In May 2009 in the in the work related personal injury case of Smith v. Northamptonshire County Council, the House of Lords decided that an access ramp which was outside a disabled wheelchair users home did not amount to “work equipment” within the meaning of the Provision and Use of Equipment Regulations 1998.

Mrs Jean Smith was working for the Council as a driver and carer. On 1 December 2004 she visited the home of wheelchair bound Mrs Gina Cotter in order to take her to a day centre.  It was necessary for Mrs Smith to take Mrs Cotter from the property down a wooden ramp situated outside the patio doors.  When doing this the edge of the ramp gave way causing her to stumble and suffer personal injury.  The Council denied liability.

In the recent personal injury compensation case of Osei-Antwi v. South East London & Kent Bus Co Ltd decided by the Court of Appeal in January 2010, the Court reversed an earlier decision by a judge who decided that a pedestrian was guilty of contributory negligence by standing lawfully on a pavement when she was hit by a bus which had unlawfully mounted the same pavement.

The rear of a bus, while turning a corner, mounted the pavement and hit the female pedestrian.  The judge in the lower Court found that notwithstanding the woman was standing on a designated pavement area she was very close to the road and had not kept a proper look out for the bus.

Published in Truckstop News June 2010.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury Compensation firm Hinchliffes Solicitors will consider more “READERS’ SUCCESSFUL TRIPPING ACCIDENT CLAIMS“

Continuing his review of successfully completed accident injury claims, Steven Hinchliffe looks at more situations experienced by readers of Truckstop News that resulted in an award of personal injury compensation.

All of the accident victims mentioned in these articles are actual clients of my firm, Hinchliffes Solicitors.  They have kindly given their permission for the disclosure of their details, and in particular of their real life experiences of incidents resulting in personal injury claims, and the steps taken to make a successful accident compensation claim.  All of these clients contacted my firm after seeing our details in Truckstop News - and readers may recognise some of the names referred to.

In this article I highlight 2 cases where drivers were injured because of dangerous premises.  As with previous articles, the common trend remains the effect on each individual’s life.  Both men had similar accidents, but sustained quite different degrees of injury and financial loss.  Although using the process of law to make personal injury claims as a means of redress cannot truly compensate for the trauma and inconvenience suffered, it can assist in requiring the guilty party to provide medical treatment and rehabilitation, in addition to financial relief by way of awards of compensation.  As previously indicated, the basic aim of an accident claim is to try and return the injured party to the position that he or she would otherwise have been in had the accident not happened.

In February 2010, in the personal injury compensation claim case of Stanton v Collinson, the Court of Appeal upheld the initial trial judge’s decision that a 16 year old male front seat car passenger who had suffered serious brain damage in a road accident had not been contributory negligent, even though he had carried another passenger on his knees and neither had been wearing seat belts.  The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge was in the best situation to consider the evidence and decide whether the wearing of a seat belt would have reduced the injuries sufficiently to justify a reduction in compensation for contributory negligence.

Published in Truckstop News May 2010.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury Compensation firm Hinchliffes Solicitors will consider “THE IMPACT OF THE NEW PROCESS FOR DEALING WITH ROAD ACCIDENT CLAIMS”

From 30 April 2010 there will be an entirely new process for dealing with road accident claims involving a personal injury.  This has been forced through by the Government, acting under pressure from insurance companies, and it will affect all cases where the overall value of the claim is less than £10,000.  In practice, this will include the overwhelming majority of road accident compensation claims.  However, what are the implications for you - can you be sure that your case will be properly conducted by your solicitor and that you will receive the full amount of compensation you are entitled to?

Published in Truckstop News December 2009.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury Compensation firm Hinchliffes Solicitors will consider more “READERS’ SUCCESSFUL ACCIDENT CLAIMS”.

Continuing his review of successfully completed accident injury claims, Steven Hinchliffe looks at more situations experienced by readers of Truckstop News that resulted in an award of personal injury compensation.

All of the accident victims mentioned are actual clients of my firm, Hinchliffes Solicitors.  They have kindly given their permission for the disclosure of their details, and in particular of their real life experiences of incidents resulting in personal injury claims, and the steps taken to make a successful accident compensation claim.  All of these clients contacted my firm after seeing our details in Truckstop News - and readers may recognise some of the names referred to.

In this article I highlight 2 very different types of accident that resulted in significant injuries and as with the other articles in this series the common trend remains the effect on each individual’s life.  However, in both cases there were modest claims for financial losses and the sums recovered for the physical injuries formed the bulk of the accident compensation.  Although using the process of law to make personal injury claims as a means of redress cannot truly compensate for the trauma and inconvenience suffered, it can assist in requiring the guilty party to provide medical treatment and rehabilitation, in addition to financial relief by way of awards of compensation.  As previously indicated, the basic aim of an accident claim is to try and return the injured party to the position that he or she would otherwise have been in had the accident not happened.

Published in Truckstop News November 2009.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury Compensation firm Hinchliffes Solicitors will consider more “READERS’ SUCCESSFUL ACCIDENT CLAIMS”.

Continuing his review of successfully completed accident injury claims, Steven Hinchliffe looks at various situations experienced by readers of Truckstop News that ultimately lead to an award of personal injury compensation.

All of the accident victims mentioned in this series of articles are clients of my firm, Hinchliffes Solicitors.  They have kindly given their permission for the disclosure of their details, and in particular of their real life experiences of incidents resulting in personal injury claims, and the steps taken to make a successful accident compensation claim.  All of these clients contacted my firm after seeing our details in Truckstop News - and some of the names referred to may be familiar to you.

Published in Truckstop News October 2009.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury Compensation firm Hinchliffes Solicitors will consider more “READERS’ SUCCESSFUL ACCIDENT CLAIMS”.

Continuing his review of successfully completed accident injury claims, Steven Hinchliffe looks at more situations experienced by readers of Truckstop News that resulted in an award of personal injury compensation.

All of the accident victims mentioned are actual clients of my firm, Hinchliffes Solicitors.  They have kindly given their permission for the disclosure of their details, and in particular of their real life experiences of incidents resulting in personal injury claims, and the steps taken to make a successful accident compensation claim.  All of these clients contacted my firm after seeing our details in Truckstop News - and readers may recognise some of the names referred to.

How do you select the right person to handle your accident compensation claim, particularly in respect of a work accident claim?  Personal Injury compensation claims solicitors, Hinchliffes Solicitors, give some advice.

Solicitor Steven Hinchliffe, the Principal and owner of the firm, says “Always find out if a solicitor will handle the claim and how much experience the proposed file handler has, particularly in dealing with more complicated cases such as accident at work claims.  Also consider how long the firm of solicitors or the claims company has existed, and question whether the proposed file handler is a true specialist in accident compensation claims.  Many companies and solicitors offering personal injury claims services have a mixed caseload of work in various areas of law, which can result in the client not achieving the best possible outcome.”  When making your choice, the length of time that a solicitor has been qualified is often less important than their level of expertise.

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (”MIB”) was established in 1946 as an organisation to deal with road accident compensation claims by innocent victims who have suffered personal injury or damage to their property because of a negligent uninsured or untraced driver.

Every insurance company underwriting compulsory road accident claim motor insurance is obliged to be a member of the MIB and to contribute to its funding.  One out of every 20 drivers is uninsured!

The MIB must pay compensation where the negligent driver is found to be responsible for personal injury or damage to property arising from a road accident.  The MIB stands in place of the guilty party’s insurers and investigates issues of liability and valuation in the same way as in any other road accident compensation claim.