On 04 May 2013 – a cold and windy day in Elgin - three of us from Grigor & Young / Moray Claims (Ann, Eileen and Peter), took a stall at the Scottish Theme Day run by Elgin Business Improvement District (Elgin BID). Thank you to everyone involved in organising it and all who participated. We ran a competition where we asked people to give their valuation of the injury in the following scenario. Female, aged 42, at the date of the injury and 45 at the date of the hearing, sustained a deep laceration on her posterior left thigh as a result of sitting on a toilet which had a jagged broken edge. The wound bled profusely and she was taken to hospital where it was sutured with seven stitches under local anaesthetic. Approximately two weeks later the wound became inflamed and antibiotics were prescribed. She was unable to work for 10 days and had difficulties sitting down or sleeping on her back for some six to eight weeks afterwards. She was left with a permanent scar measuring 3cm by Continue Reading
Early Settlement of Personal Injury Claims: Bad News For Everyone?
We see this happening much more frequently following accidents involving personal injury. People, who are at their most vulnerable following injury, receive a call from the other party’s insurance company and then a letter offering settlement of their claim at a derisory level. Why? Well, settling the claim quickly is invariably cheaper for an insurer and they know that, without specialist advice, you may not be paid all that you are entitled to receive. If you have suffered a personal injury, it is generally only possible to value the injury part of the claim properly by obtaining medical evidence. The amount your injury is worth depends on things like: the nature and severity of the initial injury; and the length of time it takes you to recover from the injury. Getting medical evidence, including a report from an appropriate medical expert, should ensure that the compensation paid out at the end of the day is fair compensation. And that means “fair” not only to you Continue Reading
If You Go To Court Will You Get 33 Times More Compensation For Your Personal Injury Claim?
We at Grigor & Young / Moray Claims recently dealt with a personal injury claim for a child who had suffered loss of several teeth following a fall in a local-authority-run play park - caused by a defective ground surface. The best settlement offer received from the insurers in negotiations before court action was raised was £750. Raising a court action resulted in a subsequent negotiated settlement of the claim at £25,000 – in other words, 33 times the best pre-litigation offer. Insurance companies are constantly putting forward the line that personal injury solicitors are simply expensive middle men. The insurers maintain that they can themselves fairly assess the compensation that is due and that, if you choose to deal with them directly, you will not be prejudiced. They will negotiate settlement of the claim with you and your claim will not have to go to court. The insurers say that the benefits of this solicitor-less approach go further. If less money has to be spent on Continue Reading
Car Insurance: When the “Best Deal” may be False Economy (If In Doubt – Disclose)
When you’re insuring your car, you’re looking for the best deal and that usually means the cheapest deal. In that environment, it is easy to think that a little 'white lie' about your vehicle or your circumstances will not hurt you if it saves you a few pounds. That is a risky and inadvisable approach, as a recent decision from Greenock Sheriff Court illustrates. The claimant in that case had insured his Audi with Zenith Insurance. When the vehicle was stolen, he claimed on his car insurance for the value of the vehicle. The claim was refused. Zenith said they were treating his policy as void. They refunded the premiums he had paid (amounting to about £1,440) but refused to pay him the value of his car (about £20,000). He sued Zenith for payment of the value of the car. He lost. Insurance contracts are contracts of the utmost good faith Basically, this means that you, as the insured, have a duty to disclose all material or “important” facts that might have Continue Reading
Vicarious Liability: How It Can Help A Work Accident Claim To Succeed
If you have been injured at work by the negligence of a fellow employee or in any situation by a person who was acting in the course of their employment, your claim can be based on what is known as vicarious liability. Often there will be other grounds of claim too but the most common use of negligence as a means of winning an employer’s liability case is vicarious liability. Vicarious liability is the legal doctrine that shifts the blame for an injury onto a person or organisation that did not directly cause the injury but which employed the person who did act negligently. The employer has to take responsibility for the negligence of the employee because the employee is deemed to be an agent of the employer. If an employee is to blame for causing an accident and was acting within the general scope of his or her employment at the time, the injured person will be able to claim against the employer. The theory of vicarious liability is one thing. In practice, it is not always Continue Reading
School Accidents: Three Sides To Every Story
The hysteria that goes along with the so-called “Compensation Culture” is generally nowhere more misplaced than in relation to accidents to children at school. Parents who instruct solicitors to pursue claims for damages for injuries to their children sustained in school will usually only experience disappointment. That’s not say that these claims can never succeed but “health and safety gone mad” tends to crop up a lot in this context. The standard of care expected of a school is that of the reasonable parent. Castle View School in Canvey Island, Essex, has reportedly banned triangular flapjacks after a student was struck in the face by one at break time. Canteen staff have been instructed that in future they must cut flapjacks into squares or rectangles. A spokesman for the school said: "I can confirm that the texture and shape of the flapjacks were reviewed following an isolated accident last week." A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said, pointedly: "We Continue Reading
Your Personal Injury Claim: How Long Will It Take?
