Accident Advice Centre

If you have been injured by a farmer’s animal, you may be entitled to compensation.

Whilst the majority of farm animal attack victims are farmworkers themselves, farm animals – most notably cows – have been known to attack members of the public on occasion, with dog walkers reportedly at greatest risk. Injuries range from minor bumps and scratches to severe, life-threatening conditions such as brain injury and even death.

Several laws apply to incidents involving farm animals.  These include the law of negligence, the Animals Act 1971 and the Occupier’s Liability Acts.

Liability under negligence or the Occupier’s Liability Acts depends on the farmer failing to take reasonable care to prevent their animal from causing injury. The measures that may be ‘reasonable’ depend on the circumstances. Sometimes, warning signs may suffice. In other cases, the farmer may need to remove the animals from the public’s vicinity.

The Animals Act 1971, on the other hand, imposes strict liability on animal owners in some circumstances. This means they can be held responsible regardless of whether or not they acted negligently. However, where the animal in question is considered ‘non-dangerous’, as with most farm animals, strict conditions must be satisfied to bring a claim under the Act.

If your claim under any or all relevant laws succeeds, you will be entitled to compensation. The damages you receive will include compensation for your pain, suffering and loss of amenity, as well as any financial losses you have incurred, such as loss of earnings. Most responsible farmers will have public liability insurance to deal with your claim.

If you have been injured after slipping on ice, you may be entitled to compensation if you can prove someone else was to blame.

Ice carries an inherent risk of injury from a slip, trip or fall. To succeed in a personal injury claim for an accident involving ice, you must prove that your accident would not have happened if another person had acted as they were obliged to by law. Doing this can be an uphill struggle.

For example, local authorities have a duty to ensure pavements are safe to use. However, this duty is not absolute. It would be impractical to expect them to keep every road within their area entirely free from snow and ice. So, unless exceptional circumstances exist, any claim against a local authority will likely fail.

Proving liability can be similarly tricky if the accident occurred on private land. Say, for example, you slipped on ice in a supermarket car park. To claim against the supermarket, you would need to prove there was a clear risk of injury that the supermarket should have taken steps to mitigate. Whilst ice clearly poses a risk, the supermarket cannot be expected to keep their car park consistently ice and snow free.

Proving third-party liability for slipping on ice is often more straightforward when the accident happened at work. Your employer owes you a duty of care to ensure your workplace is safe, which includes anywhere you visit as part of your employment. When conditions are icy, this can involve gritting entrances, car parks and walkways, erecting warning signs and providing appropriate footwear. If your employer fails to take all reasonable measures, and you are injured as a result, you may be entitled to compensation.

If you have been injured in a road traffic accident caused by faulty traffic lights through no fault of your own, you may be entitled to compensation.

There are two common situations in which road traffic accidents occur at road junctions or other stretches of road governed by faulty traffic lights.

The first situation is where the traffic lights are not working at all; in other words, the lights are all off. Sometimes there will be signs on the approach to the lights warning drivers that the lights aren’t working, although that’s not always the case.

In either of these situations, the normal laws of driving will apply, and you will be obliged to give way, indicate, stop, and proceed as you would if there were no traffic lights present at the junction. Rule 176 of the Highway Code states that: “If the traffic lights are not working, treat the situation as you would an unmarked junction and proceed with great care.”

So, drivers should take extra care when approaching junctions with faulty traffic lights. If they don’t, and if their negligence causes an accident, they will be liable and it’s unlikely they would be able to attach blame to the local or highway authorities.

If the lights are faulty in that they show the same traffic signal to some or all of the road users approaching the lights and a collision occurs, then depending on the circumstances it’s possible some liability attaches to whichever authority is responsible for maintaining the lights. However, even in this situation, motorists are expected to exercise caution where traffic lights regulate a junction or roadworks.

Evidence is key in establishing liability in cases involving faulty traffic lights. The evidence might include photographs of the scene and your injuries, your recollections, and witness accounts. Anything that helps establish precisely how and why an accident happened can be crucial, so it’s important to collate and retain all relevant material.

If you have fallen from a ladder at work and your employer was fully or even partly to blame, there’s a good chance you are entitled to claim compensation.

Employers are legally obliged to keep you safe at work, including taking all reasonable precautions against you having an accident. Working at a height is expressly recognised by the law as posing an inherent risk of accident and is therefore regulated by several Acts of Parliament, including the Work at Heights Regulations 2005.

