Slip
and Fall or Tripping Accidents:
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue
where I am injured from a Trip and Fall accident or Trip/tripping
accident?
What is compensation?
What is personal injury?
What is 'is no win no fee'?
How to Sue
How do infants (under 18)
take claim for an accident / injury?
How do i get doctor/medical
reports?
Should i take photographs
of my injuries?
How much compensation
do i get for my injury?
What if I had already suffered
from injuries before the accident?
What is the court process
for my accident claim/ personal injury?
What if the accident/
injury has caused depression or other psychological problems?
Can I
sue where I am injured from a Trip and Fall accident or Trip/tripping
accident
Yes; the rules are the same; you need to be able to show that the
Other Party is liable. So, if you slip in a supermarket, you need
to show that the floor is slippery or other such defect. Please
feel free to ring MSM Solicitors to discuss.
If you slip/trip in a shop or other premises and suffer injury,
you should try to take a photograph as soon as possible of the location
of the slippingaccident (easier said than done! But maybe somebody
could do this for you but this is not never easy). Certainly, try
to remember whether the floor was wet or weather there food stains
on your clothes after the fall (this will show that the floor was
dirty/wet).
In these cases, so as to build up evidence in your accident/claim,
MSM or other experienced law firm, will arrange for an engineer
to examine the floor as regards whether it had sufficient traction
(to establish whether it is slippery are not). Also, the engineer
will check as to whether food items are likely to spill onto the
floor ( possibly the food baskets are not laid out safely). MSM
will also obtain copies of the cleaning records and cleaning systems
with a view to establishing that these were not adequate. In this
way, MSM or other experienced law firm, will try to build up a case
for compensation arising out of your slipping/tripping accident.
What
is compensation?
Compensation is an award of money to you for it the injury
which you have suffered in the accident. The said money are normally
paid within a short time after your accident claim has been finalised.
What is personal
injury?
'Personal injury' refers to the injury caused to you by
the car/traffic or other accident. So, it refers to your broken
leg, injured back, headaches etc.
What is 'no win
no fee'?
This phrase refers to your law firm/solicitor agreeing
not to charge you unless you win your case (resulting from car accident,
work- accident or other accident. You should contact your solicitor/MSM
to discuss this. In this way, you can put in place an arrangement
whereby you only pay your law firm/MSM after you have received your
compensation.
How to
Sue
This process can be done for you by MSM are other experienced law
firm/solicitors, in relation to your car accident or other accident.
It involves writing some letters to the person who caused the accident/personal
injury and the insurance company, followed by legal documents to
bring the case before the injuries board. After that, if it is not
resolved at that point, further papers are prepared to bring the
case into the court system. This whole parcels refers to the process
of suing/claiming for your car accident/personal injury. The purpose
is to press for good compensation for injury caused by road traffic
accident or other injury.
How do infants
(under 18) take claim for an accident / injury?
Any person under the age of 18 years cannot sue in his or her own
name. Instead, the case must be taken in the name of one of the
parents or a guardian . The infant is allowed to give evident in
Court. When a settlement is reached in respect of the accident /
injury , the matter must come before a Judge who must approve the
settlement. This means that, even through the Insurance Company
might have agreed to pay a certain amount of money to the infant,
the accident claim/personal injury must be presented before the
Judge who must be satisfied that the amount being offered is sufficient
compensation for the infant. The Claim also goes through the Injuries
Board process.
The reasoning behind Court approval being required is that the Court
is a Guardian of the infant and must be happy that the settlement
is a fair and reasonable settlement, taking into account the seriousness
or otherwise of the accident /injury. The said monies, whether received
by way of settlement or Court Order, are lodged in Court and cannot
be drawn by the infant until the infant reaches 18 years. After
18 years, the infant is entitled to withdraw the money/compensation.
The said money is invested during the said period, until the infant
is 18 years of age. The investment is carried out by the Court System.
It is possible, prior to the infant reaching 18 years of age, to
request the Court to allow certain monies to be withdrawn so as
to allow these monies to be used for the infant (for justifiable
purposes, for example, education or medical needs). However, the
Court is generally reluctant to allow monies to be paid to an infant
unless the payment clearly for the benefit of the infant in the
long term.
How do
I get doctor/medical reports?
Reports from your Doctor and Medical Consultants are normally required
in compensation injury/cases. In other words, it is necessary to
obtain an outline of your injuries from the Doctor and explanation
by the Doctor of the nature of injuries suffered, the seriousness
of the injury and the likely period for which the injuries will
last and the general prognosis (forecast/prediction as regards your
condition). MSM Solicitors will arrange these Reports. It is normal,
in personal injury to neck and back, to obtain Medical Report from
an Orthopaedic Surgeon as these are experts in injuries of this
nature. The Orthopaedic Surgeon will examine your injuries in the
light of x-rays and other Medical data. To prepare the Report, the
Orthopaedic Surgeon will meet you and discuss your injuries. When
meeting the Orthopaedic Surgeon, it is most important to ensure
that you outline all of your complaints. In this way, you are more
likely to receive good and fair compensation for the injuries suffered
by you in road traffic accident or other accident.
