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.
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.
A recent High Court Ruling in London has upheld arguments by Land of Leathers’ insurers that they should not have to pay out on claims against the chain which is no longer trading. The ruling led to fears that up to 300 consumers might be left out of pocket.
The claims come following rashes and burns to several consumers who bought the so called ‘toxic sofas.’ It is claimed that the injuries were caused by dimethyl fumerate (DMF), an anti-mould fungicide which was allegedly present in sachets inside the affected sofas. DMF is no permitted in furniture production in the UK.
However, Debra Allen at Raleys Solicitors confirmed that not all claims for the ‘toxic sofas’ would be affected by the decision because it only relates to sofas bought from Land of Leather and manufactured by Chinese company Linkwise. She therefore urged claimants to contact their solicitor rather than merely assuming their claim would go no further.
Claims against Land of Leather regarding sofas made by other manufacturers are still ongoing, as are claims against other retailers including Argos, who have admitted liability for certain ranges of sofas sold in its stores. In total there have been 4000 claims in the UK for ‘toxic sofas.’
Land of Leather has denied that DMF was present in sofas manufactured by other companies and tests are ongoing, whilst victims who bought from Argos are awaiting agreement of a protocol for assessing the extent of their injuries in order to set up a tariff to determine the appropriate amount of compensation.
Acknowledging that the High Court ruling represented a blow to customers who had bought Linkwise sofas from Land of Leather, Debra Allen emphasised that claims made against other retailers or against other manufacturers sold at Land of Leather were unaffected and that clients should consult their solicitors before resigning themselves to being out of pocket.
It has been announced that scientists are getting closer to producing a vaccine which they hope will be able to prevent deadly mesothelioma, a debilitating and often deadly cancer linked to asbestos exposure which kills thousands every year.
The new therapy has been tested on patients who have mesothelioma and three in ten of them demonstrated some shrinking of their tumours. The researchers now hope to be able to produce a vaccine which will prevent the cancer in the first place. The therapy, which has been developed in Holland, works by stimulating the immune system to attack the cancerous cells.
The news is very positive and it is hoped that the treatment will save hundreds of lives in the future. Unfortunately it is too little too late for the 70,000 UK men and women who will die from cancer brought about by asbestos exposure. But the work of the researchers does represent some justice for the hundreds of sufferers who have fought for recognition of what caused their cancer.
Every now and then there is a high profile personal injury claim in the press and we always take a healthy interest in them. This is because we are very interested in personal injury claims, accident claims and compensation law and we like to keep on top of things so that we can offer our clients the very best.
The past couple of weeks have seen a personal injury claim in the news made by former Premiership footballer, Dean Ashton. He is making a personal injury claim against the FA following an injury which happened in 2006 during a tackle in an England training session and ultimately caused the end of his footballing career.
Ashton has decided to make the claim because the injury he sustained in the tackle didn’t end his career until three years later in 2009, because he attempted to regain his fitness for three years after being injured. The fact that the injury occurred more than two years ago has meant that his personal insurance policy is void.
We’re going to be keeping our eyes out for news of how his claim goes. Don’t forget that should you have a personal injury to claim for, we can help.
Last year, Don Cook, 50 of Brayton, near Selby died when part of the roof at the Kellingley colliery collapsed on top of him. In memory of this fine man and the many other miners who have died at the colliery, Raleys Solicitors have taken part in a 45-mile bike ride which started and finished at the mine.
The aim of the bike ride was to raise money for the creation of a statue of a miner that could be placed at the entrance of the shaft as a reminder of all those people who died at the mine. And we are glad to report to you that it was a success. Four members of the Raleys office in Barnsley took part in the ride and between them they raised nearly £2,000. Colin Cooke, John Woodhouse, Steve Addy and Matthew Brown were joined by three miners; Billy Gow, Tim Sharpe and Dave Bell as well as the colliery’s deputy Darryl Jones and the NUM secretary at Kellingley, Keith Poulson.
Although the ride was a tough one, everyone involved has said that each painful mile was worth it.