Making your own claim for personal injury compensation

Buster_Danog

Has anyone here made a claim without a solicitor for a personal injury?. I live in a London borough and one of the windows in our flat had rotting wood in it. The council knew about this as they had sent a surveyor out about 2 years ago, but they never contacted us again to replace the window.

My sister opened the window a couple of weeks ago when the glass shattered and fell towards her. She had cuts and swelling and needed stitches to her fingers. This was an unecessary accident and I believe someone should be held responsible for it.

I have no experience of using personal injury companies and am suspicious of their approach in any case. If anyone knows roughly what level of compensation might be usual in this type of case or has tried to make a claim themselves I would appreciate the advice.

moonrakerz

Franco78 wrote: »

one of the windows in our flat had rotting wood in it. The council knew about this as they had sent a surveyor out about 2 years ago, but they never contacted us again to replace the window.

Whilst having every sympathy for your sister - why is someone else always "responsible" for what you admit yourself was an accident.
You also admit that you were aware of the state of the window 2 years ago, perhaps you should have done something to chase them up.

Perhaps the reason the Council didn't repair the window was that their insurance premiums are so high they couldn't afford to !

Buster_Danog

You have zero sympathy and are full of it. As a matter of fact a forum search came up with one of your recent posts which stated "Can someone running this site set it up to destroy ANY posts about compensation !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

You had nothing to offer in this thread so should not have replied with your lame input. This incident was as much of an accident as a mechanic knowing your car wheels are falling off but telling you the problem is not serious and they do not need to be replaced.

moonrakerz

Franco78 wrote: »

You have zero sympathy and are full of it. As a matter of fact a forum search came up with one of your recent posts which stated "Can someone running this site set it up to destroy ANY posts about compensation !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

You had nothing to offer in this thread so should not have replied with your lame input. This incident was as much of an accident as a mechanic knowing your car wheels are falling off but telling you the problem is not serious and they do not need to be replaced.

YOU said it was an accident - why harp on about compensation ? accidents happen !

Yes - and I meant what I said about compensation in my previous post ! I am tired of people who see the slightest mistake/error/mishap/accident as an excuse to scream for compensation - which everyone pays for in increased insurance premiums and council tax. You are undoubtedly the first to complain when yours increases.

Before long you'll be saying - "it isn't fair" - life isn't fair!

NovaBlack_2

relax people. remember the rules of always being nice to other MSE users

i understand the frustration form both of you, but this just aggrovates things!

i can see why you get mad at people claiming compensation for every little thing (e.g bumping into a parked car at 5mph then claiming £3,000 for whiplash). the fact we live in a compensation society is a real shame but a reality.

however the OP asked for advice so thats what we should give.

i think the best bet would be to use a solicitor to be honest. there are plenty of no win no fee ones out there that wont charge you a penny unless you actually win! so as far as that goes its stress free. much better that taking it on yourself and having to endure the constant organisation and work that goes into it. plus you'd find it hard to claim against a council (who would have legal representation) if you had no legal knowlege yourself.

other than that i guess there is the small claims court (think it costs about £120 to go forward to there, but if you win the other side will pay that)

If your sister did have cuts and stitches and perhaps scarring then i guess it is serious enough to warrant a claim. however (and im playing devils advocate here not flaming you, so please forgive me!) it will be looked at aggressively as to why you didnt chase up the matter for a 2 year period.. perhaps the council did have a duty to fix the window.. but perhaps it will be seen that you had a duty to chase it up.. if you didnt chase it up perhaps it wasnt in such an obvious dangerous state, and the council cant have been expected to have seen that ( hence no immediate repairs) either, if you yourself didnt. Hmm i mean i guess they SHOULD have fixed it not disputing that.. but some of the blame most likely will be seen to lay with you also. This could reduce the amount you can claim for.

hope the advice helps. you could always try contacting your citizens advice beauro. also most solicitors (especially accident claim specialists) will give you an initial consultation meeting (about an hour ) completely free where they will basically ask for a summary and then tell if its worth pursuing. you mayaswell enquire about this!! what can you lose!

Buster_Danog

Thanks for the advice, NovaBlack. Perhaps the other poster should go to the vent board to complain about life in general.

As for chasing up the council, the reason I did not do so is that they had sent a surveyor round of their own accord to look at every window in the building I live in. This was not a simple repair where the tennant complained and a repairman came and then forgot about the job.

The surveyor came and made me aware of the issue and then left, and since he did not follow it up I took it that he did not deem the work to be necessary, which it obviously was from the information I received afterwards. If it was a repairman I would have chased it up. I don't accept there is any onus on me to chase up a surveyor although I will be happy if the local council does try to make such a case.

Butlers1982

Moonrakerz, Im with you on this but hey-ho not to worry, a lot of people in here cant handle someone having a difference of opinion to them and get very bolshy.

Buster_Danog

Again, there is a vent board if people want to vent. I don't go to threads about car insurance to tell people they are putting up my insurance premium. I'm sure there is a forum somewhere on the web for those who want to complain.