Victims of road accidents who are injured as a result of another person’s negligent driving are entitled to claim compensation for their injuries, financial losses and damage to their property, such as their car if it was damaged in the accident. Insurance policies, which are a legal requirement for all drivers, are in place to pay compensation on the liable driver’s behalf in such circumstances. Unfortunately, in recent years there has been a massive increase in fraudulent insurance claims, in which dishonest motorists intentionally cause accidents, exaggerate injuries and may even invent witnesses to ensure that they win hefty compensation payouts. This practise is, obviously, illegal but is affecting motorists by bumping up the costs they pay for their insurance premiums.
A recent case of a man who tried to make a fraudulent claim for compensation ended with him being sentenced to six months in jail for fraud, which the judge said he hoped would set the example that insurance companies, law firms, the courts and the general public will not tolerate fraudulent compensation claims.
Anjam Shabir claimed to have been involved in an accident in October 2008, yet his report of events did not match with the opinion of an industry expert whose job is to investigate car crash scenes for evidence. In order to reinforce his story, Mr Shabir enlisted his sister and friend to lie and say they had been passengers in the car at the time of the accident. All three then lied to doctors about injuries they claimed to have sustained in an attempt to win up to £25,000 of fraudulent compensation money from the insurers of the other driver, a Mr Steiner who was an illegal immigrant and who has now been deported.
As well as Mr Shabir’s six months in prison, his friend and sister were each ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
Hopefully, continued efforts by insurers and law firms to fully investigate suspect compensation claims will continue to make life harder for the dishonest motorists who raise the premiums of their honest counterparts as well as hindering the accident claims process for those victims who genuinely need their compensation.
When a person is injured or made ill as a result of the negligence of their employer, they would normally make a claim for civil damages from the employer. However, some victims of industrial disease are finding it impossible to trace their employers’ liability policy to make a claim. This is because industrial diseases can take years to manifest themselves: Mesothelioma, a deadly form of lung cancer related to asbestos exposure is often not apparent until 30-50 years after exposure but kills its victims within 18-24 months of diagnosis.
Because the disease takes so long to emerge, it is often the case that the employer at the time of asbestos exposure has ceased trading and the insurance documents may have been lost or disposed of. This means that many Mesothelioma victims are unable to claim the compensation to which they’re entitled. It was estimated that the number of industrial disease victims who were unable to trace their employer’s insurance policy and therefore unable to claim, was estimate to be over 3,000 in 2008.
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and campaigners hope to see the implementation of a fund of last resort which would act as a safety net for those people who cannot claim compensation because they cannot trace their employer’s insurers. They would also like to see the introduction of a compulsory database of employers’ liability insurance policies.
Campaigners are strongly urging the new government to continue with plans for a designated employers’ liability insurance tracing office to help track down insurance policies. The Department for Work and Pensions recently set out plans for the tracing office, which will include an electronic database holding details of insurance policies.
The new coalition government’s decision to leave the draft Civil Law Reform bill out of the Queen’s speech has been greeted with disappointment by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL). The omission of the Bill from the Queen’s speech means that the government has decided not to commit to reforms in how compensation is awarded to victims of injury. As a result, present procedures will not change until at least November.
APIL has already criticised the government in recent years: the previous government had failed to act on Law Commission suggestions made in 1999 that damages should be around 50% higher.
Muiris Lyons, APIL president pointed out that whilst the draft bill wasn’t perfect, it did represent the first step in what she called a ‘long overdue’ reform of the English and Welsh damages system.
Raleys Solicitors are delighted to offer a free legal surgery for Goldthorpe residents.
Lawyers from Raleys Solicitors will be available to advise residents on their legal queries including how to proceed in the event of an accident at home, at work or on the road, as well as how to make a will or start a compensation claim following an occupational illness. The initial consultation will be completely free of charge.
The next advice session will take place at the Dearne Enterprise Centre, Barnburgh Lane, Goldthorpe on Friday 4th June between 10am and 2pm. There is no charge for initial consultations and as this is a drop-in session there is no need to make an appointment.
Raleys Solicitors are working with the Yorkshire area NUM to offer regular one to one advice sessions to Yorkshire’s mining communities. Past and present miners, their friends, family and neighbours are all very welcome.
“These surgeries are open to all residents of the Goldthorpe community, ” said Debra Allen of Raleys Solicitors, who will be co-ordinating the sessions. “You don’t have to be an ex-miner or union member to come and speak to us. The surgeries have proved really popular and are a great opportunity for people to come along and seek advice on any kind of legal matter.”
Local NUM members can contact Joe Gaskill on 01709 881 181 for more information about the surgeries. For non-union enquiries, contact Debra Allen on 01226 603 207
Over 40 children in the UK whose fingers were allegedly injured in the hinges of folding pushchairs manufactured by Maclaren, will receive personal injury compensation, following a compensation battle which has been ongoing since late 2009.
Originally, Maclaren recalled over a million products in the US but insisted its UK buggies were unaffected by the alleged problem concerning folding hinge systems. However, reports of injuries similar to those alleged in the US soon emerged here in the UK, causing concern amongst parents. As a result, Maclaren made a hinge cover available to families through its website.
Maclaren has not admitted liability but has agreed personal injury compensation with the help of its insurers and will be making full compensation damages awards. The payments will depend on the severity of injuries which included amputations to finger tips, fractured bones, disfigurement or loss of feeling. The money will be invested until the children concerned are 18.
