publics fears are heightened amidst recent attacks abroad, particularly those by the Spanish Basque terrorists across popular tourist resorts in the country.

Unfortunately claims are not able to be made in retrospect, which comes as a disappointment to many. In one of the most harrowing cases, Will Pike, who was left severely disabled in the attacks on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, will not be able to claim anything for his injuries. He faces a lifetime in a wheelchair after falling out of a window whilst trying to escape from the attackers. In stark contrast, if Mr Pike had been injured in a road traffic accident here in Britain, it is likely that he may have made a successful personal injury claim of up to £5m.

Mr Pike’s father has been campaigning for better treatment and Government support for those injured abroad. It is thought that Jack Straw’s meeting with him has prompted the Government to reconsider the plight that injured victims may face on their return to the UK.

Once the new changes are brought in, British tourists injured in terror attacks abroad will be able to claim for up to £500,000 for their losses.

A mother is hoping to receive compensation after her son sustained severe facial injuries when he was impaled on a metal fence whilst playing outside his home in East London.

“Alfie came running home with his mouth hanging off,” said Clare Metson. “His lip had come away and was hanging like a flap. I could see his teeth even though his mouth was shut.”

Alfie Albrighton, 6, was rushed to hospital, where he underwent several hours of surgery and was left with 170 stitches on his face. It is likely that he will be scarred for life and may need plastic surgery at a later date.

However the physical injury Alfie has sustained appears to be only the beginning of the damage caused by the accident. His mother has expressed her worries about her son’s future and the mental scars he may have left him with from the accident. Alfie has lost half a stone in weight and Ms Metson affirms that the incident has “changed him completely. He is always hiding his face trying not to look at people.”

Alfie is due to start Year 2 at St. John’s Primary in Bow in September, but he is fearful of how the other children will react to the prominent scarring caused by the incident.

Ms Metson is requesting compensation for her son’s personal injury from Old Ford Housing Association, which is part of the Circle Anglia Group. When asked about the incident, a spokesperson expressed their concern.

“Our priority is to provide a safe environment for all our residents to live in,” the spokesperson said. “We immediately inspected the railings with our contactors and they are of a standard type and designed to fence off the bin areas.”

The spokesperson also commented that the compensation claim Ms Metson has filed is currently being reviewed. However Ms Metson states that she “hasn’t heard a single thing” from the Old Ford Housing since the incident.

A fossil hunter is pursuing a compensation claim after he became badly injured in a seaside rock fall.

Dave McGowan, 41, was looking for and collecting fossils with his girlfriend along the shoreline at Seatown, near Bridport in Dorset, when rocks fell from the cliff above. The incident left his leg and ankle broken but he believes that he could have lost the bottom half of his leg if he hadn’t been protected by his walking boots.

The taxi driver from Bournemouth is now seeking compensation from whoever is responsible for the land. “I want to try and get compensation but it doesn’t look as if anybody cares,” he said. “I want to say to people ‘please don’t go down there’. Even if I don’t get compensation, the best thing I can do is to warn people.

He explained that the accident could have been avoided if warning signs had been erected in the area. He added: “If there were notices to say how dangerous it is and what you can expect, people wouldn’t go there. I wouldn’t have gone there.”

After receiving a letter from the victim, West Dorset County Council have said that it does not own the land. The Wraxall family, who has owned the beach at Seatown for three generations, has also said that the incident took place outside its land.

Mr McGowan claims the accident has ruined his life, as he might not be able to return to work and also fears that he may lose his home.

“I know it’s a bad time of year for taxi drivers anyway but I’ll lose about £5,000 in earnings,” he explained.

“I will be off work for four months but it could be more depending on how my leg heals – it might never heal and I might not be able to work again. The rent needs paying and I’ve got no money to pay it.”

However a spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has commented that “the cliffs and seashore are dangerous” at the location of the accident and that Mr McGowan should have been able to make “[his] own risk assessment,” regardless of the lack of notices or warning signs present at the scene.

Car insurance premiums are rising at their fastest rate in a decade, according to a survey by the AA British Insurance Premium Index.

Premiums have risen by 11% over the past year and 3.5% in the last three months. Between April and June, the average quote for an annual comprehensive car insurance policy rose to £778.13.

The sharp increase is believed to be a result of the number of uninsured motorists on the roads, with an estimated 1.6 million people in the UK currently driving without car insurance. Drivers who do pay for insurance are facing on average an increase of £30 per policy, as insurance companies transfer the rising costs to their policy holders.

Personal injury claims are also on the rise, which has also contributed to the rise in premiums. Whiplash claims and fraudulent claims – such as the ‘crash for cash’ scam – are said to be amongst the most common types of vehicle-related compensation claims at present.

The economic recession has been blamed in both instances, with drivers neglecting to renew their car insurance in order to save money, and fraudsters attempting to claim compensation through dishonest claims.

AA Insurance director Simon Douglas said: “Although the number of accidents on Britain’s roads is thankfully falling, the cost of claims continues to rise – particularly personal injury claims and legal expenses.

“During the current downturn, fraudulent claims are also putting pressure on premiums and I’m concerned this is leading to an increase in the number of people who drive without insurance.”

Penalties are being reconsidered to deter motorists from driving without car insurance. From 2011, drivers could face a £100 fixed penalty fine and see their cars crushed if they are found to be uninsured. It will also be an offence to simply keep an uninsured car, even if it is not being driven.

Meanwhile insurance companies and police are working to identify fraudulent claims and prosecute fraudsters.

Regardless however, Mr Douglas warned that he could not “see the pressure of premiums easing,” suggesting that premiums could continue to rise considerably in the future.