Using a ladder at work is classed as working at a height. Whether you use ladders as part of your daily job or to help with a one-off task, your employer must implement measures to ensure your safety. The nature and extent of the measures required depend on the circumstances but will involve, at the very least, your employer ensuring the ladder is strong and stable enough for its purpose and training you on how to use it properly. Other measures may include your employer trying to find alternatives to your working at a height and, where none exist, carrying out appropriate risk assessments.

Employers are under a duty to keep their employees safe at work and this includes providing them with adequate plant and equipment. If they provide an employee with a ladder that is poorly maintained and faulty and this results in the employee falling from the ladder, then the employer has breached the duty of care they owe the injured worker.

If your employer failed in their duty to keep you safe while using a ladder at work and you were injured as a result, you can likely bring an accident at work claim against them. Your claim will include a claim for damages for the pain and suffering caused by your accident and any financial losses you have sustained. Your employer should have employers’ liability insurance in place to deal with the matter.

If you’ve been injured in an accident caused by a poorly maintained pavement, you may be entitled to compensation from the Local Authority.

Most pavement accidents fall under the category of ‘slip, trip and falls’ and result from issues such as broken paving slabs, potholes, and missing maintenance hole covers. The types of injuries our personal injury solicitors regularly encounter in pavement accident claims include broken bones, back injuries, sprained ankles and bruising. Some injuries can be incredibly painful and leave the victim unable to go about their day-to-day life.

Local Authorities have a legal duty to maintain pavements and repair defects where necessary. If the Local Authority fails in that duty, and if you are injured as a result, you may be able to bring a pavement accident claim.

Whether the local authority has failed in its duty depends on the circumstances. The authority is not obliged to keep the pavement entirely flat, and defects less than 1 inch deep are unlikely to give rise to a personal injury claim, regardless of the extent of the resultant injury.

Our personal injury solicitors can assess the circumstances of your accident and advise on the likelihood of the local authority being held accountable. If we believe your case has merit, we will pursue it on your behalf, seeking compensation for your pain, suffering and loss of amenity, together with any financial losses.

If you have been injured in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, you are usually entitled to compensation, whether the other driver is insured or not.

If the other driver is uninsured, the Motor Insurer’s Bureau (MIB) will step in and act as their insurance company. (You still need to prove the accident was the fault of the uninsured driver).

The MIB covers most types of road traffic accidents, including car accidents, cycling accidents and pedestrian accidents.

You are entitled to claim the same amount of compensation you would have received had the driver been insured, and your case will proceed in the same way. However, the MIB has a set of rules you must follow in the aftermath of your accident. They’re not particularly onerous, but the MIB may refuse to pay you compensation if you don’t comply. You can read more here.

Anyone road user injured in an accident that was not their fault may be entitled to claim compensation, as long as it can be proved that another person or organisation was to blame. This includes victims of accidents caused by mud on the road if the mud was there due to a third party’s negligence.

Common culprits for leaving mud on the road include farmers, who transfer it from their fields, open-top lorry drivers, who often permit it to fall onto the road from their vehicles and building contractors.

Anyone leaving enough mud on the road has a duty to report it to the local council or Highways England who, in turn, have a duty to clear it up. If anyone in the chain fails in their duty and you are injured as a result, you may be able to bring a personal injury claim against them.

Claims involving mud on the road often pose problems identifying who was responsible. If we can’t locate the relevant individuals, we’ll look into making an untraced driver claim through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau to get you the compensation you deserve.

If you have been electrocuted in an accident at work and your employer was to blame, you may be entitled to compensation.

Workers regularly exposed to electricity, such as electricians and lighting technicians, stand a higher chance of sustaining a workplace injury from electric shocks and electrocution. Still, virtually all workers are at some degree of risk. Offices are jammed with electrical equipment like computers and printers, and just one faulty wire can cause pretty serious harm. Being electrocuted can leave you with burns, heart damage and breathing problems, to name but a few. In severe cases, it can even cause death.

Employers have fairly far-reaching legal duties to ensure your safety at work. For example, they must provide proper equipment and adequate training, and implement systems of work that do not require you to take unnecessary risks.

If your employer fails in their duties and you are electrocuted as a result, you may be able to bring a an accident at work claim against them. Your employer will likely deal with your claim through their employers’ liability insurance.

If you have been involved in a car accident as a passenger and wish to make a personal injury claim for your resultant injuries, your legal position is usually a strong one. As a passenger, you can rarely be held responsible for the accident and are often entitled to recover the maximum amount of damages appropriate in your case.

However, there are limited circumstances in which a passenger may be found to have contributed in some way to their injuries and receive less compensation as a result. Examples include where your injuries were more extensive because you were not wearing a seatbelt, or where the accident was caused by the driver who you knew to be drunk.

