work place injury claim advise
Discussion
Never had to file a work place injury claim before so im wondering how it generally plays out. Long story short is i tore my bicep working on improperly installed fencing that my company knew was a hazard but continued to use it anyway due to cost. This was about 2 years ago so i need to plan for filing this soon. I just finished all treatments by the NHS which included physio, neurological, and tons of tests and they have concluded that i cant be helped anymore and i have a severe injury that will effect me the rest of my life ie eating and sleeping will be altered as well as day to day tasks. There is a physical appearance issue as well but that is slight now since ive lost all my arm muscle strength.
So where should i start to file a claim? Citizens advise or just go for a predatory solicitor directly? What can i expect to be dealing with during all of this? I have some of the letters from the NHS but not all, can those be retrieved easily from them?
So where should i start to file a claim? Citizens advise or just go for a predatory solicitor directly? What can i expect to be dealing with during all of this? I have some of the letters from the NHS but not all, can those be retrieved easily from them?
Kit352 said:
Never had to file a work place injury claim before so im wondering how it generally plays out. Long story short is i tore my bicep working on improperly installed fencing that my company knew was a hazard but continued to use it anyway due to cost. This was about 2 years ago so i need to plan for filing this soon. I just finished all treatments by the NHS which included physio, neurological, and tons of tests and they have concluded that i cant be helped anymore and i have a severe injury that will effect me the rest of my life ie eating and sleeping will be altered as well as day to day tasks. There is a physical appearance issue as well but that is slight now since ive lost all my arm muscle strength.
So where should i start to file a claim? Citizens advise or just go for a predatory solicitor directly? What can i expect to be dealing with during all of this? I have some of the letters from the NHS but not all, can those be retrieved easily from them?
2 years ago!So where should i start to file a claim? Citizens advise or just go for a predatory solicitor directly? What can i expect to be dealing with during all of this? I have some of the letters from the NHS but not all, can those be retrieved easily from them?
Was the incident reported at the time? There is or should be a proper procedure for reporting incidents at the time they occurred.
If you are in a union they should deal with any claim.
2 years after the incident and not having notified the people you intend to claim off could well mean a claim would fail.
Don't worry about no win no fee solicitors there are some good ones around, most will give you free advice initially.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Absolutely not. You have 3 years to instigate an injury claim.
I was not referring to the legal time limit for bringing an action.The point is that notification of the incident should be given to the party(who may be liable) at the time of the incident otherwise the other party cannot investigate the claim.
2 years after the incident the defendant can claim that they have had no oportunity to investigate the claim as they were not notified at the time.
Many,many employment injury claims fail because of failure to notify at the time or as soon as practicable.
Always fill in the accident book and or any documentation relating to an accident straight away no matter how trivial the accident may seem.
kestral said:
I was not referring to the legal time limit for bringing an action.
The point is that notification of the incident should be given to the party(who may be liable) at the time of the incident otherwise the other party cannot investigate the claim.
2 years after the incident the defendant can claim that they have had no oportunity to investigate the claim as they were not notified at the time.
Many,many employment injury claims fail because of failure to notify at the time or as soon as practicable.
Always fill in the accident book and or any documentation relating to an accident straight away no matter how trivial the accident may seem.
More Kestral guesswork and waffle, nothing in your comments is contraindicative to still making a claim.The point is that notification of the incident should be given to the party(who may be liable) at the time of the incident otherwise the other party cannot investigate the claim.
2 years after the incident the defendant can claim that they have had no oportunity to investigate the claim as they were not notified at the time.
Many,many employment injury claims fail because of failure to notify at the time or as soon as practicable.
Always fill in the accident book and or any documentation relating to an accident straight away no matter how trivial the accident may seem.
Why are you assuming the OP’s employers are not aware of the incident, judging by the seriousness of the injury I would suggest it is far more likely that they are
Kit352 said:
I have some of the letters from the NHS but not all, can those be retrieved easily from them?
Your GP ought to have received copies of all the consultations you have had relating to your injury. You can make what is called a Subject Access Request to your GP which requires them to provide you with copies of those letters (indeed you can ask for the entirety of your medical record if you want). They cannot charge you a fee for this. If you instruct a solicitor they can do this on your behalf.
Kit352 said:
Never had to file a work place injury claim before so im wondering how it generally plays out. Long story short is i tore my bicep working on improperly installed fencing that my company knew was a hazard but continued to use it anyway due to cost. This was about 2 years ago so i need to plan for filing this soon. I just finished all treatments by the NHS which included physio, neurological, and tons of tests and they have concluded that i cant be helped anymore and i have a severe injury that will effect me the rest of my life ie eating and sleeping will be altered as well as day to day tasks. There is a physical appearance issue as well but that is slight now since ive lost all my arm muscle strength.
So where should i start to file a claim? Citizens advise or just go for a predatory solicitor directly? What can i expect to be dealing with during all of this? I have some of the letters from the NHS but not all, can those be retrieved easily from them?
Sorry to hear of your accident and the ongoing effects from this. You can find lots of information broken down into the various sections here:So where should i start to file a claim? Citizens advise or just go for a predatory solicitor directly? What can i expect to be dealing with during all of this? I have some of the letters from the NHS but not all, can those be retrieved easily from them?
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pre-action-protocol-fo...
None of this makes any sense. An injury at work should have been reported to the employer at that time and recorded by them. It's also likely they will have notified insurers and been following up on a regular basis.