Both personal injury solicitors and the families of victims have welcomed the compensation agreement. Whilst the payouts do not turn back the clock and undo the injuries, they have put an end to a distressing period for injured children and the parents who feared they may have been to blame.
Maclaren underlined its safety record, pointing out that out of a million buggies sold in the UK in the past decade and only 100 complaints have been received. The company also pointed out that the whole buggy industry was affected.
The families of 19 children from Corby, Northamptonshire have welcomed an out of court agreement for compensation from the local authority because of deformities suffered by their children. The children were born with deformities to their hands and feet which were caused by their mothers inhaling toxic fumes from a disused steelworks whilst pregnant.
The local authority, Corby Borough Council, was found to be negligent in the way it managed waste at the site of the steelworks in the 80s and 90s following closure of the site. The council had previously denied that it was negligent as well as denying the existence of any causal link between the removal of waste at the site and the deformities the children suffer.
The council agreed to drop its appeal having reached a binding agreement with the victims and their families. The agreement will set an interesting legal precedent regarding the duty of care of local authorities.
According to the Institute of Cancer Research, there are more instances of Mesothelioma in the UK than in any other country, with 2,000 people dying from it in the UK each year. Instances of the terminal disease are between three and five times fewer in the United States.
Mesothelioma is a terminal form of cancer which is brought about by exposure to asbestos. It is not the only illness that prolonged asbestos exposure can cause: asbestosis, pleural thickening and lung cancer are others.
The disease is so prevalent in our country because asbestos was used in construction, insulation and fireproofing and many workers came into contact with it when working on construction sites and shipyards as well as other industries. Unfortunately, the dangers of asbestos weren’t originally known, and employers did not always provide protection for employees in the form of protective clothing and masks as well as adequate ventilation and extraction.
Sadly, for the many thousands of workers who were exposed to asbestos during their working lives, mesothelioma cannot be cured. Not every worker who was exposed to asbestos will develop this deadly form of cancer, but there is a latency period of 30 to 40 years which means that workers often spend years worrying about whether they will contract this or another related disease.
Nothing can remove the stress and strain or the physical pain of living with this disease or living in fear of it, but victims may be entitled to claim compensation in order to relieve financial strain brought about by lost earnings and ill health.
From 30th April 2010, the way in which road traffic accident claims are processed changed, with the ultimate aim of the reforms being to create a clear and well defined process with fixed time periods and fixed recoverable costs. The reform has also prompted the creation of a new web portal for accident claim solicitors to share information in a timely and secure manner with insurance companies.
The reforms have been widely welcomed by accident claim solicitors and insurance companies alike who have heralded the simplification and speeding up of the process great news for accident victims. So much quicker and simpler will the process be that in cases where liability is accepted the whole process could be completed in as little as 30 days, allowing injured parties to recover compensation for their financial loss and start to move on as quickly as possible.
The new process will only apply to road traffic accidents with a claim value of £10,000 or less.
Debra Allen of Raleys solicitors, who has been representing a number of victims of injury by the so called ‘toxic sofas,’ has welcomed news that furniture retailers have been instructed to pay out as much as £20 million in personal injury compensation to consumers who suffered rashes and chemical burns after buying sofas which were laced with the toxic chemical DMF, which is banned in furniture production in the EU.
Ms. Allen hailed the ruling “another step towards justice being done” for the victims who “suffered a lot of discomfort, distress and inconvenience because they were unlucky enough to buy a sofa contaminated with a banned substance.”
The court was asked to approve a tariff setting out the amount the defendant companies will have to pay in compensation to non-severe claims. Non-severe claims are considered to be those where the symptoms lasted less than eighteen months and where inpatient hospital treatment was not deemed necessary. Debra also added that this ruling only applies to cases where liability has been accepted. Disputed liability claims and serious injury claims will be considered in future hearings.
The ruling should mean that victims will get prompt and fair compensation for their suffering. In total over 4,000 claims have been made in the UK for injuries allegedly caused by DMF in sofas.
The ruling does not apply to consumers who bought their sofas at Land of Leather, because the High Court ruled last month that the retailer’s insurers shouldn’t have to pay compensation. That decision is being challenged in an appeal.
A man left paralysed as a result of a road traffic accident involving a car in which he was a passenger has won what is thought to be the UK’s highest ever compensation payout. Mr Mohammed, 22, was left with horrific injuries, including a broken neck and damage to the spinal cord when the driver tried to overtake another car at high speed on the approach to a junction and hit a car waiting to turn right.
Mr Mohammed now has no movement at all in his legs and very limited function of the arms. The compensation payout which is worth an estimated total of £11.5 million goes some way to getting justice for Mr Mohammed’s devastating injuries and to paying for his lifelong care.
Mr Mohammed now needs two carers at all times to help him go about his daily life and the cost of this care will be covered by annual payments of £235,000. As he is a member of a traditional Pakistani family, he would normally have been expected to stay in the family home to care for his elderly parents, in accordance with tradition for eldest sons. Unfortunately, the accident has meant that he is no longer able to do this, so part of the initial compensation of £4.25 million is being used to build him a purpose built home opposite that of his parents so that he can live as closely to the tradition as possible.
Mr Mohammed’s case is devastating but the compensation he has received will hopefully go some way to getting him justice and providing for his ongoing care, so that he may live his life as independently as possible.