Personal Accident Compensation Claims
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  Accident types
Accidents at Work
Every year many people are injured whilst at work. Some are injured on the factory floor, in falling or lifting accidents, incidents involving crushing injuries. Cuts, burns and scalds are common. Long term respiratory or skin diseases can occur. Vibration white finger is a common problem in the mining industry. Some people suffer badly through stress caused at work.

There are many health and safety laws together with European legislation designed to protect the individual worker, through those laws it is often possible to prove fault on behalf of an employer and to recover compensation for injured individuals or for those who become ill through their employment or in their working environment.

Accidents in a Public Place
'Public Liability claims' involve individuals who have suffered injury such as a tripping or falling in any public place. Defective pavements, poorly maintained roads, untidy shops or other premises can cause a problem.

Road Accidents
Road accidents can involve the drivers of motor vehicles, their passengers, motor cyclists, cyclists or indeed pedestrians. Incidents causing injury on the road are a common occurrence. Besides claiming compensation for injuries sustained if your own vehicle is damaged then uninsured losses need to be recovered, including vehicle repair costs or an excess, hire charges, loss of use etc. Damage may have been caused to other property.

Medical Mistakes
Medical mistakes can occur causing increased pain, suffering and distress.


Road Traffic Accidents
  1. Do Not admit liability
  2. Exchange names, addresses and insurance details. If you do not have your insurance details to hand over the telephone with those as soon as possible.
  3. Ensure you also exchange details of the vehicles, i.e. make model and registration numbers.
  4. If you are a pedestrian, make sure you obtain details as above.
  5. Check for any witnesses at the scene, whether pedestrians or other drivers and obtain their names and addresses.
  6. If anyone is injured, you must call the police.
  7. In the cases of more serious accidents you should not move the vehicle(s) and you must wait for the police to arrive. In minor incidents, you may prevent further accidents occurring by moving the vehicles out of the way.
  8. If you are a passenger, you should still obtain the name, address and insurance details of the driver.
  9. Ensure you seek treatment for your injuries immediately or as soon as the symptoms develop, either from your local GP or Hospital.
  10. Keep a diary of your symptoms.
  11. keep receipts for all out of pocket expenses, medication and travel costs etc.
  12. Report the matter to your insurers as soon as possible. They may be able to help you with your claim and give you further useful advice. You may also have legal expenses insurance which will cover your legal fees, also check your household insurance and mortgage policies.
  13. If anyone helps you out on a day to day basis whilst you are incapacitated, keep a note of the tasks they perform and time taken.
  14. Do not accept any offer of payment without taking proper advice.
  15. Keep damaged clothing and personal effects in case inspection is needed.
Tripping and Slipping (in a public place)
  1. If you are badly injured, you should call for assistance and medical attention. Do not try to move, unless to do so would prevent further injury.
  2. Obtain the details of anyone who saw you fall and ensure they saw what caused you to slip or fall over.
  3. Measure the obstacle over which you tripped or the depth of any hole into which you fell.
  4. Take photographs of the location, both a general view of the locality with close-ups of the area of the fall.
  5. Take photographs of your injury.
  6. Seek medical advice from your GP/hospital regarding your injuries and keep a record of symptoms.
  7. Keep receipts of any medication and all out of pocket expenses, including travel costs.
  8. Report the matter to the owner of the land/the local authority and obtain their insurance details.
  9. If anyone helps you on a day to day basis whilst you are incapacitated keep a note of the time they spend and tasks they carried out.
  10. Do not accept offers or payments, take advice.
Work Place Accident (General)
  1. Check your injuries. If you are badly hurt you should call for assistance and refrain from moving unnecessarily until your injuries can be ascertained.
  2. You should ensure that details of the injury are recorded in the accident report book and ask for a copy of this. You should be asked to sign this.
  3. Check if anyone else witnessed the incident and obtain their names and addresses.
  4. Make a note of the name of the Manager, the First Aid Officer who should attend to you on the scene and the name of any Health and Safety Officer.
  5. Obtain detail of the Public Liability Insurers.
  6. Keep a diary of your injuries and symptoms and have these tended to by the hospital or your GP.
  7. Keep a record of your out of pocket expenses and medication as a result of the incident.
  8. Do not accept any offer or payments, take advice.
  9. Take photographs of the site of the accident and your injuries.
  10. If anyone helps you on a day to day basis whilst you are incapacitated keep a note of the time they spend and tasks they carry out.
  11. Check your household insurance and mortgage policy to see if you have legal expense support cover.
  12. If you have union membership consult your representative.
Machinery Accidents
  1. Call for immediate assistance from a First Aider and wait for your injuries to be assessed.
  2. If any machinery is running and is causing danger of further injury, switch this off yourself or call for assistance to do so.
  3. Ensure the incident is reported in the accident report book and ask for a copy of this, once signed.
  4. Check if any other worker or person witnessed the incident. They may be willing to act as a witness for you. Find out if there have been any similar incidents of the same nature.
  5. Ensure that you have your injuries attended to at the hospital or by your GP and that you keep photographs of your injuries.
  6. If appropriate, take photographs of the site of the accident/machinery.
  7. Keep a diary of your symptoms.
  8. Keep receipts for all expenses you incur as a result of the accident.
  9. Check your household/mortgage policy for legal expense support, if you are in a union consult your representative.
  10. Do not accept any offers, take advice.
Medical Mistake
  1. Ensure that you report your injuries to the consultant and ask that these be entered into the hospital records.
  2. Take photographs of the injuries.
  3. Keep a diary of your symptoms and treatment.
  4. Keep a note of receipts for any out of pocket expenses as a result of the injury.
  5. You may wish to make a complaint to the Health Trust concerned and ask for details of their complaints procedure.
  6. Report the matter to your GP and obtain any referrals necessary to ensure your injuries receive appropriate treatment.
  7. Check your home insurance and mortgage policy, to ascertain if you have legal expenses cover to enable you to seek legal advice.