It is extremely difficult to say how long a personal injury claim will take but the factors involved are not all within the control of the other party or their insurers, despite what some people think. “I know they will probably try to drag it out for years,” is a comment we often hear from people considering making a compensation claim for injuries suffered in an accident. "They" refers to the person or organisation responsible for paying the compensation that is due – which is usually, but not always, an insurance company. Your personal injury solicitor will constantly be keeping an eye on what is the next step required in relation to your claim. At any given time, your solicitor should be able to give a best estimate of how much longer it will all take. Factors which could have an effect on the length of your claim Some things which will affect how quickly your claim can proceed to a conclusion are: How complex the case is; The severity of your Continue Reading
Can I Choose My Own Personal Injury Solicitor?
The answer is generally “yes”. Please read on for an explanation. In many situations if you have been injured as the result of an accident, you will have other property losses that will be insured and you will be contacting your insurers to claim for those. The most common example is road traffic accidents. Your car may well have been damaged and you will contact your insurers to see about repairs or a replacement vehicle. Your motor insurers will these days usually ask you if you have been injured in the accident. If you have been injured, they will refer you on to a specific law firm as if it is “the normal thing to do”. It is important to be aware that there is a financial relationship between the insurers and the solicitors they recommend to you. The relationship operates on the basis that the insurance company agrees to pass on all their claims to the solicitors and the solicitors pay a referral fee for the privilege. It means that the recommendation is not necessarily Continue Reading
Winter driving means an increased risk of accidents: what steps should you take?
Wintry weather is persisting into March around the Moray Firth. Inevitably, in winter, there tends to be an increase in road traffic accidents. At this time of year, we are more likely to be driving in the dark and on roads affected by snow and ice. Repeated freezing and thawing also increases the number and size of potholes in the roads. What steps can you take? Equipment to carry in your vehicle The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) recommends certain basic safety equipment to keep in your vehicle at all times, so you are prepared if the weather deteriorates. This should include a towrope, de-icing equipment, a spare wheel, a torch, a first aid kit and a warm blanket. Checks on the vehicle itself In addition, you should check that your vehicle itself is properly prepared for winter conditions. Check your tyre pressure regularly and ensure that you have sufficient tyre tread as this will reduce the risk of loss of traction and skidding (as well as improving Continue Reading
Why early settlement of your personal injury claim is probably a bad idea
If you have been the victim of personal injury due to the fault of another person or organisation, you will be entitled to compensation. Among other things, you will receive damages for the pain and suffering of your injuries and for any financial loss you have incurred, such as wage loss. There is a process you need to go through to get proper compensation. However, we find more and more that insurance companies tell people in your position that this is unnecessary. It is increasingly the case that injured persons are contacted directly by the insurers for the other person or organisation - with an offer to settle their claim there and then. In some cases, this involves a representative of the insurers “door-stepping” the injured person and virtually bullying them into agreeing. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of believing what is implied in the close attention these insurers pay to you: that they have your best interests at heart. Remember that the insurer’s principal Continue Reading
Whiplash injury: one way to reduce the risks
Whiplash gets a lot of negative press. It is a type of injury where there is scope for people exaggerating their aches and pains to get more compensation or even inventing them completely. The Westminster Government is currently on a mission to weed out spurious claims. On the other hand, if you have ever suffered a whiplash injury to your neck or back, you will know it is not something to be taken lightly. The injury is very real. Whiplash can cause a considerable amount of pain and inconvenience to the injured person. Everyone knows that prevention is better than cure and here’s an idea for simple action you can take to reduce the risk of you being the victim of a whiplash injury. It all boils down to proper adjustment of the head restraints in your vehicle. How best should you position the head rests in your vehicle? It is not sufficient to have a head restraint attached to the top of your seat. You must make sure it is adjusted to be in line with the top of your Continue Reading
Will I Have To Go To Court If I Make A Personal Injury Claim?
Many people worry that, if they pursue legal action, they will have to endure the stress and hassle of a court hearing (known as a ‘Proof’, in Scotland). We get this question time and again: "Will I have to go to court if I make a personal injury claim?" Solicitors and other legal professionals are more used to the court setting, of course, though it is not stress-free for them either. We understand that the prospect of having to go through court proceedings is daunting, perhaps to the point that it may put you off the idea of making a claim entirely. Most claims settle "out of court" It is important not to get too hung up on the idea that your claim will have to “go to court”. The main reason for this is that, in the vast majority of cases, claims are settled out of court – either because it is never necessary to raise a court action at all or because the claim settles after a court action is raised but before the Proof. The parties on each side of the claim will Continue Reading