National Geographic has put the Moray Coast in the top twenty of its world list of the most beautiful coastal regions. This should be good news for tourism in Moray and the North of Scotland. The article – which is available on the National Geographic Travel website – emphasises the area’s outstanding cliff scenery and strong community feeling. It has been formulated from opinions from a panel of 340 experts in sustainable tourism taken together with views of readers on the locations of the Earth’s most scenic coastal regions. Comments from readers included that the Moray Coast is: "A wonderful region of Scotland - beaches are fantastic, and the area welcomes visitors as one of their own.” Continue Reading
Accidents at Work – Loss of Earnings
Where you have been injured in an accident, a common consequence is that you will not be fit for work for a period of time. We often find that our personal injury clients who are victims of accidents in the workplace - in situations where it was the employer's breach of duty that caused the accident - only decide to make a claim at all because during their absence they receive wages at a reduced rate. It seems unfair that not only have you been injured due to your employer's fault but you then also suffer a personal / family financial crisis. Some employers have a company sick pay scheme, usually set out in the employee's written terms and conditions. If you have the benefit of a scheme like this, it will often mean you getting full pay for some weeks or months, then half pay, eventually reducing to nil. If you are injured and there is no employer's scheme in place, you may still be eligible for statutory sick pay (SSP), the standard weekly rate for which is currently £85.85 Continue Reading
Accidents on Rural Roads
RoSPA - the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents - published a policy paper (August 2010) addressing the safety of rural roads, which could be of interest to you if you have suffered personal injury on the roads in Moray or elsewhere in the North of Scotland. The publication points out that rural roads have not seen as rapid a fall in accident rates as urban areas in recent years. Rural roads still account for over 70% of fatal road accidents. RoSPA is of the view that simply managing the road environment itself can help to reduce the number of incidents where the road is a primary or indirect cause of the accident. According to RoSPA, some useful options are to alter the perceived road width with markings or roadside islands or by changing or removing the centre line. "Forgiving roadsides" can also help reduce the risk and severity of injury sustained if a vehicle leaves the main carriageway for a short period. If you have been injured in a road accident then Continue Reading
Legal Expenses Insurance: one method of funding your personal injury claim
If you have had an accident and been injured, you may have insurance cover for the cost of instructing a solicitor that you didn't even know you had. Most of us hold some form of insurance - household (buildings or contents), medical, car, holiday - the list is endless. Many such policies have Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI) as an add-on, often buried in the small print. If you need to make a personal injury claim following an accident, LEI is one way of funding your claim. Others are "no win - no fee" and, in Scotland, Legal Aid. There can also be similar cover through bank accounts, credit cards and bank / organisation memberships. Some of us at Moray Claims / Grigor & Young are members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and they have produced a helpful downloadable pamphlet which includes discussion about these issues. How we can help We can help you determine whether this type of funding - or any of the others - would be available to help you Continue Reading