Depending on the circumstances of the accident, you may be able to sue the driver of the car you were in, the other driver, or both, if each driver was partially at fault. You may have a claim against the vehicle manufacturer if the accident was caused by a mechanical fault, or the local council or highway authority if the accident was caused by issues such as unrepaired potholes. Essentially, you may be entitled to compensation from any party who owed you a duty of care, breached their duty and caused you harm as a result.

You might think that if you have an accident in your own home and get injured as a result that your chances of claiming compensation are slim at best. In most cases, you’d probably be right.

However, there are several situations in which an accident at home may not be your fault but are instead down to the negligence of others.

For instance, if you have paid to have work carried out by a contractor and as a result of their substandard work, you are injured by for example, masonry falls on you due to bad workmanship, or you suffer electrocution because of faulty wiring carried out on your behalf, then you will probably have grounds for bringing a claim against the contractor who carried out the work.

You may also suffer injury through using a recently purchased, faulty product, such as a hair straighteners that catch fire, or suffer a back injury from falling of a new chair that collapses the first time you sit on it.

If you live in a rented property, you may have a claim against your landlord due to injuries sustained as a result of a lack of maintenance of the building structure or fittings.

If you do have a valid claim as a result of an accident at home and it stops you from working, as well as claiming damages for the injury sustained you can also claim for any loss of earnings you incur through not being able to work, whilst you recover from your injuries.

You cannot be legally dismissed for suffering an injury at work. If your employer dismisses you for this reason, subject to you satisfying the requirement of a minimum period of employment, usually two years continuous employment with the employer’s company (or firm), you may be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal.

The exception to this would be if you were injured as a result of your own misconduct; actions or inaction (failing to do something you should have done) that compromised the safety of you and your fellow workers. In this case your employer would be justified in dismissing you.

You cannot be dismissed for bringing a claim against the company where the injury sustained was due to the negligence and/or breach of statutory duty of your employer. Should you be dismissed for this reason, you would probably have grounds for bringing a claim for unfair dismissal in addition to your claim for personal injury compensation as a result of the workplace accident. See also our blog ‘Injured in an accident at work? It is ok to claim.’

A pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist, motorist or other road user who suffers injury due to an accident that was caused by the negligent driving of a drunk driver, can bring a personal injury claim against the drunk driver and expect to recover compensation from his insurers. By virtue of the Road Traffic Act 1988 ss 151, the drunk drivers insurers must still pay out compensation for any valid personal injury claims brought by injured third parties, even if they have grounds for invalidating the insurance policy.

If you are injured in a road traffic accident caused by someone driving a company vehicle, you may have the option to bring a claim against both the driver and the company. The driver can be held personally liable for their negligent actions, while the company may also be held responsible under the concept of vicarious liability. However, in practice your personal injury claim should be directed in the first place against the driver whose negligent driving you believe was the cause of the accident. It is always advisable to ask a firm of road traffic accident solicitors to handle your personal injury claim where the vehicle that hit you was a company vehicle.

If you are injured in an accident that was not your fault away from your normal workplace, but whilst on work business, whether or not you have a possible claim against your employer will vary depending on the particular circumstances of each case.

It would be easy to assume that if your job involves you attending different locations to carry out your work, and you suffer injury in an accident whilst at a different site, that you will not be able to make an accident at work claim against your employer. That isn’t necessarily the case. Your employer owes you a duty of care to provide a safe place of work even if the place they send you to work at, is away from the company’s site and is a location they neither own nor have any control over.

Accidents of this nature could involve trip, slip and fall accidents at the premises you have been sent to work at, a dog bite attack whilst working in a client’s home, or an accident whilst carrying out construction work offsite.

Your employer is under a duty to make sure, by carrying out checks beforehand, that you are not being sent to work in an unsafe environment.

Bringing an accident at work claim against your employer for injuries sustained during the course of carrying out your work duties at another site, can be daunting. Don’t be put off from contacting one of our specialist accident at work solicitors for advice on whether you have a claim. Call us on 029 2048 3615 to discuss further.

If, as a pedestrian, you get hit by a car in a road traffic accident, you are likely to have suffered injury.

It’s also likely that the car driver was to blame for the accident.

There are occasions when the pedestrian may be found partially liable for the accident. An example would be a pedestrian walking into the road from behind a bus that has stopped to pick up and set down passengers. Even in this scenario, drivers are still responsible for travelling at a speed appropriate for the conditions and being alive to the danger of someone walking out.

Overall, the greater responsibility for avoiding a collision between a pedestrian and a motor car lies with the car driver.

What should you do if you are pedestrian and you get hit by a car?