On the other hand popping up out of nowhere after a couple of years and saying "I've been harmed for life and it's all your fault so I want compensation" would be a steep uphill climb.
If you find some "no win, no fee" solicitors who are willing to take on your case I believe their "win fee" takes about one quarter of any compensation you receive.
If you google Irwin Mitchell you'll find more information (and there are many other firms offering a similar service),
https://www.irwinmitchell.com/personal/personal-in...
On the other hand popping up out of nowhere after a couple of years and saying "I've been harmed for life and it's all your fault so I want compensation" would be a steep uphill climb.
If you find some "no win, no fee" solicitors who are willing to take on your case I believe their "win fee" takes about one quarter of any compensation you receive.
If you google Irwin Mitchell you'll find more information (and there are many other firms offering a similar service),
https://www.irwinmitchell.com/personal/personal-in...
martinbiz said:
More Kestral guesswork and waffle, nothing in your comments is contraindicative to still making a claim.
Why are you assuming the OP’s employers are not aware of the incident, judging by the seriousness of the injury I would suggest it is far more likely that they are
I suggest you read my post I do not assume the OP has not informed his employer.Why are you assuming the OP’s employers are not aware of the incident, judging by the seriousness of the injury I would suggest it is far more likely that they are
My post to the OP. "Was the incident reported at the time"?
Where have I said in any of my posts he cannot make a claim?
I have explained clearly the problem the OP may have if notification was not given at the time of the incident.
Why is this gueswork and waffle? response awaited.
SydneyBridge said:
Do you have legal expenses insurance, on home insurance or similar? If so, they will instruct a Solicitor for you
Mine told me they only instruct in those cases where they have a good chance of winning. My interpretation of that was “we’ll only instruct where we are guaranteed to recover our costs” which was a bit annoying.SydneyBridge said:
Have HSE been involved?
Good point. Based on what the OP said, wouldn’t this be a RIDDOR case?You need to look at the health and safety related documentation at the workplace, most employers will do things like telling you you cannot do X, whilst fully knowing that you have no alternative, meaning it's effectively your own fault if you get hurt.
Example....... Your not allowed to lift heavy items on your own, but if you don't then you wouldn't be able to meet targets and you'd get sacked.
Example....... Your not allowed to lift heavy items on your own, but if you don't then you wouldn't be able to meet targets and you'd get sacked.
So to follow up.
Employer is well aware of the accident. No RIDDOR was filed but should have been. That has been an open topic since the accident. I cant say more on it here but they used a loophole to avoid the RIDDOR report. Its a very common way to tout the rules about reporting im told. I had no idea at the time that they werent supposed to do that. Hse was not involved to my knowledge. Internal investigation said the fencing barriers were not used correctly and have been eliminated on some sites but not all.
I believe i still have some time left to file a compensation claim without having to notify my company. I have been awaiting the end results of the last few years of pt and testing which i now have.
Employer is well aware of the accident. No RIDDOR was filed but should have been. That has been an open topic since the accident. I cant say more on it here but they used a loophole to avoid the RIDDOR report. Its a very common way to tout the rules about reporting im told. I had no idea at the time that they werent supposed to do that. Hse was not involved to my knowledge. Internal investigation said the fencing barriers were not used correctly and have been eliminated on some sites but not all.
I believe i still have some time left to file a compensation claim without having to notify my company. I have been awaiting the end results of the last few years of pt and testing which i now have.
SydneyBridge said:
Do you have legal expenses insurance, on home insurance or similar? If so, they will instruct a Solicitor for you
Have HSE been involved?
I have none of that. Have HSE been involved?
Hse was not involved to my knowledge but probably should have been. I have only recently been made aware of the laws.
lyonspride said:
You need to look at the health and safety related documentation at the workplace, most employers will do things like telling you you cannot do X, whilst fully knowing that you have no alternative, meaning it's effectively your own fault if you get hurt.
Example....... Your not allowed to lift heavy items on your own, but if you don't then you wouldn't be able to meet targets and you'd get sacked.
No such rules pertaining to what happened to me. They simply were not fit for purposeExample....... Your not allowed to lift heavy items on your own, but if you don't then you wouldn't be able to meet targets and you'd get sacked.
You can wait right up to the three years to start the claim, as long as Court Proceedings are issued so the claim can proceed beyond the three years, if you are worried about making the claim.
One issue, though is that your employers should have reported the incident to their insurers with a certain period of time
One issue, though is that your employers should have reported the incident to their insurers with a certain period of time
SydneyBridge said:
You can wait right up to the three years to start the claim, as long as Court Proceedings are issued so the claim can proceed beyond the three years, if you are worried about making the claim.
One issue, though is that your employers should have reported the incident to their insurers with a certain period of time
I very much doubt they informed anyone that would have an effect on the business. One issue, though is that your employers should have reported the incident to their insurers with a certain period of time
It would be unusual for the insurance company to be involved until a letter of claim is received, unless the case is very serious and a claim thought likely given the severity. An insurance claims handler will then be assigned on behalf of the insurer to reuquest all the relevant documents from the employer, such as accident report, risk assessments, method statements, training records, witness statements etc.
It is not uncommon for letter of claim to be received shortly before the 3 year mark, often this is due to ongoing rehabilitation so that the extent of harm is better understood.
It is not uncommon for letter of claim to be received shortly before the 3 year mark, often this is due to ongoing rehabilitation so that the extent of harm is better understood.
Edited by England87 on Sunday 28th February 17:50
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