Personal Injury. Where to go?

MrRich303

Hi

I had an accident at work that resulted in a fractured scaphoid.  This has prevented me from working since and has caused loss of income.

I have contacted a law firm who have said they would take on the case as they feel it has a good chance of success due to the lack of training in the activity.  They will take 25% of my compensation should it be successful.

The company I was working for have been in contact and have said their insurance would pay-out under a personal accident arrangement and have asked for proof of lost income.  Unfortunately, this may be difficult to prove as my industry is close knit and lot of people who would normally offer me work didn’t as they knew I was injured. 

I’m assuming the workplace insurance company are trying to limit damages by offering me a payout early.  They don’t know I’ve spoken to the law firm as yet.

How do these cases work in terms of compensation calculation?  I’m assuming amounts are fairly fixed.  Is the payment made up of loss or earnings + payment to reflect severity of injury?

I’m finding it hard to get information as google is crammed full of info written by law firms etc so I don’t trust the source.

 I don’t feel naturally comfortable getting involved with no win no fee although from reading up it seems that most cases are now done this way.  My case doesn’t feel tenuous and money grabbing to me.  With hindsight the company didn’t do their job right with regards training etc and other people working with me have said they feel I’m justified if I decide to go down this route.

I short I’m not sure where to go from here and I’m not sure where to find information or people I can really trust to advise me well and in my best interests.

If anyone can help me feel a little less lost I’d be really grateful.

Cheers!

elsien

Were you a contractor for the company?
How long ago did you stop working for them and what have you been doing since? Are you now fit for work? 

MrRich303

Yes I was a contractor.

I stopped working for them at the end of March.  Been signed off work since then.  Cast came of last week.  Now signed off for light duties but that still rules out the vast majority of my work due to the industry I work in.

Thanks

Sandtree

For the injury itself there will be an award for pain, suffering and loss of amenities which is compensation for general damages in relation to non-financial losses. In addition you can claim special damages which is the actual financial losses you've suffered.

For the injury a medical report will normally be prepared which will discuss the severity of the injury, long term prognosis and cover off things like how long off work you'll be. Loss of earnings is normally done on an average basis so if you're an employee average the weekly pay over the last 3 months and apply that for the X weeks signed off. For self employed then its normally based on your self assessment returns.

JamoLew

One thing to clarify - was the accident as a result of any negligent actions by any party.

Was it avoidable but happened because someone didn’t do something they were meant to or someone did something they weren’t meant to

Any potential claim and payout will depend very much on the exact circumstances leading to the injury and the company may not actually be liable for anything

Scaphoid injuries are usually as a result of a hands out fall.

Expect the insurers to dig a lot deeper than the company seems to have done - was an accident and riddor report completed at the time ?

Manxman_in_exile

What do you mean by a "contractor"?

Would you be expected to have sufficient expertise and experience to know yourself what was and was not a safe working practice, or are you simply something like a self-employed labourer?

(Sorry - not trying to be dismissive.  Just trying to work out if the company could come back and say "Well - he's an experienced worker in this field and he should have known better - not our fault... ")

steampowered

A fractured hand that has left you unable to work sounds like a serious injury to me.

Personally I would go with the law firm.

The insurer is likely to deny liability if they can. The insurer is also likely to offer you the lowest amount they think they can get away with. It sounds like you will have no idea whether their offer is fair or not.

The payments in these cases are not fixed, but a personal injury solicitor should have a good idea of what the ballpark is. It will also depend how strong your case is - do not assume that the insurer will accept liability.

74jax

MrRich303 said:

Hi

I had an accident at work that resulted in a fractured scaphoid.  This has prevented me from working since and has caused loss of income.

I have contacted a law firm who have said they would take on the case as they feel it has a good chance of success due to the lack of training in the activity.  They will take 25% of my compensation should it be successful.

The company I was working for have been in contact and have said their insurance would pay-out under a personal accident arrangement and have asked for proof of lost income.  Unfortunately, this may be difficult to prove as my industry is close knit and lot of people who would normally offer me work didn’t as they knew I was injured. 

I’m assuming the workplace insurance company are trying to limit damages by offering me a payout early.  They don’t know I’ve spoken to the law firm as yet.

How do these cases work in terms of compensation calculation?  I’m assuming amounts are fairly fixed.  Is the payment made up of loss or earnings + payment to reflect severity of injury?

I’m finding it hard to get information as google is crammed full of info written by law firms etc so I don’t trust the source.

 I don’t feel naturally comfortable getting involved with no win no fee although from reading up it seems that most cases are now done this way.  My case doesn’t feel tenuous and money grabbing to me.  With hindsight the company didn’t do their job right with regards training etc and other people working with me have said they feel I’m justified if I decide to go down this route.

I short I’m not sure where to go from here and I’m not sure where to find information or people I can really trust to advise me well and in my best interests.

If anyone can help me feel a little less lost I’d be really grateful.

Cheers!

Did they not mean their fees would be 25% of the compensation value?  So for example you were awarded 10k, their fees would be 2.5k.  This would be paid by the other side, not you?
If you are to pay their fees, I would approach a no-win-no-fee company and see if they would take it on.

Sandtree

74jax said:

MrRich303 said:

Hi

I had an accident at work that resulted in a fractured scaphoid.  This has prevented me from working since and has caused loss of income.

I have contacted a law firm who have said they would take on the case as they feel it has a good chance of success due to the lack of training in the activity.  They will take 25% of my compensation should it be successful.

The company I was working for have been in contact and have said their insurance would pay-out under a personal accident arrangement and have asked for proof of lost income.  Unfortunately, this may be difficult to prove as my industry is close knit and lot of people who would normally offer me work didn’t as they knew I was injured. 

I’m assuming the workplace insurance company are trying to limit damages by offering me a payout early.  They don’t know I’ve spoken to the law firm as yet.

How do these cases work in terms of compensation calculation?  I’m assuming amounts are fairly fixed.  Is the payment made up of loss or earnings + payment to reflect severity of injury?

I’m finding it hard to get information as google is crammed full of info written by law firms etc so I don’t trust the source.

 I don’t feel naturally comfortable getting involved with no win no fee although from reading up it seems that most cases are now done this way.  My case doesn’t feel tenuous and money grabbing to me.  With hindsight the company didn’t do their job right with regards training etc and other people working with me have said they feel I’m justified if I decide to go down this route.

I short I’m not sure where to go from here and I’m not sure where to find information or people I can really trust to advise me well and in my best interests.

If anyone can help me feel a little less lost I’d be really grateful.

Cheers!

Did they not mean their fees would be 25% of the compensation value?  So for example you were awarded 10k, their fees would be 2.5k.  This would be paid by the other side, not you?
If you are to pay their fees, I would approach a no-win-no-fee company and see if they would take it on.

This is a no win no fee solicitor which is why they are saying there is a 25% success fee.

In fast track cases the solicitors fees from the other side are a fixed amount based on the settlement but are relatively low hence no win no fee cases the solicitor also takes part of the compensation received. 

Also worth noting that their fee will be + VAT

TELLIT01

I would not sign up with any claims management company until you know what the insurer for the company you were working for is offering.  If you do sign up, they will take 25% even if you don't get a penny more than is currently on offer.

oh_really

Since you were a contractor and not an employee, did you have your own insurance for such incidents?