We can help you recover compensation for pain and suffering;
psychological and brain injury; past and future loss of
earnings; costs of care and out of pocket expenses. There
may be other sums that we can claim for you.
In most cases after considering the strength of your case
we are able to act for you on a NO WIN-NO FEE
basis (known as a conditional fee agreement).
If you have had a car accident as a driver,
a bike or motorbike accident then if the
accident was the fault of the other driver you will be entitled
to claim compensation from the other party. They should
by law be insured for such claims, but sometimes they are
not. You may then have to bring a claim through the Motor
Insurance Bureau, which is a government-backed scheme to
pay compensation to persons injured by an uninsured or untraced
driver.
A passenger will usually be an innocent
victim of an accident and would claim against the person
who caused the accident. This might be the person with whom
they were traveling. As we generally travel in a vehicle
with members of our family or friends this can result in
claims being made against people we know. However this should
not deter a person from claiming compensation as it is usually
dealt with through insurers.
Accidents at work are a common occurrence
and the law places a heavy burden on employers to provide
a safe place and system of work. You are entitled to claim
compensation if you can prove your employer was negligent
or in breach of specific duties which the law places on
him. It is often difficult to decide whether a claim can
be made until your solicitor has carried out an initial
investigation which will often involve looking at the various
employers documents for example, accident report, maintenance
records, induction and training records. At 1st Solicitors
we will only advise you to pursue a claim if we believe
that you have a good chance of success.
Hospital accidents also referred to as
medical negligence or clinical negligence do occur but it
does not always mean that the hospital, doctors or nurses
are to blame. Medical treatment by its nature does involve
risks and you would normally be expected to be told of those
risks and to consent to them. Sometimes a patient simply
requires an explanation of what went wrong and it is not
always in the client’s best interest to bring a claim
for compensation. However where an accident has occurred
and there seems to be good reason to suggest that there
has been negligence it is usual for your solicitor to have
to carry out an initial investigation by looking at your
medical records and obtaining an expert opinion from an
independent consultant before advice can be given as to
the prospects of a successful claim for compensation.
In the case of slips, trips or falls
in the street or on the highway this may give rise to a
claim against the local authority who have a common law
duty to maintain the roads. There is also a statutory obligation
under the highways Act to maintain the roads and footpaths.
It is not always obvious to the eye whether the point where
a trip or slip occurred forms part of a public highway.
It might be owned or occupied by a private person who may
be wholly or partly to blame. Before a decision can be made
as to whether a person can bring a claim for compensation
the solicitor will have to investigate these points.
A person who suffers personal injury as a result of a crime
of violence can pursue a claim for compensation
from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. This
is a government scheme. To be successful the claim must
be worth at least £1000. Applicants
must have reported the incident to the Police without delay
and must be shown to have co-operated with the police enquiries.
Compensation can be awarded even though no one is convicted
for the offence against the victim.
In all of these cases compensation can be claimed for physical
pain and suffering, these are called General Damages.
This includes mental impairment or brain injury such as
epilepsy.
Compensation is also claimed for Special Damage,
which includes loss of earnings, care costs, car hire, out
of pocket expenses. There may be other sums that can be
claimed depending on each claim. For example in the case
involving amputation of a limb there will be a claim for
an artificial limb or prosthetic limb and future revisions.