1. Make getting medical attention your number one priority.
2. Even if you don’t feel seriously injured, you will likely suffer from shock. Get to a safe place away from the traffic.
3. Call the Police and ambulance service on 999 or get someone else to call them for you. Be guided by the medical professionals. Don’t hang around the scene of the accident just because you feel you ought to. Other matters can wait.
4. If any of your family or friends were with you at the time of the accident, ask them to get the car driver’s details – name, phone number and insurance details at least. It’s also good to ask if you can see the driver’s driving licence.
5. Take a photo of the vehicle and its registration number.
6. If there were witnesses to the accident, get their names and contact details. Independent witness is always helpful and may be crucial when making a pedestrian accident claim.
7. When you feel ready to speak with a solicitor about pursuing a personal injury claim, call Mooneerams on 029 2048 3615 and speak with one of our road traffic accident claims specialists.

For more information, visit our pedestrian accident claims page.

If you get hit by a car whilst riding your bike, your first concern must either be to get urgent medical attention or, if you can walk, remove yourself to a place of safety.

Cyclists come off second best when involved in an accident with a car. If you collide with a vehicle, you will likely be injured. After the accident, your priority should be to get medical attention.

The Highway Code classes cyclists as vulnerable road users, which means that car drivers owe you an extra duty of care to ensure they don’t cause you harm.

So, although not every road traffic accident involving a car and a cyclist is the motorist’s fault, most are. Even if the accident initially appears to be your fault, there’s a possibility that the motorist was partly to blame because of the requirement for motorists to take extra care to make sure not to cause harm to cyclists.

In brief, this is advice on what to do after being involved in a collision with a car:

1. If you were injured in the accident, report the incident to the Police unless they attended the scene. You must do this within 24 hours of the accident.
2. Get the names, addresses and registration details of the car driver and anyone else involved in the accident.
3. If you can (or someone with you can), take photos of the other vehicle and the damage to your bike.
4. Find out if anyone witnessed the accident, and if they did, get their details too. If you decide to claim personal injury compensation from the car driver, the evidence of witnesses will be beneficial, particularly if the car driver disputes liability.
5. Take photos of the accident location.
6. Ask the car driver for their insurance details at the accident scene or later by phone.
7. Don’t discuss the accident circumstances with anyone, and don’t admit liability.
8. When you feel up to it, list all items damaged in the accident and find the receipts for anything damaged beyond repair. Get an estimate for the repairs to your bike or the cost of replacing it if it’s a write-off.
9. Contact Mooneerams on 029 2048 3615; we are experienced cycling accident solicitors. Call us even if you are unsure whether to claim. In addition to getting cycling accident compensation from the driver’s insurance company, we can help ensure you receive the appropriate rehabilitation to aid your recovery.

It is estimated there are 11 million pet dogs in the UK. Following an investigation into dog attacks, figures produced by the BBC revealed there were almost 22000 cases of dog attacks causing injury in 2022.

If you get bitten by a dog, here’s our advice:

1. After a dog bite, your health should be your main priority. Clean the wound thoroughly with soap and water, apply a sterile dressing, and seek medical attention promptly. Even minor bites can lead to infections, so getting proper medical treatment is essential.
2. Report the dog attack to the Police. They will document the incident. If you were injured and or the dog was dangerously out of control, they will investigate the dog attack to see if you were injured. At a later stage, you can apply for any police report prepared as a result of the incident, which may prove helpful as evidence in support of a dog bite claim, should you decide to pursue a compensation claim against the dog’s owner.
3. Find out the identity of the dog’s owner. Ask them for details of any insurance policy they may have to cover them in case of a claim brought because their dog causes harm to someone.
4. Take contact details of any witnesses to the dog attack. What they saw may be helpful as evidence in support of your dog bite compensation claim.
5. You can bring a claim for compensation against the owner of the dog that bit you if you suffered injury in a dog attack and the incident was due to the owner’s failure to control the dog.
6. You can still pursue a claim if the dog attack occurred on private land or at the dog owner’s home. The key is to prove you suffered injury and the owner failed to control their dog.
7. If you cannot find out who owned the dog, or you know who the owner is but they have no insurance, you may still be able to claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).
8. Contact Mooneerams Solicitors on 029 2048 3615 for more information on making a dog bite attack claim. You may be eligible to pursue the personal injury claim on a No Win No Fee

For more information, go to:

Uninsured and Untraced Driver claims

Criminal Injuries Compensation

If you drive a car without insurance cover, you commit a criminal offence under s 143(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988. The possible penalties for driving whilst uninsured are:

• Minimum six penalty points
• Unlimited fine
• Disqualification
• Seizure and potential destruction of motor vehicle

If you are an uninsured driver and cause an accident, the injured victim of your negligent driving can bring an uninsured driver claim against you to recover compensation for personal injury and other losses.