If your injuries are complex, your experienced law firm/MSM will
ensure that reports are obtained from the relevant medical specialists
so that your accident is processed in an effective way. These reports
are especially important in serious accident/injury cases were long-term
injury has then suffered .
Should
i take photographs of my injuries?
In certain cases, photographs may be useful so as to produce a historical
recording of the injury, whether caused by road traffic accident,
accident at work or otherwise. Photographs are not of any benefit
in injury to neck and back but can be of considerable benefit where
cut/bruises/other markings are evident. These photographs can be
of considerable benefit in settlement discussions/Court hearings
when the case takes place some months or years after the injuries
and when the injuries appear to have fully healed. Without such
photographs, it may be extremely difficult to convince a Judge/Insurance
Company representative that injuries were as nasty as photographs
will prove.
How
much compensation do i get for my injury? Compensation calculator.
Many factors are taken into account in deciding the amount
of compensation to which you are entitled to for your car accident/personal
injury. You are entitled to receive compensation to the extent of
your injuries. Naturally, you are entitled to a higher compensation
if your injuries are serious. Seriousness of injuries is determined
by a number of factors, including intensity of pain suffered, whether
you attended hospital and were detained for a period, the extent
to which the injury interfered with your normal lifestyle, the length
of time which the injury and suffering have persisted. A very important
factor to be taken into account in assessing the amount of compensation
is the prognosis i.e. the extent to which the injury is likely to
affect you in the future; accordingly, if the doctors are of the
view that your injury is likely to last into the future and further
deteriorate, this will be a very important factor in deciding compensation.
Your law firm (if they are experienced in personal injury/accident
work) will be able to advise you once the medical information is
available, are certainly as soon as prognosis is clear.
Furthermore, if the doctor is of the view that the injury is likely
to lead to arthritis or other debilitating disease, this will be
very relevant. On the other hand, if your complaints have largely
subsided and you have almost made a full recovery (say after a period
of one year after the accident), this will indicate that your injuries
are much less severe. Your occupation at the time of an accident
might be very relevant. Accordingly, if you are engaged in physically-demanding
employment, the injury may have much more severe consequences (to
the extent to which it will adversely affect your capacity to work)
than if you are engaged in a sedentary occupation; but each case
must be examined on its own merits
What if I
had already suffered from injuries before the accident?
Frequently, clients will have then suffering from other injuries/complaints
before the accident (whether it is car accident insurance claim
or other accident) . In other words, you may have been involved
in a previous accident or otherwise suffered back, neck, head or
other complaints prior to the present road traffic or other accident.
The present accident might make these injuries worse. For the present
accident, one is entitled to receive compensation to the extent
that the present accident contributed to the worsening of your condition.
Sometimes, it may be difficult to distinguish between the injuries
or complaints which prevailed prior to the accident and those which
were caused by the present accident. In any event, it is a matter
to analyse your condition and to “apportion” the causes
of the present complaints (taking into account your own complaints
and doctors views as regards these aspects). In any event, please
be reassured that you are entitled to be compensated for the extent
which the present accident rendered you worse. Your experienced
law firm, our MSM, can help you to broker a deal/to work out compensation.
What is the
court process for my accident claim/ personal injury?
Almost all claims have first to be submitted to PIAB or Injuries
Board. If the PIAB or Injuries Board process has not resolved the
claim, then the matter must be brought before the Court . The Court
process means issuing a “writ,” namely a summons to
the Defendant that, unless you are compensated properly for your
road traffic accident are other accident, you are going to bring
the matter before a Judge for assessment/hearing. Once you commence
a Court process, you are bound by the rules of the Court in terms
of documentation/hearing dates and other procedures (you must go
to PIAB or Injuries Board in most cases first, i.e. you cannot leap-
frog to Court).
What if the
accident/ injury has caused depression or other psychological problems?
Frequently, Psychological/Psychiatric injury is caused by a road
traffic accident or other accident.. For
example, a person might become depressed as a result of the pain.
This depression may adversely affect a person’s ability to
work, resulting in loss of income and interference with a person’s
lifestyle. Initially, a person will usually receive treatment from
a G.P. and possibly be referred to a Psychologist/Psychiatrist.
These Specialists frequently prepare reports for solicitors so that
compensation can be claimed for the said psychological depression
or other psychological injury. The Psychologist/Psychiatrist will
explain and analyse the psychological injury and will offer prognosis
as to whether the debilitating condition is likely to abate or continue.
Judges award compensation for psychological injury from a car traffic
accident or other accident, where there is both physical and psychological
injuries caused by the accident.
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