Category: News

Unfortunately, accidents happen. No matter how careful you are there’s still a chance someone else could cause an accident on the road or at work. Mark Reynolds Solicitors operate a no-win no-fee accident claims process. That means you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain if your accident claim is approved.

Some of the accident claims we cover include:

• Construction site accidents
• Criminal injury
• Uninsured drivers and hit and run incidents
• Accidents caused by defective products
• Clinical negligence
• Accidents in shops and in public
• Plane accidents
• Office accidents
• Whiplash
• Amputation

Am I eligible for accident claims compensation?

If you’ve been injured, in an accident, had an illness or suffered psychological or mental injuries caused by another person then you can make an accident claim. If a relative or dependent has been injured or in an accident, not only will they be eligible for accident claims but you may also be eligible if you’ve been affected. Some accident claims can take time but, if you’re struggling financially, we can apply to the court to partially pay your compensation early to help you out.

Compensation for Accident Claims

Experiencing an injury or accident can put stress on you and your family. You may have lost out on earnings from work due to time off or you may be suffering from trauma. We aim to get you the maximum amount of compensation you deserve. We’ll use our expertise to ensure you receive any lost earnings or potential loss of earnings, repay your travel expenses/medical expenses and get compensation for any emotional distress caused by the accident. We can negotiate the best accident claims compensation for you with our dedicated team of solicitors on hand to offer expert advice.

Did you have an accident that wasn’t your fault? Contact Mark Reynolds Solicitors on 0800 002 9577 today to speak to us.

The last thing you want to consider when booking your holiday is that possible injuries could occur. Travel insurance will cover the basics such as emergency medical costs and offer 24/7 assistance. Fellow EU countries have a reciprocal care agreement with the UK that will cover many emergency medical expenses, but you will need to apply for a free European Health Insurance card before you leave and you may have to pay the first £500 which you can then claim back on your return home.

But what if you are injured abroad through no fault of your own? Are you entitled to make a personal injury claim? Here’s a brief guide to what you should consider if you’re injured on
holiday.

Is It a Package Holiday?                  

If you’re injured during your stay at a resort that was booked as part of a package tour, then you may be eligible to make a personal injury claim if the hotel was negligent in any way. You may also be able put in a claim if you were injured on an excursion that was part of your package deal.

Examples of holiday hazards that could entitle you to make a personal injury claim include:

• Food poisoning
• Coach accident if travelling on an organised coaching holiday
• Injuries caused by broken furnishings or paving at your hotel
• Injuries caused by broken swimming pool tiles

What To Do

Personal injury claims can be complicated so it’s important that you take immediate action.

• Report the accident as soon as possible
• Take photos or videos as evidence
• Obtain a doctor’s report
• Seek legal advice as soon as you get home

If you have been injured during your holiday through no fault of your own, contact us now and our personal injury specialists will offer free no obligation impartial advice.

We always tend to think that most road accidents happen on busy urban roads and motorways but surprisingly, it’s the 20mph roads that are proving to be a real problem. Whilst it’s true that more fatalities are likely to take place on busy roads and motorways, the number of casualties that are happening on 20mph roads have risen alarmingly.

According to statistics from road safety charity, the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists), casualties on 20mph roads have risen by 29% since 2103. 20mph zones are becoming more prevalent in town and city centres and particularly by schools but it would appear from the statistics that they are not having the desired affect.

Relaxation of regulations has made it much easier for councils to put 20mph limits in place but they don’t seem to be delivering fewer casualties. Experts from the IAM have stated that local authorities need to focus more on changing the character of the roads rather than just imposing a 20mph limit.

This is particularly relevant for known accident black spots where the introduction of some kind of speed control intervention is greatly needed. At the moment it’s not immediately obvious why the road is set at that limit (unless it’s by a school) and as a consequence, it’s largely being ignored by motorists.

It will be interesting to see how this develops and whether councils take note of the concerns that the IAM is raising.

If you have been involved in a road accident and have been unfortunate enough to sustain a personal injury through no fault of your own, then you may have a strong case to make a claim. Contact us now to discuss your situation and we will give you an honest appraisal on the merits of your case.

As you may have already seen in the press over the last few weeks, it has been proven in a recent study that more people are dying when they are admitted into hospital at the weekend rather than during the week.

This rather alarming finding was uncovered by a team from the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trusts and University College London, and it has been concluded that a lack of consultant cover and reduced services at the weekend are contributing to the higher death rates.

The actual study showed that approximately 11,000 more people die every year within 30 days of admission to hospital when that admission takes place on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday compared to other days of the week.

Over 15 million patients were included in the data to discover these findings and whilst it is true that a higher proportion of patients are admitted to hospital as emergencies on the weekend, the findings point to much wider concerns about staffing levels and the lack of senior doctor cover.

Friday and Monday are being included in what has been labelled in the study as a ‘weekend effect’. Generally, hospital services are reduced from late on a Friday, throughout the weekend, and this leads to disruption on a Monday morning until services get back to normal again.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the research a “wake-up call” and said the situation on weekends may be worse than previously thought.

The levels of weekend cover are causing concern for junior doctors who are feeling ‘clinically exposed’ over the weekend and this is causing a great deal of concern for many hospital senior managers across the country.

It will be interesting to see over the coming months the impact that this makes on the level of clinical negligence cases that may arise as a direct result of these findings. Have you suffered from clinical negligence during a stay at a hospital or after an operation? You may be able to claim compensation with Mark Reynolds Solicitors, don’t hesitate to contact us at any of our 4 northwest offices.

It’s estimated that there are over one million uninsured drivers currently driving on Britain’s roads and every year there’s around 25,000 incidents involving uninsured drivers.