If you are insured, your insurance company pays the compensation. If you are uninsured, you must pay.

In practice, to ensure that the innocent victims of uninsured motorists don’t go uncompensated, a government body funded by insurance companies, The Motor Insurers Bureau, will pay the compensation instead. However, the MIB will attempt to recover the money they had to pay the injured claimant from you (S151 of the Road Traffic Act 1988).

If you have an accident that isn’t your fault whilst driving without insurance and you suffer injury and loss as a result, you could claim for personal injury against the other motorist.

However, as an uninsured motorist, you should be aware that if you claim against the other driver and they not only defend the claim but bring a counterclaim against you for compensation, you will have no insurance company to indemnify you if the counterclaim is successful. In that case, the MIB could again step in to pay the claimant’s damages (and costs) the damages awarded, leaving to reimburse the MIB.

As an uninsured motorist, you should not drive; it is illegal. Therefore, if you do so deliberately or inadvertently (because you thought you were insured) and you have an accident, the Police are likely to become involved. They will probably prosecute you for driving whilst uninsured.

Get in touch with us at Mooneerams on 029 2048 3615 if you want to find out how to claim against an uninsured driver.

For more in-depth information on uninsured driver claims, go to the following page:

Road Traffic Accident: Uninsured and Untraced Driver Claims

• For most adults, the time limit for bringing a claim (known as the Limitation Period) is three years from the date of the accident or incident that was the cause of your injuries or illness.
• The three-year period for children under eighteen does not start until they reach their eighteenth birthday and ends on their twenty-first birthday. So, if a child has an accident at the age of five, they don’t need to start their claim until they are eighteen. (In reality, their parents or guardian are likely to start a claim on their behalf whilst the child is still a minor).
• For protected persons who lack mental capacity, their time limit for claiming for personal injury only starts when they regain capacity. However, they will have guardians or attorneys appointed by the Court of Protection or a Power of Attorney who can bring a claim on their behalf.
• If the protected person never regains mental capacity, their time for making a claim will never end, meaning a claim could be made on their behalf at any time during their life.

In some accident or injury circumstances, it would be unfair if the time limit for claiming commenced on the date of the incident causing the injury or illness. In cases of medical negligence or asbestos claims, it is often impossible to pinpoint when the negligence took place

Asbestos-related illnesses are only diagnosed many years after the victim was exposed to asbestos, and the period between exposure and diagnosis can be between ten to sixty years.

An asbestos victim can’t start an asbestos claim until diagnosed with asbestos disease. Even then, it’s impossible to know the precise date or dates of the exposure that was the cause of their condition.

The same applies to medical negligence. A health care professional‘s negligence caused that physical or mental harm may only come to light at a much later date than when the negligence occurred. It may not be possible to pinpoint when the negligent act occurred.

For these reasons, the time limit for bringing a claim for medical negligence or asbestos disease ( and in some personal injury cases) will be three years from the Claimant’s date of knowledge, with ‘date of knowledge’ being defined as the date the Claimant became aware:

1. That the injury or illness was a significant one.
2. That the injury or illness was attributable in whole or in part to the act or omission alleged to constitute negligence or breach of duty.
3. Of the identity of the proposed Defendant in the claim

If you are an employee who works from home and gets injured whilst working at home, you may theoretically be able to bring an accident at work claim against your employer. The business you work for has a common law duty to do all they reasonably can to keep you safe whilst you are at work. If you work from home, that duty includes keeping you safe whilst you do so.

By law, employers are required to carry out a suitable risk assessment of the risk to which their employees may be exposed whilst at work. This requirement still applies to employees working from home. Let’s suppose the employer fails to carry out a risk assessment of a client’s home working conditions adequately or at all, and an accident occurs which causes injury to the employee. In that case, the employer could be liable to pay compensation in the injured worker brings an accident at work claim against him.

In reality, the court would accept that the employer has much less control over the safety of an employee working from home than they do at their place of business. It would be challenging to bring a successful accident at work claim for something that happened whilst you were working from home. Working at home is still relatively new to many people, and a successful claim against an employer will eventually be made by someone suffering an injury in an accident whilst working at home

If you are injured in an accident at home that is non work related, you would not be eligible for compensation from your employer. Depending on your employment’s contractual terms, you may continue receiving full pay whilst absent from work. Alternatively, it’s more likely you will only be able to claim SSP of £99.35 per week for a maximum of 28 weeks if you are employed but cannot work. To qualify for SSP, your average earnings for the two months before the accident must have been at least £123 a week.

