They may be extremely annoying and poorly acted but there are many personal injury claims television advertisements during daytime TV for one reason: because there are many people out there who suffer such injuries and are entitled to compensation.
Many UK residents suffer personal injuries each year – since the turn of the millennium, on average circa 750,000 personal injury claims are made each year. That’s more than 10 per cent of the UK population. Lawyers specialising in personal injury cases are experiencing an increase in cases year on year, whether this is because the UK are following the US and adopting more of a blame culture is open for debate but what is for certain is that if you or any one you know has suffered a personal injury of late, they may well be entitled to compensation of some sort, especially if there is evidence of negligence.
Personal injury cases can prove to pay out substantial amounts to claimants, especially those suffering serious injury. For example, UK based litigation law firm, Stewarts Law, recovered in advance of 70 million pounds of compensation for serious injury cases alone last year. Personal injury compensation claims come from many different avenues, but the saying: ‘where there’s blame, there’s a claim’ although could be parodied when referring to the growing trend of blame culture, is actually a relevant point.
Work related claims are on the up, as the number of business that neglects health and safety stipulations is frightening. For example, even if your day to day duties do not include lifting boxes, businesses should implement health and safety guidelines and even offer (as benign as it sounds) courses on lifting correctly as to avoid such personal injury. Injuries caused by slipping on slippery surfaces is also increasingly common, and again can be avoided by implementing strict health and safety guidelines regarding any spillages.
Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is a condition that is becoming increasingly common, especially with office based worker who spend most or all of their day on the computer. This overuse of the hands and arms can cause tissue damage which can lead to extreme pain. Personal injury claims for RSI are now commonplace and employers should implement ways to negate such injury from occurring, including offering regular ‘screen breaks’ and also offering keyboard cushions and elevated mouse mats where necessary.
Many work related personal injuries could be avoided if employers would set themselves more stringent compliancy to health and safety. It can be laborious to enforce upon your workforce and it can be tedious for them to take on board, but it is vital for their wellbeing and also to avoid such personal injury claims which if incurred will raise insurance premiums considerably. So much can be done to eradicate such legal action, which is a drain on resources, and head off this blame culture once and for all. As if the UK hasn’t been tarnished enough by those across the pond! Real Estate mismanagement has blown the bottom out of our economy, so let us see off blame culture from blowing the bottom out of our moralistic values.
Shaun Parker is a solicitor with many years of experience in litigation law. Find out more about personal injury claims at http://www.stewartslaw.com