Industrial injury claims – a quick guide

If you have suffered from an accident or injury related to or caused by your work, you may be nervous about pursuing compensation. After all, your employer pays your wages and you may be hesitant about challenging them. However, claims for industrial injury may be more common than you think, and with a robust lawyer, you may be able to secure the compensation you are entitled to.

An employer’s health and safety duties to their employees are well known, and, in most cases, employers are legally obliged to have insurance against such claims.

What kinds of things may lead to a claim?

There are typically two scenarios at work that may lead to an employee claiming for compensation. Firstly there is the sudden accident scenario where you may be injured out of the blue. This may happen due to:

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• injury caused by defective machinery;
• trips and slips at work;
• employee attacks;
• problems caused by manual handling (e.g. back problems); or
• damage caused by hazardous chemicals.

Apart from sudden accidents, the other type of claim for industrial injury may be those caused by prolonged exposure to particular conditions. So for example, people who have worked with asbestos may develop illnesses caused by that material several years after they have finished in that particular job.

Even if you have left the employment which exposed you to dangerous conditions, if you can prove that your illness or injury was caused by it, you may still be able to make a claim.

What is the procedure?

The first step may be to contact a solicitor to talk through the details of your injury, and what has happened to you. In this initial chat, the lawyer may be able to tell you whether you have a strong chance of claiming compensation.

If you both decide that the claim is worth pursuing, your lawyer may then contact your employer (or former employer) setting out the basis of the claim. If the claim stems from a sudden accident, the letter may not be a surprise to your employer.

Typically, employers may pass the claim to their insurers, so that the process of negotiation may begin. The majority of accident compensation claims may be settled at this stage, if it is clear that your employer was at fault. In this case, the discussion may turn next to the question of how much compensation should be awarded.

But if there is any doubt about who was at fault or how much compensation is payable, industrial injury claims may proceed to court. Here a judge will listen to the evidence and the cases put by both sides’ lawyers, and make an award on the basis of what he or she has heard. If you have brought your claim on a no win no fee basis, the worst that could happen may be that you lose your case and feel frustrated, but have no legal costs to pay.

How can you pick the best accident claims solicitors?

Every person who needs to use injury compensation lawyers may have a different concept of who will offer the best accident claims service for them. Different people may place different criteria at the top of their list of priorities. But a list of the qualities that you may find among the “best” claims lawyers may include:

• a lawyer or firm who take the stress out of the process for you. Of course, no firm can de-stress the claims procedure completely, but a firm that takes responsibility and drives the process for you may make the process less painful;
  
• a firm that takes charge of medical appointments for you, and liaises with the experts about what to expect from the appointments. Ideally, your lawyer may be able to translate both legal and medical jargon;
  
• a genuine no-fee deal. Some firms may charge a success fee when their clients win that comes out of the compensation. Others may hand over 100% of the compensation to their clients;
  
•  a team of experts in compensation issues. Ideally, your lawyers should be dealing with accident compensation claims day in day out so that they know their way around the law and the system;
  
• a lawyer or firm you find it easy to talk to. You may have to have long conversations about medical issues (depending on your claim), which may be much easier with a lawyer you find personable;
  
• a lawyer or team of lawyers who tell it as it is. If you claim is not likely to succeed, they should tell you. Likewise, if there are any weak points to the claim, you may need to know what these are before you decide to proceed;
  
• a firm that keeps you up to date with the progress of your claim. The best solicitors may be informative, updating you about major issues, but not bombarding you with letters that say nothing.
  
•  lawyers who are easy to get hold of. With the summer holidays coming up, you may wish to choose a firm big enough to have holiday cover so that your claim does not get “shelved” until your lawyer returns from holiday;
  
• a strong negotiator. The claim may be typically more likely to be settled in the first few months than to proceed to court – particularly if the evidence is clear that the accident was not your fault. So the best accident claims solicitors may be able to secure a settlement without anyone having to set foot in the courtroom.

Summer is approaching

As summer approaches, the roads get busier with tourists driving to their holiday destinations. But busier roads may mean more accidents. And more accidents may mean more injury compensation claims.

Who can make compensation claims?

This is really something that needs to be determined on a case by case basis by a lawyer. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell where blame lies, and sometimes it can be difficult to gather enough evidence for a convincing claim.

At Bentley Accident Claims, you speak to a qualified solicitor on the initial call, so you may rest assured that your potential claim is being screened by someone who knows what they are talking about. You know that clients are important to the firm, and do not have to suffer the infuriating call centre experience of having to explain the details of your accident to yet another person you are transferred to.

In your initial screening call the lawyer may ask you questions about the accident to establish where the blame may lie. If the accident was not your fault and there is someone who was clearly to blame, it may be worth making a claim.

How much compensation do people get?

The exact figure may depend on the severity of the injury, and how much it has affected your daily life. So if, for example, you have suffered a number of broken bones that have caused you immense pain and stopped you from going to work and doing things that you enjoy, the amount of compensation you receive may reflect these issues.

Through case law and agreed protocols in the insurance and claims industry there is a tariff of typical levels of compensation that may be paid out for a variety of injury compensation claims. Your lawyer may be able to tell you, based on this tariff but taking into account your own individual circumstances, how much compensation you may expect.

How long may the process take?

This depends on the nature of the claim, and whether the person defending it is insured.

If the accident was very clear cut, and the person at fault is insured, you may find that a settlement may be agreed within a few weeks of your first call to your injury solicitors.

However, injury compensation claims that involve complicated medical or factual issues or very high values may be defended more vigorously by the person who you believe is at fault. In this case, your lawyer will have to explain the court process and your role in it.

The magnificent seven! Top tips on choosing an accident claims solicitor

If you have never needed to use a lawyer before, you may not know where to start when you have to look for one. In the aftermath of an accident, you may quite rightly be preoccupied with how much pain you are in.  So what factors may you wish to take into account when you decide which solicitor to choose? The following points may help:

1. your initial call. As the saying goes, you do not get a second chance to make a first impression. Neither should your claims lawyer! At Bentley Accident Claims you speak to a qualified solicitor from the very beginning, rather than being fielded by a call centre as faceless claims companies tend to do;
   
2. how personable the lawyer is. Is this person easy to talk to? Depending on the nature of your injury, you may be divulging pretty personal medical information;
   
3. the teams’ experience. A lot of money may be at stake, so you may wish to check that your lawyer has plenty of experience in the field of accident claims. Why not ask the question on the phone? Any lawyer with plenty of success stories should be pleased to tell them;
   
4. the fee structure on offer. Is there a genuine “no win no fee” deal on the table where you do not bear any risk or have to put any monies up front? There are many variations of the no win no fee model, and you may wish to make sure that yours is a pure one – where you never have to put your hand in your pocket;
   
5. the level of client service on offer. Does the lawyer or firm give an idea about when you may expect to hear from them next? When deciding which accident claims solicitor to choose, this may be an important factor because there is nothing worse than being left dangling without knowing what is going on;
   
6. whether the claims firm uses plain English. There is lots of jargon involved in law and the legal process. Accident compensation claims may be no exception. You may appreciate a solicitor who can “translate” it into normal language that you can understand; and finally
   
7. does the lawyer come across as a robust negotiator? If your injury is a serious one, this may be your chance to secure a financial settlement that may give your family financial security. This may be the most important factor to take into account when you decide which accident claims solicitor to employ.