You get an amazing feeling of freedom when you ride a motorcycle. You have the opportunity to enjoy the freshness and beauty of the countryside without being cooped up in a car. We are lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world as Moray and come the Spring, and more reliable road conditions, motorcyclists are to be found everywhere from the A96 to the smallest back road. Along with the pleasure of motorcycle riding, however, comes the risk of an accident. The most recent statistics show an increase in accidents involving more vulnerable vehicles, such as bicycles and motorcycles, which is a concern. If you have an accident while out on your motorcycle and suffer injury, how do you go about making a claim? Personal injury damages The most important claim is for compensation for your injuries. Motorcyclists are very exposed if there is any sort of collision and, as a result, injuries tend to be multiple, severe and, often, life-changing. We have experience Continue Reading
Should I Settle My Accident Injury Claim Directly With The Insurance Company?
If you have been hurt as the result of an accident, it is likely that the third party’s insurance company will contact you directly. You will probably have exchanged personal details with the other party to the accident and that information will be passed on to the other insurers if the accident is reported to them by their customer. Insurers have recognised this as a great opportunity to “get in first”. Where the insurance company for the other party sees that the accident is likely to be the fault of their insured, if they move swiftly, they can get to you before you are in touch with your own insurers. The “prize” as far as they are concerned is the chance to offer money to settle any personal injury claim you might have - before you have had time to get proper legal advice and intimate the claim. Third party capture There are different terms for this procedure, depending on your point of view. Solicitors who represent the interests of injury victims refer to it as Continue Reading
Bicycle Accident in Moray – How To Claim For Personal Injury
If you do any amount of cycling, you will probably have had a near miss or two. Cyclists are vulnerable road users and the risk is always there of an accident or collision with a car, lorry or even another cyclist. Moray has a few designated cycle paths, notably the tracks between Elgin and RAF Lossiemouth and between Forres and Findhorn. However, on numerous minor roads in Moray, the national speed limit is combined with narrow carriageways and restricted visibility. Add to this the ever-increasing volume of traffic on our roads and you can see why an increasing number of cyclists are falling victim to injury as the result of a bicycle accident in Moray. If you are a cyclist unlucky enough to be injured in an accident, you may choose to make a personal injury claim so you can receive compensation for your injuries and other losses. It is likely that your bike will be damaged, possibly beyond economic repair, and you will want any compensation to include an element to pay Continue Reading
Insurers Not Getting In Touch After An RTA (Why That Might Be)
How long does it take for Insurers to get in touch after a road traffic accident? That’s a question we received recently in the following terms: “I was involved in an RTA two months ago. I have not heard from the insurance company yet. How long does it take for them to get in touch? The accident was not my fault.” A significant collision - with lots of post-accident worries It turns out this accident involved a rear end shunt at a junction. The vehicle was pushed right off the road by the impact. The injured driver who contacted us had been knocked unconscious as a result of the crash. He spent two nights in hospital, was off work for several weeks and lost wages. An incorrect assumption He had been driving his works van and thought that his employers’ motor insurers would take care of his claim for his injuries and his financial losses, including his loss of earnings. This was a classic situation where you, as the accident victim, have suffered injury through no Continue Reading
How To Get All The Crucial Details After A Road Traffic Accident
If you're involved in a RTA, there's crucial information you need to get We were on the main road south. We had not even made it out of Moray on our journey to Edinburgh. Accident A car approached from a minor road which formed a T-junction with our road, on our left. It should have given way to us but it didn’t; instead, it pulled out right in front of us and I could not stop in time. The front of our car hit the driver’s side of the other car, at the rear wheel arch. I had not been going fast and our speed at impact was probably less than 20 mph. Nevertheless, it was enough to cause the other car to spin right round, so it ended up facing into the junction it had come out of. What we did immediately after the accident I switched off the engine. I didn’t remember to switch on the hazard warning lights but my wife, in the passenger seat, did. I got out of the car and found the other driver was already out of his car. We established that both vehicles were Continue Reading
Problems Diagnosing Whiplash Injuries
The Westminster Government is concerned that the quality of medical evidence in whiplash cases is not as good as it should be. It’s reckoned that claimants are duping doctors and exaggerating or inventing their whiplash symptoms. The Government proposes accreditation of medical experts to ensure greater consistency. The attack on whiplash claims is unrelenting. The insurance industry now suggests review of the law so that, as a matter of public policy, you should not be allowed to claim compensation for “low value” whiplash; instead, all insurers should have to pay is the cost of treatment, such as physiotherapy. What are the problems with whiplash? The terminology could be clearer, for a start. Whiplash is really a 'neck sprain', which commonly results from road traffic accidents where there is a rear end impact. It happens in an instant. The head is thrown first backwards and then forwards. Typically, the whole injury “event” is over within half a Continue Reading
How much compensation will you get for a whiplash injury?
