Solicitors have generally managed to keep going through the pandemic and lockdowns in 2020. There have been good reasons to consider consulting a solicitor even though physical face-to-face meetings have been difficult, if not impossible.
We’ve produced quite a few articles in 2020 and this one counts down the Top 10 most popular blog posts of the year from Moray Claims.
10. When being even 10 per cent to blame for your accident is too much to accept
Contributory negligence can apply where your claim is going to be successful but there’s an argument that the accident was partly your fault too. This would have the result of reducing the compensation payable to you by a percentage.
Ten per cent (the minimum level which most courts impose, in practice) may not seem too much of a reduction but this article highlights how your solicitor will often refuse to accept even 10 per cent as reasonable – and argue for nil per cent, i.e. that your claim should succeed in full, 100 per cent.
9. What pricing will apply to our help with your personal injury claim in Moray?
The Law Society of Scotland is bringing in Price Transparency Guidelines for solicitors from January 2021. This article attempts to explain our pricing structure, the basis of which is that our services cost you nothing if your claim fails and that they also cost you nothing if your claim succeeds.
8. Injury Prevention Week trilogy
Injury Prevention Week was in August 2020 and these 3 articles, published that week, made it to number 8 in our list. These all contain practical tips in relation to pedestrian road safety.
Discussion includes: the dangers of reversing vehicles; the importance of encouraging child road safety awareness; and the extreme risks to pedestrians who use mobile phones “on the go”.
7. What PPE duties do employers have?
PPE or Personal Protective Equipment has had a high profile in 2020 due to the risks to NHS employees from COVID-19 and numerous allegations of sub-standard equipment provision. But PPE goes beyond face masks and heavy-duty suits – and this article discusses a wide range of issues arising from the use of PPE in the workplace.
6. Claiming successfully for an accident at work though you did something silly
Employees are prone to lapses of concentration – sometimes verging on the daft – and the law recognises this and ‘forgives’ to some extent in the context of personal injury claims. The article highlights situations where claims still succeeded though your gut feeling might be to expect they would have failed
5. Claiming for wage loss when you are not losing any wages
Though the title sounds like a contradiction in terms, it makes more sense if you consider a situation where an injured person recovers sufficiently to return to their pre-accident employment but only because their employers – and, often, also fellow employees – accept they are not able to carry out all the duties of their job themselves. In that case, they may have a “wage loss” claim under the heading of future loss of employability or disadvantage on the labour market.
4. Don’t let your personal injury claim get thagomized (by getting a move on now)
An article drawing on a term coined by legendary cartoonist Gary Larson to describe the ‘destroyer’ bits on the tail of a Stegosaurus (“after the late Thag Simmons”). It’s a general call to action along the lines of “it’s never too early to contact your solicitor but it can be too late”.
Time limits generally apply to personal injury claims.
You don’t want to miss yours.
Your solicitor doesn’t want you to miss it either
3. Restarting Personal Injury Claims in the Sheriff Court
This piece was aimed at encouraging the authorities to find a way to get the timetables for personal injury claims in the Sheriff Court going again at a time when they were on indefinite hold due to Covid-19 and also seemingly low priority against most other case types. Fortunately, things have improved a bit by the end of 2020.
2. Free of charge help with your personal injury claim from a solicitor (even if your claim succeeds)?
This was another angle on the question: “How does your personal injury claim solicitor make money if they don’t charge you anything?” and the aim is to help you understand that it’s not a given that you will lose some of your compensation to pay legal or other fees if your claim succeeds. It is possible to find solicitors who will be able to guarantee you will receive 100% of your compensation.
1. Personal Injury Claims True or False Quiz
How long do you generally have to make a claim before it becomes time-barred? What are the highest and lowest awards for individual injuries? (And how much are they valued at?). And do you know your Donoghue –v- Stevenson from your Judicial College Guidelines?
How we can help
You can find out more about what actually happens if you contact us about a possible personal injury claim via this other 2020 article on the website.
If you have any questions, you can call us on 01343 544077 or you can send us a Free Online Enquiry.
