Industrial Accident Claim

CUS_3

Hi gang

I do apologise if I have posted this in the wrong section...it was the most suitable I could find.

This is my question, I hope someone might help....

My Father had an injury at work which resulted in him ripping shoulder / arm muscle. This happend approx 2.5 years ago yet it is still not better and gives him A LOT of pain every single day.

The doctors say it wont get any better now as he is "the wrong side of 65"!

He still has ongoing treatment for it and claims disability while working 2 days a week at the same place (no lifting work!)....the DLA know he works too

Although my dad is never one to make a fuss or indeed make a claim, now he is 65, his injury is not going to improve and his boss has no intention of making him redundant despite only
working 2 days and now 65 (would rather run him into the ground! )
...he has come to the conclusion that looking to claim might be the best course of action in these circumstances.

We were wondering if anyone has had any dealings with any of the HUNDREDS! of industrial claims firms out there?

If anyone could offer any advice as to which companies have proved helpful, or indeed ones to avoid we would be extremely grateful!

[Deleted User]

i dont suppose the employer will make him redundant if he`s passed or approaching retirement
as for claiming and i assume no win no fee solicitors the only thing you can do is pick a few out of yellow pages and research them online before contacting them,but from experience it can be a long drawn out process

ddraig1

My husband is going through a claim and I can honestly say tompsons solicitors who are representing him have been first class, so if you require a top class law firm who specialise in industrial accidents then I would contact them, but am not sure if they do no win no fee (we were assigned them through his union).

I would say though that I do not believe your fathers claim would be worth a great deal of money. If he was successful he would be entitled to compensation for the injury and also for loss of earnings, with loss of earnings generally being the main part of the compensation. His age and the fact that he continues to work means that his loss of earnings would be small as they will only pay to what would be his expected retirement age.

The compensation for the injury will likely be very small (compared to the actual dailiy pain and suffering he has) as the court use a set structure dependant on the severity of the injury and will include a portion for pain and suffering and also for any aspects of his life that have been comprimised by the injury. This is in my opinion is a poor reflection of the British legal system, as I feel loss of earnings are really quite immaterial when dealing with serious injuries that affect every facet of a normal dailiy life!!

Please do not feel I am suggesting that he should not make a claim, but just do not be expecting hundreds of thousands. I would make a claim, but do not use a 'no win no fee firm', use an expert fiem who will give you real solicitors and barristers if required. (example - my husband initially made a cliam with one of the ones that advertises on TV. He was messed about for nearly 2 years, case notes were lost and they even went as far as to tell the defending firm that the claim was of little value, maybe £30k tops. When a change was made to Tompsons they could not believe how badly the case had been handled, almost everything had been done wrong. Now the claim is making headway, my husband is getting the treatment he needs and the claim has a total value a little short of a million pounds - although the final payout will be a lot less than this, I highlight this because had we of kept going with the orginal no win no fee company, I am not even sure the claim would of been won they were so bad.

On another note, maybe, if your father is in a lot of pain, he should consider stopping work and attempt to claim ESA, or try a different type of work that will give him more hours.