As we all know, it’s a legal requirement to have valid motor insurance and it can literally add insult to injury if you happen to get hit by somebody who hasn’t. However, not all is lost. If you are hit by an uninsured driver and you are unfortunate enough to suffer an injury then you should be able to make a claim with the MIB (Motor Insurers’ Bureau). The MIB is a non-profit company which is funded by the insurance industry to deal with matters precisely like this. Even if you’ve only got third party insurance you should be able to make a claim.

When you get hit by another vehicle and you find out that they are uninsured it can be a very heart sinking moment. This is compounded if you’ve suffered an injury as well and your immediate thoughts will turn to how you will cope financially with time off work, and how will you afford to replace your vehicle. The MIB is there to deal with these issues but it still pays to get some legal representation to make sure that you receive the full compensation you deserve.

At Mark Reynolds Solicitors we have dealt with numerous cases such as this and we can advise you on the claiming process and the medical evidence you will need. If the injury has caused you to need long-term care and rehabilitation, we can help you put together a claim for that as well. If you’ve recently been involved in an accident with an uninsured driver and not sure what to do next then please contact us by phone or by visiting one of our offices, we would be happy to advise you.

According to the latest figures from RoSPA, around 3000 cyclists are killed or seriously injured every year in the UK, and there are approximately 16000 cyclists who suffer minor injuries. And these are just the reported cases. Many cycling accidents are not reported to the police.

These figures are based on cycling accidents which happen on the road. It is estimated that the number of serious injuries that happen to cyclists away from the road could be 2 or 3 times more.

Here are some facts and figures about cycling accidents in the UK:

• The majority of cycling casualties are adults with less than 20% being children. Around 80% of cycling casualties are also male.
• Around two thirds of cyclists are killed or seriously injured at road junctions, with T junctions being the most common.
• Around 50% of cyclist deaths happen on rural roads
• Approximately 80% of cycling accidents happen in daylight hours
• Around 75% of cyclists who are killed have major head injuries
• More cycling accidents happen during the spring and summer months
• Around 25% of cycling accidents are caused by HGVs, buses or coaches passing too close to a cyclist

When looking at the cause of cycling accidents, the most common scenarios are:

• Cyclists turning right from a major or minor road
• Cyclists turning on a junction, especially T Junctions
• Cyclists riding off a pavement and into the road
• Motorists turning into the path of a cyclist without looking properly
• Motorist passing too close to a cyclist

If you have been involved in a cycling accident that wasn’t your fault and would like to discuss the potential for making a claim then please get in touch. At Mark Reynolds we have helped hundreds of cyclists with the accident claim process so please contact us to discuss your case.

Despite Aldi’s recent announcement that they intend to pay 9,000 staff the full living wage, the overall feeling across UK employers is one of fear and reluctance to implement it.

When George Osborne announced that the minimum national living wage was to rise to £7.20 for over 25s from April 2016 onwards, the general reaction of employers. Aldi excluded, has been to look at their recruitment policies and focus on under 25s or look at outsourcing to self-employed workers.

In a recent survey by Manpower across more than 2000 employers, many came back saying that they were scaling back recruitment plans stating that the affordability of the new living wage was a big obstacle to their recruitment plans.

The CBI have also stated that the introduction of the new living wage was a ‘gamble’ to the UK employment market with employers potentially halting recruitment altogether or finding ways of bypassing the legislation by employing people who are not entitled to it in the first place.

Conversely, living wage campaigners believe that just like when the minimum wage was introduced in 1999, employers will absorb the costs of doing so and the same will happen when the living wage for over 25s is introduced next year.

The employment landscape could potentially change with the introduction of the living wage, as employers start to favour using remote self-employed workers rather than recruiting people themselves. This could throw up some legal challenges if employers don’t follow the letter of the law surrounding the use of self-employed people and the amount of time they spend working directly for the company without the benefits that a normal full-time employee would get.

It will be interesting to see how this story develops and the impact it will have on UK employment and the types of law cases that may emerge if employers fail to implement the new living wage correctly.

Have you lost out on money from an employer or a previous employer has failed to give you what you have worked for after moving to a new job? Talk to our professional employment law solicitors today with no obligation. Contact us.

 When it comes to making a claim in a clinical negligence case it is necessary to establish that the medical professional in question was negligent in their actions and that this negligence caused your injury. The courts have to decide that the actions of the medical professional were not simply a mistake but a case of incompetence that no qualified medical professional should have been responsible for. It must also be proved that the incompetence of these actions has caused or contributed to your injury. To prove both of these scenarios it is highly likely that an independent medical specialist will need to be called in to evaluate your case.

If your case is successful then you will be to claim:

General Damages – compensation for the pain, suffering and injury you received.

Special Damages – compensation for expenses that you have incurred such as loss of earnings, prescription charges, travelling expenses etc. You will need to keep a careful record of expenses so that you can be appropriately recompensed.

Future Losses – compensation for any future loss of earnings, loss of pension, future treatments etc

Determining the above costs can be a complex affair involving extensive record-keeping as well as advice from independent experts. At Mark Reynolds Solicitors we have handled hundreds of clinical negligence cases and have helped our clients put together strong cases with all the necessary evidence gathered. We have also helped them to calculate the amount of compensation that is appropriate to claim.

If you believe that you have suffered an injury as a result of clinical negligence and are unsure on how to take things forward then please get in touch to discuss your circumstances and we will advise you on the strength of your case and help you with your preparation for claiming compensation. You can free phone Mark Reynolds on 0800 002 9577 to speak to an adviser or fill in the contact form opposite and we will get back to you as soon as possible.