making a personal injuries claim from a work accident

[lourules]

In a nutshell - had an accident at work due to their fault and now i am injured and wish to make a claim against them - who is best to contact i.e what firm? C.A.B cant really comment on whats best in that area - are these stupid adverts like "injury lawyers for you" really worth contacting? I am entitled to legal aid as well due to my low income. I know some solicitors dont accept this...where do i go from here?

[wolf63]

I had a work accident years ago and just went to my normal solicitor. Phone around.

[ummmm]

Just go to a normal solicitor.

[lourules]

i did...they said i had to pay... even though im entitled to legal aid...

[ummmm]

Phone other ones then. I wouldn't go to the gimmicky ones...

When I made a claim I didn't have to pay.

[lourules]

Ummm can you briefly tell me what happened with your claim? With me i slipped over some food that had not been cleaned up on the floor and i have now chronic back pain sometimes cant even get in and out of bed or chairs...reported this all to the doctor over the past 5 months had tests and xrays etc...

[craft1948]

lol this post is now surrounded by injury claim adverts.........

[ummmm]

I was knocked over on a pedestrian crossing with my son....and there were about 20 witnesses. So a pretty clear case...

[roslyn251254]

Wouldn't it be better to discuss this with your employers first?

[Barmaid]

I do not think you will get legal aid for a PI case.

If you cannot afford to go to your ordinary solicitor go to a High Street one who does PI on a no win no fee basis. The difficulty with the injury lawyers you see advertised is they are very often not local and I consider it important for a client to see their solicitor and feel they are accessible.

You could contact the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers to see who does that type of work local to you.

[ummmm]

So BM....was I not charged because they knew 100% I would win?

[whiskeysheri]

I can personally vouch for Fentons.

[gina32]

i used national accident helpline, most of it was on via email and paid up in just over 6 months, they were ver good

[hc4361]

You can't get legal aid for personal injury claims.

[wolf63]

I went in and spoke to a solicitor who advised me that I had a good case, he then went to war with my employer - I didn't get much but my employer had to pay the costs.

If there was food spilled liability for the accident may not be clear cut - was your employer to blame?

[hc4361]

The employer is only to blame if there was negligence. If the food had been spilled within minutes of the accident, they will claim there is no negligence. They could not be reasonably expected to know of the spill and clear it in that very short period of time. Unless it was a member of the canteen staff that spilled the food and ignored it.

Of course we are all expected to take reasonable care of ourselves. If you were horsing around, running or wearing totally unsuitable footwear then you could be held to blame, at least in part.

[Postdog]

These claim firms are only likely to accept a case if they think they stand a chance of winning. If, after ringing a few, no-one wants to take it on, then you probably won't stand a chance anyway.

[ummmm]

If they are not 100% sure you'll win they usually make you take out an insurance policy...

[lourules]

For one i am not to blame. I was going to the fridge to take out some bagettes and didnt see the spilled food which would have been spilled by a member of staff and not cleaned up through ignorance. i fell and i didnt even see the spillage until i had been picked up off the floor. I am going to contact one of the PI solicitors to get some advice now thank you for your comments

[bednobs]

just because you are not to blame dosen't mean your emp-loyer is to blame though.

[lourules]

Then who is? im now in pain and suffering and so i should just get on with it? I dont think so