Accidents At Work Compensation Claims

Concerns about claiming against your employer

A common concern voiced by clients is in relation to the cost of pursuing a claim for an accident at work as well as how the accident will affect their employment and the relationship they have with their employer after presenting a claim against them.

You shouldn’t need to worry about losing your job if you make a claim for compensation. The law is very clear in this regard. It is illegal for an employer to terminate a worker’s employment on the basis of them pursuing a compensation claim following an accident at work. Also, your employer should have procedures for accidents at work and is required under law to have Employer Liability insurance in place, so your dispute will be with your employer’s insurance company and not with your employer directly.

If you have concerns relating to your employment going forward or your employment has been terminated following the accident and you want more advice, we also have a dedicated Employment team who you can discuss such matters with.

We specialise in ‘No Win, No Fee’ claims, meaning that if you claim is unsuccessful you will not be charged, however if you claim is successful we then charge what we call a Success Fee which is limited to a maximum of 25% of the compensation you receive relating to the injuries suffered and any past losses. Therefore you can pursue a claim for Personal Injury with the peace of mind that you won’t be facing a large bill, often associated with legal costs.

How workplace injury claims work

Understanding when you may be owed compensation for an accident at work.

Employers owe a duty of care to their employees, meaning they must take all reasonable steps to safeguard their employees’ health, safety and wellbeing. As such employers must abide by the relevant Health & Safety and Employment law as well as their common law duty of care.

Requirements of an employer’s duty of care are wide-reaching and include, but are not limited to the following:

• Clearly defining jobs and undertaking risk assessments
• Ensuring a safe work environment
• Providing adequate training and feedback on performance
• Ensuring that staff do not work excessive hours
• Providing areas for rest and relaxation
• Protecting staff from bullying or harassment, either from colleagues or third parties

An employer can be deemed to have breached their duty of care by failing to do everything that was reasonable in the circumstances to keep the employee safe from harm. Therefore if you have suffered an accident because your employer has breached their duty of care, such as failing to implement appropriate risk assessments and procedures to prevent such accidents from happening or if they have failed to provide you with proper Health & Safety training to make you aware of the policies in place and or they have failed to provide you with or advise you to wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment, such as high visibility jacket, appropriate footwear, helmets etc., then you may have valid claim to pursue.

We should point out that if you should wish to pursue a claim for personal injury arising out of an accident at work due to Employer’s liability then you will have to do so within 3 years of the date of the accident or your date of knowledge, otherwise the claim becomes statute barred.

Starting an industrial accident compensation claim with JCP Solicitors

If you should wish to start a claim for personal injury with JCP Solicitors then we offer a free consultation in which you will put in contact with one of our dedicated team members from our Personal Injury team. During the consultation we will take your contact details, the details of your employer and/or their insurer’s details and circumstances of the accident you have been involved.

If you have a valid claim which has sufficient prospects of success, then we will proceed to have a file opened for you and send you our initial documentation which will also include a draft letter of claim or claim notification form for your consideration. Once this has been approved we will send it to your Employer’s insurance company to start the claim.

Building your workplace claim

If you decide to proceed with your claim, we will then send the letter of claim or claim notification form to your Employer’s insurance company. They will then carry out necessary investigations in order to determine whether your Employer is liable (responsible) for your injury or not.

Once a liability has been received we will then proceed to obtain the necessary evidence in support of your claim. This evidence includes the following:

• Medical evidence: This takes form of a medical report prepared by an appropriate independent medical expert following a review of your medical records and examination of you in order to prepare the report.
• Evidence of your out-of-pocket expenses: If you suffer any out-of-pocket expenses such as travel expenses, loss of earnings, care costs, treatment costs. You will need to provide evidence of such costs such as wage slips, invoices/receipts, travel tickets etc. in order to be able to claim these costs back.
• Engineering evidence: This independent expert evidence will required in cases in which the mechanism or cause of the accident needs to be proved, such as in some road traffic accidents where perhaps the cause of the accident is uncertain.
• Witness evidence: Evidence of this nature will be required, particularly when liability is denied to support your version of events, the Health & Safety training and culture at your place of work.

Once the evidence is finalised and approved by you, it will be disclosed to your Employer’s insurance company for their consideration. In claims where liability is admitted, we will then proceed to value your claim by reference to the medical evidence prepared to value the injuries you have suffered, known as ‘General Damages’. We also value your claim for your out-of-pocket expenses, known as ‘Special Damages’ using the evidence that you provide.

Securing compensation for your workplace accident

There are two ways of securing compensation, either through an out of Court settlement or, before a Judge at a Court hearing. The majority of claims are settled out of Court. This is advantageous to both parties involved as it is less costly as proceeding to Court and is also less stressful as there is no pressure of appearing before a Judge and giving evidence.

More importantly, it also allows us, as your legal representatives to negotiate the best settlement for you, consulting you throughout the process, rather than placing all your faith in an independent Judge at Court, where it is extremely difficult in predicting the outcome.

On occasions, commencing Court proceedings will be necessary, for example claims where:

• Defendant denies liability.
• The Defendant is unresponsive.
• The claim is complex in nature such as accidents of a serious nature, such as head or spinal injuries, accidents involving children or fatal accident.

If it is necessary for a claim to proceed to Court we will prepare the necessary paperwork to issue Court Proceedings on your behalf and talk you through each stage of the Court timetable.

Why use JCP Solicitors for pursuing your accident at work claim

Whatever the circumstances of your claim are, we here at JCP Solicitors will ensure that you as our client have the practical and emotional support you need during the process of pursuing your claim.

The Personal Injury team has many years of experience within this field and have accreditation from Law Society Personal Injury accreditation as well as tier 2 Personal Injury ranking in Law Society Personal Injury accreditation and Band 1 Personal Injury ranking in Chambers & Partners.

We also have close ties with charitable organisations such as our membership with:

• Headway who specialise in helping and supporting people who have suffered with head and brain injuries.
• Spinal Injuries Association who specialise in helping and supporting people who are affected by spinal cord injuries.

We have helped thousands of clients in securing the compensation they deserve arising out of injuries suffered as a result of a Workplace Accident, ranging from the lower level claims relating to injuries caused by trips and falls to high level claims involving head, spinal and amputation injuries.

We based throughout South Wales with offices in the following locations:

• Cardiff
• Swansea
• Caerphilly
• Carmarthen
• Cowbridge
• Fishguard
• Haverfordwest
• St Davids

If you have had a workplace accident and have sustained an injury, then please contact us to arrange your free consultation to discuss your potential claim with us today by phone on 03333 209 244, by email at law@jcpsolicitors.co.uk or enquiry via our enquiry tab on our website or through our live chat facility.