If you were injured in an accident at work and then got fired, presumably because you had to take time off work due to your injuries, you would have a strong case under employment law regulations for unfair dismissal. The only exception would be if you were guilty of gross misconduct at the time of the accident, e.g., you were intoxicated.

As purely personal injury solicitors, Mooneerams don’t deal with employment law matters, but we do work in partnership with very experienced employment law solicitors who will be able to assist you. Call Mooneerams on 029 2048 3615 if you have been sacked for getting injured at work and you would like us to put you in touch with our employment law partners.

Some people who could bring successful accident at work claims against their employers don’t do so because they fear that if they do, their employer will sack them. The fear of being fired for bringing a work-related personal injury claim stops people from suing their employers for compensation.

In reality, few employers would dismiss an employee who has been injured in an accident in the workplace. Employers owe their employees a duty to take reasonable care of their health and safety during the course of their employment. Most take this obligation very seriously, and in the case of an accident at work, whether it is the company’s or the employee’s fault, they will follow the correct procedures, including:

• Ensuring it is properly noted in the accident book – you as the employee can assist your case by ensuring the accident is reported to your employer as soon as possible after the incident occurs.
• Making sure you get the medical attention you need.
• If the accident is serious in accordance with their legal duty, your employers will report the matter to the HSE through RIDDOR.
• They will report the matter to their employer’s liability insurance company. Most businesses in this country must have at least £5 million worth of liability insurance cover. The very reason employer’s liability insurance is compulsory is that it is there to meet the cost of any accident at work claims brought against employers by employees.

If you’ve been injured in an accident at work and are worried about getting fired should you make an employer’s liability claim, remember the following points:

1. It’s improbable your employer will even think about firing you. Most bosses will instead be concerned about doing right by you.
2. By law, your employer must have employer’s liability insurance. If you bring a claim against your employer for an accident at work that wasn’t your fault, the insurance company will pay out any compensation awarded to you.
3. The consequences for your employer would be severe if they were to fire you for bringing a claim against them. Not only are they likely to face an employment tribunal claim, but your accident at work compensation claim will also include a claim for continuing and future loss of earnings.
4. If you are worried about claiming because you think you will be singled out for unfair treatment at work by your employer, the same  principles apply – you may end up having grounds for bringing an employment law tribunal claim particularly if the employer’s conduct leads to you leaving the company and making a constructive dismissal claim.

You may also have grounds for bringing a claim for bullying or stress. All of this would be in addition to the accident at work claim you have already asked your personal injury to deal with.

Your employer owes you a duty of care. The duty is to do all he reasonably can to keep you safe whilst you do the job you are paid to do. If your employer breaches his duty of care to you and as a consequence you suffer injury or become ill, you may be able to bring a personal injury claim against him for  the loss and damage you suffer as a result of the accident.

You may have an accident at work that is entirely your fault, and if that’s the case, you won’t be able to claim. For example, if an experienced forklift truck driver drives his machine too quickly around a shopfloor and as a result loses control and hits a stack of shelves, injuring himself in the process, then it’s likely that the accident was the forklift driver’s fault and the driver wouldn’t be able to claim successfully.

However, there are situations where it isn’t entirely clear who was at fault for an accident at work. For instance,  let us use as an example a similar incident to the one described in the paragraph above, with the same results. Only this time, the person tasked with driving the vehicle has had insufficient basic training, specific job training or familiarisation training to operate the vehicle safely. Is this inexperienced driver at fault for the forklift truck accident?

He may believe he is. However, in addition to the employer owing his employees a general duty of care to do all he reasonably can to keep them safe in their work,  The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) require employers to make sure that all employees who use, manage or supervise the use of work equipment, receive adequate training.

If this employee has not yet been adequately trained at the time the accident occurred, who is responsible for the accident? Every case turns on its individual circumstances but there is every chance a court would hold the employer entirely responsible for the accident and for the injuries the employee has suffered on the basis:

• The employer was in breach of the duty of care he owed to his worker, and
• The employer is in breach of his obligations under PUWER to make sure the employee has received adequate training to drive the forklift truck.

Some accidents at work that might, at first sight, appear to be the fault of the employee may, in fact be:

• Entirely the fault of the employer
• Cases where the doctrine of split liability occurs i.e., where both employer and employee bear some responsibility for the accident. Some accidents at work claims may be settled 50/50 where both worker and employer share equal responsibility for the accident. Other cases may be split 75/25 or 25/75, with either employer or employee bearing a larger share of fault for the accident, depending on the circumstances.