Example Awards

Teeth
Male aged nine at the date of the accident was injured whilst playing in an area designated as a school playing ground when he tripped and fell over an uneven paving slab. As a result of the fall suffered damaged to his upper two front central incisors. The teeth were chipped and fractured. The dental treatment had to be carried out on a frequent basis. General Damages: £2,400.00.

Male aged 56 at the date of the accident was injured when struck in the mouth by a spring loaded iron bar which formed part of a defective "up and over" garage door mechanism. Loss of 12 teeth. Inpatient for five days operation to remove broken teeth. Permanent dentures fitted and would require replacement about every 10 years. General Damages: £10,000.

Minor Injuries - Head
A girl, aged 7 at the date of injury hit on head by falling racking. Haematoma but no laceration. Bruising lasted a few days headaches for six weeks, no neurological deficit. Slight depressed area on her forehead more pronounced when she frowned or looked upward, approximately 1.5cm x 1cm in a crescent shape. Minor scarring. General Damages: £4,000.

Facial and Non Facial Scars
A girl aged two at the date of injury was bitten by a dog multiple lacerations of the forehead. Four scars, permanent but could be concealed by cosmetics. More noticeable when exposed to the sun. Genuine and real cosmetic disability, but not serious disfigurement. General Damages: £9,000.

Back/Whiplash/Neck
Female aged 18 whiplash injury to her neck and lower back. Wore a cervical collar for a few days, made a complete recovery after one week from her neck injuries. Lumbar symptoms continued, but not of an intense degree. Pain sitting for long periods, and in cold weather. Back pain in the morning and she suffered with pain which occasionally disturbed her sleep. Unable to pursue her hobby of horse riding for 12 months. Full recovery from her lumbar injuries within 23 months. General Damages: £3,500.

Male aged 25 injury to neck and back after slipping and falling approximately 10 feet to the ground. Neck collar for six weeks off work for two months. Intermittent back pain which worse in winter. After accident intermittent discomfort. Aching and pain in lower back some sleep disturbance. Anti-inflammatory tablets daily able to continue with his job avoided heavy lifting tasks. General Damages: £10,000.

Male aged 26 injured falling off motorcycle. Taken to hospital pain in back, left shoulder and neck. No fractures. Two weeks of severe pain had physiotherapy symptoms resolved within a year. General Damages: £2,000.

Female, aged 44 sustained injury to neck - Pain in neck, shoulder and back. Severe pain for six to eight weeks then subsided on examination six months later had improved to a considerable degree. Some intermittent pain in neck. General Damages: £2,200.

Male aged 49 whiplash injury to his neck. Acute symptoms for the first two weeks. Wore a cervical collar for three weeks, six sessions of physiotherapy and analgesics. Annoying discomfort in neck without actual pain. The discomfort was mild discomfort when driving. General Damages: £5,500.

Female aged 20 neck and knee injuries. Fain in her knee, neck and lower back. Off work for four weeks. Year later some pain and stiffness in the neck. Occasionally wore a collar. Tenderness over spine. Intermittent aching discomfort at night. The prognosis was for a full recovery within two years. General Damages: £4,250.

Leg
Male aged 52 slipped on a wet contaminated paving slab. Basal fracture to femur. Surgery. Hospitalised for 10 days. Surgery was successful, 18 centimeter scar on his thigh. Course of physiotherapy. Advised to keep the weight off his leg for three months. 10 to 15 per cent increase in the risk of osteoarthritis. Continued to experience some discomfort when seated for long periods or when driving. Unable to work for four months. Unable to pursue his hobby of dancing for one year. General Damages: £8,000.

Hair
Female aged 17 went to a hair salon to have hair coloured. Prior to the treatment, she had a head of strong and attractive hair. Bleach was applied to hair during the colouring process resulting in patchy colouring of the hair. When she washed and combed her hair came out in clumps leaving her bald in patches. When examined by a two months later the hair on the crown of the head was dry and matted with a maximum length of 10 centimeters.

Suffered embarrassment and a loss of confidence. Had to buy scarves and caps to cover hair her social life was affected for a period of six months. Took 18 months for hair to grow sufficiently. Two years after the incident, the hair was still patchy. General Damages: £4,000.

Wrist
Male aged 39 tripping accident sustained a strain to the wrist. Attended hospital local tenderness, swelling and pain. Provided with a tubigrip. The pain lasted one month. Ten months he suffered from pain for 10 minutes every couple of days, thumb was weak and he sometimes wore strapping. Symptoms would disappear within three years of the accident. Initially he was unable to go shopping, his driving was affected. General Damages: £10,000.
Hand
Female aged 41 suffered a crushing injury to the fingers and knuckles of both hands when a hopper from a factory machine fell down onto her. No fractures were noted at the time but her hands became badly swollen, were bandaged and strapped to her chest in an upward position. The strapping was taken off after a few days and within a week she noticed pins and needles. Diagnosis was Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I-lad two operations to relieve symptoms resolved within 18 months of the accident. Absent from work for 22 weeks. General Damages £4,500.

Male aged 60 suffered injury to his left hand when the roller shutter door of a lorry came down Open fractures of the middle and ring fingers deep lacerations of both fingers. Treatment consisted of cleaning and dressing the injured fingers and a course of antibiotics and analgesics. Underwent a course of physiotherapy. Weakness in his grip and hobby of gardening was restricted as was his ability to carry shopping, also cold intolerance. General Damages: £3,000.

(Reproduced with permission of Sweet and Maxwell Limited)

If you feel you have suffered any of these apply to your case please complete our claim form.