Traditionally, age brings with it wisdom – and the respect of others. But what if you’re 84 years old and you’re accused of telling lies "in court"? It's one thing to exaggerate, for example, medical symptoms caused by an accident - but to invent them? Here's an anonymised true story of a case we dealt with and how a scenario of that nature played out in practice. Our client was injured after she fell into an excavation that had been made by a national utilities company. It was right outside her garden gate. There were no warning signs in place. Our client had a registered sight impairment. She opened her gate, minding her own business, took one step and suddenly down she went. After her accident, the utilities company covered the trench with hard plastic matting so it was impossible for pedestrians to fall in. If they had done that before the accident, it could not have happened. We alleged that the utilities company had been negligent and that had caused our Continue Reading
Sheriff rules that an adult egg-and-spoon race is not a race
“Race - a competition in which all the competitors try to be the fastest and to finish first.” The Cambridge Dictionary The Pursuer was unsuccessful in this Elgin Sheriff Court case arising out of injuries sustained in the course of a parents’ race at a children’s sports day. The Pursuer attended her daughter’s annual nursery sports day. One of the events was an egg-and-spoon race for the mothers. The sports day had had to be moved indoors to a sports hall due to inclement weather. Whilst participating in the egg and spoon race, in the “outside lane”, the Pursuer failed to stop in time after the finish line so as to avoid colliding with the wall beyond. She sustained significant and life-changing injuries to both wrists as a result. While most parents taking part did not seem bothered by the outcome, at least one other participant appeared to treat it as a race, stopping only beyond the finish line. The Pursuer took first place. The Pursuer’s higher momentum Continue Reading
Do personal injury claims have any public benefit?
It's a myth that there is a Compensation Culture. It's a myth that personal injury claims drive up insurance premiums. But is it possible to show any real public benefit from personal injury compensation claims? Moray Claims / Grigor & Young LLP operates at a fairly local level and, in this article, we will look at 4 examples of ways in which personal injury claims by individuals have resulted – or could result – in changes which are of public benefit. 1. Removing a trip hazard A successful claim for a pedestrian who tripped on a raised piece of tarmac on the pedestrian footway close to the underpass at Alexandra Road, Elgin, resulted in the defect being repaired by Moray Council within a matter of days of the claim being intimated. 2. Properly marking/highlighting a trip hazard This raised area within Elgin bus station caused a pedestrian to trip and fall and suffer injury. It was never entirely clear why the plinth was there in the first place - possibly for an Continue Reading
How a Criminal Conviction helps with a Personal Injury Claim
A personal injury claim arising from an incident which took place in a Lossiemouth pizza takeaway has provided a good example of how a criminal conviction can be used in a personal injury claim to pave the way for the claim to succeed. This is a procedural decision from the All-Scotland Personal Injury Court in Edinburgh. In this article we will consider three aspects of how a criminal conviction helps with a personal injury claim. Firstly, we will look at the law in relation to the use of criminal convictions in civil proceedings such as personal injury claims. Secondly, we will see how the reference to a criminal conviction in the Lossiemouth case helped the claimant establish that compensation should be payable to him. Finally, we will look at the question of whether it is ever possible for a person who is blamed for an accident/injury to argue their way out of it even if there is a criminal conviction against them. 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
Snow and Ice: Single Vehicle Accidents
We are back to that time of year when the roads in Moray and the North of Scotland are regularly icy or snow-covered. In this blog, we are looking at the chances of making a claim for personal injury where, due to the road conditions, you lose control of your vehicle on ice or snow and have an accident. The fact is these are very difficult claims to make successfully, if you were the driver of the vehicle. Difficulties for drivers in claiming successfully … As you will see from what follows, under Scots Law the relevant highway authority will virtually never be to blame for an accident caused by a vehicle skidding on ice or snow. This puts the onus very much on you as the driver to take great care when driving in such conditions – and even to think carefully about whether you should make your journey at all. … Though not for passengers If you are a passenger in a single vehicle accident of that type, you will almost certainly have a claim against the insurers of the driver Continue Reading