Our Personal Injury solicitors, Marie and Peter, have been handling claims on behalf of people in Moray for quite a few years now. Of the clients we have helped, probably none relished the prospect of making a compensation claim. Many had some sort of “objection” or problem in their minds, which they had to overcome before deciding to go ahead. The cynical “Compensation Culture” view is that it’s all about getting money. It has to be partly about money because that’s how the law of personal injury works but, in our experience, it’s not the whole story by any means. We’ve collected comments from injured people we have helped in Moray and this article sets out some of the most common motivating factors behind their claims. As you will see, some of the themes overlap a bit. Here are 5 reasons why people in Moray decide to claim for personal injury losses. You incur significant loss of earnings If you’ve been injured and have to take time off work in order to recover, you may not Continue Reading
The Most Important Medical Negligence Case Of The Last 30 Years?
A Lanarkshire mother’s 15-year quest to obtain compensation for injuries her son suffered during birth has ended successfully. Her claim failed twice in the Court of Session but her second and final right of appeal - to the Supreme Court – found all 7 judges to be in her favour. Her solicitor, Fred Tyler of Balfour & Manson, Edinburgh, described the Supreme Court’s decision as “almost certainly the most significant medical negligence judgement in 30 years - a momentous decision which will affect the doctor-patient relationship throughout the UK.” Was he correct to describe it as the most important medical negligence case of the last 30 years? In this article, we look at various ways in which the case of Montgomery –v- Lanarkshire Health Board is significant. Facts of the case Nadine Montgomery is diabetic and gave birth to her son, Sam, in 1999 at Bellshill Maternity Hospital in Lanarkshire. Diabetic women are more likely to have larger-than-average babies and Mrs. Montgomery Continue Reading
How Long Do I Have To Make A Personal Injury Claim?
I recently had to travel to a family funeral in Germany with my wife. We flew with KLM from Aberdeen to Cologne via Amsterdam. On the way there, we had one hour in Amsterdam Airport to catch our connecting flight. From previous experience, we knew this might be a problem. Schiphol is a sprawling airport. It is designed as a central hub with “spokes” going off from the centre and, on each spoke, there are up to 30 Gates. Gates with low numbers are close to the central hub and Gates with higher numbers are further out. On arrival at Amsterdam, we were on time. The aircraft’s parking stance was at Gate C18 and we understood we had to get to Gate D4. “C” and “D” are two different spokes, so we would have to get from one Gate to the other via the hub. When we checked the departure boards, we found that the departure Gate had been changed to D28. Travelator walkways on the spokes help to speed you on your way but, at the hub, we had to go through Security again and there Continue Reading
Pedestrian RTA Claim from Aberdeenshire Illustrates Difficulty of Contributory Negligence
The other day, I got an enquiry from a potential client about a tenancy deposit dispute. Having heard the details, I told him I didn’t think there would be any basis for making a claim. He wanted to continue to discuss the matter, so I had to tell him that I was not going to change my mind and, if he did not accept my advice, he should consider getting a second opinion from another solicitor. At that point, he told me that he had already spoken to several other firms of solicitors in Elgin about the same issue. So, I asked him what advice they had given him. He said: “The same advice that you have given me about it.” I smiled wryly as he said that and the call ended amicably. I had mixed feelings about it. Of course, I would like to feel that possible clients are coming to me with their enquiries as their “first choice” solicitor - which was clearly not the case here. More strongly, though, it struck me as ironic that several solicitors had all apparently Continue Reading