Robert Plant, singer of British classic rock band Led Zeppelin, was involved in a minor car crash at a junction in the northwest of London, it has recently been reported.

Although Mr Plant, 60, is believed not to have sustained any personal injuries, the other driver, Richard Grant, was knocked unconscious and suffered whiplash due to the incident, which took place on the evening of July 2, 2009.

“I was unconscious for a little while and then I saw him standing there. I was pretty groggy when I saw him, but later on the officers told me who it was,” said Mr Grant, who, somewhat ironically, is a drugs counsellor.

“I went to hospital for five hours and luckily there were no broken bones, but I was badly bruised on the arm and had whiplash.”

Mr Grant’s Mercedes SL 300 was written off following the collision with the famous frontman’s Audi A8. It is unclear who was at fault for the accident, or whether either victim has claimed or will claim for compensation.

Legal professionals have warned that swine flu victims could sue their employers for tens of thousands of pounds if they can prove that they contracted the illness at the workplace.

Firms could face costly personal injury claims if they fail to adequately protect their workers from the H1N1 virus. Therefore employers are being urged not to ask staff to stay at work or to come in if they are exhibiting symptoms of the illness, as doing so could be in breach of the Health & Safety Act.

Managers should take necessary precautions as early as possible to ensure their employees are protected. As the Government has predicted that up to 12% of the British workforce could be off with swine flu by September, employers who protect their staff in advance will be protecting themselves from potential employment compensation claims and excessive absences.

“If employers can show they have taken reasonable steps to provide a safe working environment, they will not be liable, either in criminal or civil proceedings,” said James Wilders, employment law partner at law firm Dickenson Dees.

“These do not need to be complex and would include ensuring rooms are properly ventilated, having soap and hygiene gel available, communicating company policy on illness and, above all, ensuring people with symptoms are sent home promptly.”

Violent crime victims are to have their criminal compensation reduced if they have previously been fined for minor offences such as speeding.

The new Government policy could see rape victims and the families of murder victims lose £1,650 from a £11,000 state compensation payout. A brain injury victim could lose up to £37,500 from a possible maximum amount of £250,000.

Until now, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority could reduce payouts in instances where “the applicant’s character as shown by his criminal convictions makes it inappropriate that a full award or any award should be made.”

However the new measures will affect anyone who has a previous minor conviction within the last five years. Up to five million British motorists could be affected, as the courts issue up to one million speeding fines a year.

Tory Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve has called the new rule change “revolting.”

“The idea that a rape victim or the parents of a murdered child should have their compensation docked for a speeding conviction years earlier is a revolting proposition,” he said.

The Conservatives believe the move is an attempt by the Labour Government to save £25m in public spending.

The Ministry of Defence has come under fire after admitting to spying on wounded British soldiers claiming for damages for their injuries.

Since 2000, 284 claims have been secretly monitored in an attempt to stop false or exaggerated claims. The MoD has defended its actions, stating that the surveillance “is used in less than 1% of cases and should be of no concern to individuals with a legitimate claim.”

The MoD affirmed that the tactics have already found and stopped a number of fraudulent claims, although the exact number has not been made public.

In the past week, the solicitors representing all of the servicemen and women currently seeking compensation have received letters from the MoD warning that claims may be “investigated thoroughly,” with assessment “undertaken covertly by surveillance when necessary.”

Diane Dernie, the mother of Ben Parkinson, a paratrooper who was badly injured in Afghanistan, said she can “barely believe it.”

“We are talking about young men who are terribly maimed,” she said. “I’ve seen these people make incredible efforts to get well again, yet the MoD is treating them as potential fraudsters – and for what? To save a few quid on what must be a microscopic number of claims which are exaggerated.”

Plans to widen a busy part of the M62 in West Yorkshire have been publicly unveiled in the hope of easing traffic flow and reducing the number of road accidents and personal injury claims on the stretch of motorway.

The plans reveal that at peak times, the hard shoulder will be used between Brighouse and Rothwell – junctions 25 and 30 respectively – in an attempt to relieve congestion. Emergency lay-bys will then be constructed at regular intervals alongside the hard shoulder to allow for any vehicle breakdowns.

A similar scheme has already been tested on a trial basis on the M42 in the West Midlands. Transport Minister Chris Mole said: “We have been encouraged by results from the hard shoulder running pilot scheme on the M42 near Birmingham which has demonstrated significant reductions in journey times, plus a reduced number of personal injury accidents.”

Work on the ‘Managed Motorway’ scheme on the M62 is expected to start in late 2010 and is estimated to take two years to complete. The Highways Agency also has similar plans for other busy motorways across the country, including parts of the M1 in South Yorkshire and the M60 and M62 in Manchester.

A Sussex pensioner is claiming up to £150,000 in injury compensation after she was the victim of a hit-and-run road accident in Hastings.

Shelagh Leach, 83, suffered serious personal injury after she was hit by a car outside a petrol station. The driver, Paul Barnard, accidentally mounted the pavement when he swerved to enter the filling station entrance. He then hit Ms Leach and drove off without stopping, leaving her suffering by the roadside.

Barnard was convicted at Hastings Magistrates’ Court of driving without due care and attention. Ms Leach’s solicitors have now started legal proceedings, seeking compensation of between £100,000 and £150,000 from the motorist’s insurance company.

Ms Leach, a retired teacher, spent nearly two months in hospital recovering from the accident. She suffered two broken legs and needed emergency surgery upon arriving at the hospital. Her solicitors claim that before the accident she was healthy and active, but the road accident has since left her traumatised and immobilised by her injuries.