If you’ve been injured in an accident at work, it is always advisable to seek legal advice from specialist accident at work claims solicitors like Mooneerams. Getting advice on whether you have a claim won’t cost you anything. Call Mooneerams on 029 2048 3615 or contact us via our website.

Many people who have got valid reasons for bringing accident at work claims against their employers, fail to do so because they didn’t report the accident at the time it happened, or at all. They think a workplace personal injury claim will automatically fail if it hasn’t been reported. They are wrong. You can still bring a compensation claim against your employer even if you haven’t reported the accident.

Succeeding in an accident at work claim when you haven’t reported it, maybe a bit more complicated, but it is still possible. If you had reported the accident straight away, there would have been a contemporaneous record of what happened. Your employers might have had to report the incident to the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) if the incident was serious, and that would have meant there needed to be an investigation into how the accident happened.

Your claim may succeed even if you didn’t report the accident to your employers. You will need to prove your case, and some of the ways you will do this might be through:

• CCTV – check whether the accident was covered on any CCTV cameras in your workplace and ask for copies of any footage if it has not already been deleted.
• Photos of the hazard that caused your accident if it has not been rectified.
• Medical records – if you were injured as a result of the accident and received medical attention from your GP or at the hospital, a medical report from the health professional treating you could be essential evidence.
• Witness statements – if your accident was seen by any of your work colleagues, or anyone else, for that matter, try to contact them if you have their details. You can ask them if they will provide a witness statement. If you have asked an accident at work solicitor to help you bring an employer’s liability claim, pass the details of witnesses on to them so they can take the statements for you.

Report the accident to your employer now! There is nothing to stop you from reporting the accident at a late stage. Report it in writing, so there is a record of your doing this. Ideally, send your boss a letter by recorded delivery.

These are the steps you should take if you get injured in an accident at work that wasn’t your fault:

• Your priority is to receive medical treatment for the injuries you’ve suffered, and it’s your legal right to get this. The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 places a duty on your employer to provide you with ‘adequate and appropriate equipment and personnel’ (in the form of a qualified first aider) to ensure you get immediate medical attention for an injury suffered in an accident at work.
• If the business you work for has ten or more employees, it must have an accident record book in which all accidents at work are recorded. Make sure you either record the accident yourself or witness someone else doing this on your behalf.
• Either take photos of the accident scene yourself or get a colleague or supervisor to do this for you. If you can, ensure this is done soon after the accident.
• Find out if any of your work colleagues witnessed the accident. If they did, get their names and phone numbers. Their account of the accident could be crucial to your chances of bringing a successful accident at work claim against your employers if you decide to claim.
• Whilst you are off work recovering from your injuries, you are entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay. Some employers pay their employees wages in full in the event of an absence through injury or illness. Check your employment contract to find out what the position is in your case.
• If you decide to claim against your employer for your injuries and other losses (including any loss of earnings), get in touch with an expert accident at work solicitor as soon as possible, whilst the accident details are fresh in your mind

If you want to find out more about accident at work claims and how to start the claims process, visit the following page on our website:

Accident at work claims

If you are involved in a car accident as a driver or a passenger, there is every chance you may suffer an injury in the collision. If you are injured, your priority, even as a driver of one of the vehicles involved in the accident, is to ensure that you get the medical treatment you need immediately.

People in car accidents often suffer back injuries. Together with whiplash injuries, they are the two most common types of injury sustained by the occupants of vehicles involved in road traffic accidents. There is often a fine line between whiplash injuries and some back injuries, as whiplash commonly affects the neck and the upper and lower back.

The term ‘back injuries’ covers a wide range of injuries. For instance, back strains and sprains are standard features of car accident claims because a collision between motor vehicles frequently results in the occupants of the cars being thrown backwards and forwards or from side to side. This causes ‘wrenching’ injuries to muscles, ligaments, and vertebrae. The degrees of pain from these types of injuries vary widely in severity.

Even low-speed vehicle collisions can cause back injuries.

Symptoms of wrenching injuries to the back

The symptoms of the types of injury we have just described include:

• Headaches
• Loss of, or restricted, movement
• Weakness in the affected areas
• Pain
• Stiffness

Serious back injuries caused by car accidents

The more severe types of back injury associated with being involved in car accidents include:

• Thoracic Spine injuries
• Lumbar spine injuries
• Herniated disc injuries
• Sciatic nerve injuries
• Spinal cord injuries

Most serious back injuries result from high-speed collisions between vehicles. At their most extreme, injuries of this nature can result in the victim suffering permanent damage to the affected area. Disability, both temporary and permanent, or even fatal injuries are not uncommon outcomes when vehicles collide at high speed.

