Compensation Claim

Swansea Council reduce compensation claims

Categories: Compensation Claim,Public Liability | Tags: , | Written by Paul on November 25, 2009

 

Over a five year period, Swansea Council has been made to pay out more than £800,000 over trips and falls that have been happening on its streets. People have been receiving an average of £4,055 for their accident claims.

According to the Llanelli Star, the Council has been keen to get a grip on the situation through improved highway maintenance. Council officers meticulously investigate each claim. In 2005, 249 claims were made. However, by 2008-2009 two hundred fewer claims (more…)

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Department of Regional Development pays millions in compensation

Categories: Compensation Claim,Public Liability,Slip and Trip | Tags: , , | Written by Michael on October 6, 2009

 

The DRD (Department of Regional Development) has revealed that it has been forced to pay out over £3.5 million in personal injury compensation in the past five years due to potholes and uneven pavements. The DRD has paid compensation for damage caused to vehicles because potholes in the road, and for personal injury compensation in Ireland.

The department also revealed that it has an outstanding 492 claims for injury compensation and damage that are yet to be resolved.

According to a spokesperson for the DRD, they repaired some 200,000 potholes and unsafe pavements in 2008, with safety being their top priority. Despite their claims, claims due to uneven road and pavement surfaces have risen sharply over the last few years, with 1,800 claims in 2008 compared to just over 1,000 claims in 2004.

SDLP MLA John Dallat expressed his concern over the amount of compensation claims that had been made and the amount of money that had been paid out:

The vast majority of these claims are a result of massive cutbacks in the roads budget.

The folly of it is that while the department is saving money from the cuts, they are then having to pay out major sums of money to people who are injured or whose cars are damaged as a result of bad roads.

We’re not talking about a pothole here and a pothole there. My understanding is that a lot of these claims are coming out because of roads with major deficiencies causing significant damage to expensive cars.

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£82 million on pavement slip and trips

Categories: Compensation Claim,Slip and Trip | Tags: , | Written by Paul on August 27, 2009

 

English councils have paid out more than £82 million in the last five years in compensation for injuries sustained by people tripping over on pavements. The figures came out because the Lib Dems requested the information as part of their Freedom of Information request, which over 90 separate councils in England responded to.

The highest amount of money paid out by any council in the last five years was £10.2 million, which was paid by Leeds City Council. Second place was awarded to Birmingham, who paid out £7.5 million, and then Liverpool who paid £5.5 million in compensation for pavement trips.

Tripping on pavements is very lucrative for personal injury lawyers as the average compensation payout in the last year was £11,426.

The top ten councils and their payouts for injuries caused by slips and trips on pavements is below:

Leeds City Council: £10,259,125
Birmingham City Council: £7,551,840
Liverpool City Council: £5,500,000
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council: £3,957,897
Southampton City Council: £2,994,100
Cambridgeshire County Council: £2,917,111
Bradford Metropolitan District Council: £2,594,281
Oldham Metropolitan District Council: £2,258,879
London Borough of Barnet Council: £1,791,827
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council: £1,597,030

Norman Baker, from the Lib Dems, added:

With council and household budgets under more pressure than ever, the last thing the local taxpayer needs is to be paying massive compensation claims for injuries caused by dangerous pavements.

Although some councils are investing heavily to improve their footways, others seem content to almost ignore pedestrians entirely.

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Corby council to waste more public money appealing negligence judgment

Categories: Compensation Claim,Public Liability | Tags: , | Written by Hilary on August 22, 2009

 

Corby council was judged to be guilty of causing birth defects in children due to its negligence in allowing people to be exposed to toxic waste. However, the council has decided to waste more public money further appealing the decision and delaying the payment of compensation to the families affected.

Chris Mallender, the chief executive of the council, stated that they would appeal the decision because they felt there was grounds to do so.

This has not been an easy decision for the council to reach and has not been taken lightly. We are all too well aware that this ongoing litigation is causing the children and their families continued stress and uncertainty. However, the council has to balance this issue against its rights and duties to the wider population and to council taxpayers.

The council was deemed to be “extensively negligent” in the way that it dealt with the toxic waste by Mr Justice Akenhead.

The toxic waste being dumped on the site is believed to have caused significant birth defects in children born in the area between 1989 and 1999. The council denied that the toxic waste caused the abnormally high number of birth defects, in spite of strong evidence to the contrary.

The cost of appealing is believed to be in excess of six figures, though compensation eventually paid by the council to the families would be a lot more than that.

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Council refuse to pay compensation to driver after pothole accident

Categories: Compensation Claim,Public Liability | Tags: , , , | Written by Hilary on June 23, 2009

 

Essex County Council has refused to acknowledge liability after a motorist suffered damage to his car on a road that was filled with potholes. Twenty-eight-year-old Daniel Bowler’s car was damaged when he hit a pothole in Layer-de-la-Haye, causing his wheel to buckle. The repairs to his car cost him £400, but Essex council denied liability.

Mr Bowler, who is a quantity surveyor, stated:

I was only going about 30mph when I hit the pothole, but it buckled the alloy wheel.

I sent off all the documentation and photographs to Essex County Council but I got a horrendous letter back accusing me of fraud, saying they’d get the police involved.

It was a completely genuine claim.

However the council stated they weren’t liable for any damage to vehicles caused by potholes.

They said that as long as they’d checked the road at a certain date they were not liable for anything that happened.

The same thing has happened to my father-in-law and a friend.

We are paying our taxes, some of which go towards the road repairs, and ironically some towards the legal department that declines to pay out any compensation.

I don’t know what you have to do to get any money out of them after a genuine claim.

A spokesperson for Essex council refused to comment on the case, stating that any disagreement was between the injured party and them. However, they did discuss their policy on potholes and damage to the roads.

However, we have a policy of dealing proactively with potholes, leading the way in using a permanent repair technology which has seen over 8,000 extra potholes treated in the past six months.

We want to ensure that as few potholes appear in the first place as possible.

Over the past three years the principal road work has received extra funding of £45 million and an extra £10 million pounds is currently being invested in improving residential and estate roads.

In 2008/9 over 170 miles of road was upgraded in the county and the 4,500 mile network is independently recognised as one of the best in the UK.

That probably won’t come as much consolation to Mr Bowler.

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Teacher wins compensation for work related stress

Categories: Accident at Work,Compensation Claim | Tags: , , , , | Written by Paul on May 27, 2009

 

Surrey County Council has been ordered to pay compensation to a head teacher after it was found guilty of negligence causing emotional stress. The council has to pay the sum of £387,779 in damages to the head teacher, Mrs Conner.

The stress was caused primarily by two members of the school’s governing body, Mr Saleem and Mr Martin. The two attempted to take over meetings to improve the position for the Muslim faith within the school. Mr Martin complained of racism against Mrs Conner, which in itself was (more…)

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Man sues former employer for bullying

Categories: Compensation Claim,Emotional Distress,Personal Injury | Tags: , , | Written by Michael on May 18, 2009

 

kathy-sinnottMEP Kathy Sinnot is being sued for personal injury following an alleged spate of bullying of a former employee.

The man, Patrick Geoghegan, worked for MEP for Ireland South Kathy Sinnott for two years, from 2004 to 2006. He is seeking compensation for bullying by Kathy Sinnott, claiming that the distress caused to him has resulted in him not being able to work. He is seeking loss of earnings compensation.

Kathy Sinnott’s son Jody, who is her parliamentary assistant, and her former press officer Richard King, have also been accused of bullying by Mr Geoghegan.

This represents the second time that Sinnot has been sued by a former employee, with the first case being (more…)

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