Photograph: "Spines" by Nicky Mack Whiplash injuries to the upper spine can range widely in severity. From neck stiffness lasting for a day or two, the symptoms can extend to pain and restriction of movement which persists for months or even years. We have posted on this Blog previously about the “classic” whiplash accident mechanism – usually a road traffic accident involving a rear end shunt. Whiplash remains a controversial injury, which has become a bit of a political football. Because there are no physical signs associated with whiplash symptoms – such as would show up on x-rays or other scans – exaggeration and fabrication of claims is always a possibility. Likely claim value is a factor in deciding whether a claim is worth it or not If you are considering making a whiplash claim, you will be wondering how much your claim is going to be worth. It is reasonable to consider this, as you will want to weigh up whether it is going to be worth the time and Continue Reading
You Didn’t Wear A Seatbelt: Can You Still Claim?
Click Clack, Front ‘n’ Back. Though there are other famous public information campaigns dating from the 1970s, seatbelt laws did not come into force in the UK until 1983. Regulations for children to wear seatbelts followed in 1989 and then for seatbelts in the rear seats in 1991. It took a while for many people to wear seatbelts regularly but now it has become the accepted norm for anyone getting into a motor vehicle. Most car manufacturers install alarm systems to alert the occupants when a seatbelt is not engaged and the vehicle is in motion. In spite of the rules, there are still some people who will not willingly wear a seatbelt and there are in fact exemptions for certain people. You will still have a claim but your compensation will be reduced If you are unfortunate enough to have suffered injury in an accident whilst not wearing your seatbelt, you will probably still be able to make a claim for personal injury. The down side is that there may Continue Reading
A9 Accident Prevention: Driving With The Lights On
It’s good to see Del Amitri back on the road again for the first time in 12 years. Their set list includes the song “Driving with the brakes on” – not about a stationary vehicle but instead another complicated Justin Currie relationship scenario. Driving with the lights on is clearly a good idea at certain times of day or if conditions are poor. In this post, I’m making a more general road safety point - which is to suggest you consider driving with your lights on during the hours of daylight, at least on certain roads. Scotland’s "most dangerous" roads Scotland has few motorways and none north of Perth. At the top end of the country, trunk roads are the arterial routes. Many of these have only a single carriageway in each direction but some have sections with dual carriageway or “overtaking lanes”. Roads such as the A96, A82 and, especially, A9 (Scotland's longest trunk road), have gained a reputation for frequent accidents. Between 2006 and 2010, the A9 claimed more lives 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
Whiplash Injuries: How They Happen
The subject of whiplash injuries continues to appear regularly in the news and in this post we're looking at the mechanism of the typical whiplash injury. The medical difficulty which exists in proving the existence and extent of these injuries means there’s always going to be doubters shouting (sarcastically) “Git ower it!” at people who claim compensation for whiplash. The Westminster Government say they are going after the “whiplash fraudsters” who invent or at least exaggerate their injuries following road traffic accidents. On the other hand, if you’ve ever suffered a whiplash injury yourself you will know what a miserable experience it can be, interfering with all areas of daily life. During Road Safety Week (18-24 November 2013), the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has been encouraging prevention of whiplash injuries by motorists avoiding the dangerous practice of tailgating the vehicle in front. The classic whiplash accident scenario The classic Continue Reading
Road Accident Injury Claims: Details To Get From The Other Driver
You have been involved in a road traffic accident with another vehicle, which was not your fault. You have suffered injury as a result. You need to make a claim for your injuries and other losses. Motor insurance is compulsory and so the aim will be to make the claim against the insurers of the third party driver. What are the details you need to get from the other party involved in the accident? Aside from the situation where you are not able to get the information at the scene because you or the other driver is so seriously injured, it can be helpful if you can manage to get: (most important of all) the registration number of the other vehicle the make, model and colour of the other vehicle the name and address of the driver of the other vehicle the name and address of the insurers of the other vehicle the policy number or claims reference number for the other party and their insurers. If the police attend the scene of the Continue Reading