For more in-depth information about serious back injuries caused by being the victim of a car accident, see our pages on:

Spinal injuries

Serious injury compensation claims

What should I do if I injure my back in a car accident:

• If your injury is a wrenching type of injury, you must get plenty of rest so as not to aggravate the injury.
• Apply heat or cold treatments
• Take ibuprofen to ease the pain
• Get some professional massage treatment
• Immediately after the accident, if the pain is acute, try to stay still. Ask someone to call an ambulance. Paramedics carry equipment that will ensure they can move you into the ambulance without causing further injury to your back whilst you are being transported.
• Be aware that if you feel no back pain immediately after a collision, this may be because you are suffering from shock. Sometimes back injuries don’t manifest themselves immediately after the accident because shock kicks in and masks the injury. Take it easy, and if you experience back pain some hours or even days after the accident, make sure you visit your GP immediately for further investigations.

If the accident is definitely your fault, then you won’t be able to claim compensation from the other party to the accident. Depending on the amount of damage there is to your vehicle, you may decide to pay for your own repairs. Alternatively, you may want to let your insurers cover the cost of repairs to your vehicle, as long as you have comprehensive insurance.

Either way, it is best to notify your insurers. It is a must if you want them to cover the cost of your repairs. However, even if you intend to pay for your accident damage, you are still advised to report it to your insurers, as the driver with whose vehicle you collided may want to claim their damages from you.

Extra tips for what to do after you have been in a car accident that was your fault

1. Do not apologise or admit liability even if the accident was your fault. If you tell the other driver the accident was your fault, your admission may be held against you should they try to claim from you at a later date. Also, your insurers may refuse to indemnify you because your admission of liability invalidates your insurance policy.
2. Ask any passengers in your vehicle if they are injured. Do the same for the other driver and any passengers in any other vehicle involved. Keep a note of what you are told by any of them, even if they say they aren’t injured. It will be helpful evidence if any of them decide to claim for an injury at a later date.
3. If you have any reason to believe that the other driver deliberately caused you to drive into their vehicle, call the police, whether anyone is injured or not. Fraudulent accidents aren’t as common as some insurance companies or the Press would have you believe, but they do happen.
4. Finally, another reason for not admitting liability at the accident scene is that some accidents may, at first instance, seem to be the fault of one or other driver involved in the accident. However, when statements have been taken from everyone involved, including from any independent witnesses’ it may turn out that liability is not as clear-cut as it first appeared. Don’t make the mistake of admitting liability at the accident scene only to discover that a claim would have settled on a split liability basis.

An example of this would be when one car pulls out of a minor road because of a misleading signal given by the driver whose car they collide with. The main fault will lie with the car driver who pulled out from the minor road. However, there may also be liability on the driver who indicated his intention to turn into the road out of which the other driver was emerging.

A specialist car accident solicitor will be able to give you advice on whether your case is one of split liability, which, if proven, may still mean you can claim injury compensation. In that case, the payment you receive will be reduced to take into account the percentage for which you were liable for the accident.

Road users owe each other a duty of care to ensure they take all reasonable care to avoid causing damage to each other. Therefore, if the driver of another road vehicle is careless and collides with your car, they have breached their duty of care to you. If you bring a claim for compensation against the other road user, you can expect to recover damages for any injuries or financial losses that were directly caused by their negligent actions.

Top tips for what to do after an accident that wasn’t your fault

1. It may seem obvious, but it’s easy to forget to stop your car and turn the engine off in the aftermath of a collision. Make sure you do so.
2. Put on your hazard lights.
3. Take a moment to calm yourself and to ensure you are not injured.
4. Check if any passengers in your vehicle, the other driver, or any passengers in their vehicle are injured.
5. If anyone is hurt, call the emergency services; call the police in any accident that has caused the road to become blocked.
6. Exchange details with the other driver: name, phone number and ideally their address and insurance details if they have them to hand.
7. Call for the police in circumstances where you suspect the other driver has been drinking or is under the influence of drugs or where the other driver leaves or attempts to leave the scene without exchanging their details with you.
8. At a later stage, but as soon as you can, report the matter to your insurers. If you didn’t get the other driver’s insurance details at the time of the accident, call them as soon as possible, and pass the details to your insurance company.
9. If you were injured in the accident but didn’t attend hospital immediately, make an appointment to see your GP as soon as possible. If you feel your injuries warrant it, visit the A&E department of your nearest hospital.
10. If you were injured in the accident and decide you want to claim compensation for personal injury from the other driver, contact a personal injury solicitor to discuss the matter with them whilst the circumstances of the accident are still fresh in your mind.