PIBULJ
It’s compensation not whiplash that’s the problem - Andrew Pemberton, Argent Rehabilitation
15/10/12. Independent medical experts, minimum impact of velocity, minimum levels of compensation, minimum levels of injury - they are all being considered as means with which to control the so-called compensation culture. This article will illustrate why it is unlikely any of these will have the desired effect on the market or the wider social perception of motor claims. There is, however, an alternative to financial-based compensation for personal injury claims.
We are assured by government that change to drive out fraudulent and unnecessary whiplash claims is certain. It seems their assumption is that the vast majority of whiplash claims are at best opportunistic and could be removed by a more vigorous assessment process and increased burden of proof on the injury. This is to miss the point of what drives the claimant and the market which is...
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Blair-Ford v CRS Adventures Ltd [2012] EWHC 2360 QB: Risk Assessments and “Welly-Wanging” - Monika Sobiecki, Pump Court Chambers
15/10/12. The claimant was injured in a tragic accident during a "Mini Olympics" event which left him with permanent tetraplegia. Dismissing the claim, Globe J concluded that this was a "freak accident for which no blame can be established". The claimant was a schoolteacher accompanying pupils on a residential adventure activity course operated by the defendant. On the final day of the course, the organisers held a "Mini Olympics" event involving "welly-wanging" (which for the uninitiated is an unusual sport where participants are required to hurl a wellington boot as far as possible...
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Landlords Liability: Developments under the Occupiers Liability Act - Adam Gadd, Pump Court Chambers
12/10/12. Two recent decisions have given further clarification of the extent of landlord’s duty under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957. The first, Alexander v (1) Freshwater Properties Ltd (2) Christopher Place (T/ A Place Construction) [2012] EWCA Civ 1048 found that a landlord could be liable under the OLA for an injury that occurred whilst refurbishment works were being carried out.
In this case, the landlord was the relevant occupier of the premises where the Claimant was injured. The landlord had engaged...
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Cycling Accidents: a Turkey votes for Christmas - Julie Carlisle, Henmans LLP
11/10/12. I work in Oxford, a beautiful city synonymous with dreaming spires and students on sit-up-and-beg bicycles winding their way to their next classes. The reality however, as reported in the local press recently, is that deaths and injuries for cyclists have more than doubled in the past decade with 58 cyclists killed or seriously injured in Oxfordshire alone in 2011.
The reaction to this news, in Oxford at least was disappointing. The Deputy Council Leader tried to explain this terrible figure as an inevitable consequence of a rise in the numbers of cyclists, but it was some of the letters and comments posted in response that really took my breath away...
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Whose responsibility is it anyway? Duty to warn non-employees of criminal threats - David Sawtell, 4 King's Bench Walk
10/10/12. The claimant social worker was seriously injured by the father of a child in care proceedings. He had made disturbing threats to harm her while under the second and third defendants' medical care. An organisation is not under a duty to warn members of the public of a third party's criminal threats except in special circumstances. At what point does an organisation owe a duty to warn another body's employees? The boundary between different public sector organisations has become increasingly blurred thanks to multi agency working practices often governed by detailed protocols. The Court of Appeal held that such close ties could make them liable to each other's employees to warn them about criminal threats...
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![Appeal judge rules that credit hire company has no costs liability following a finding of fundamental dishonesty in personal injury case: RSA v. Fastrack Solutions Limited [2023] 4 WLUK 92 - David Bowden, Erimus Chambers](/content/images/resized/images/stories/carkeys_72_72.jpg)
