In this instance, the man in question was simply working in his allotment when a crime was committed nearby, and the assailants fled into the gardens. A police dog was released and unfortunately bit the man, despite the fact that he was standing still.

Animal bites can be extremely traumatic and in some cases require major surgery, leaving the victim with permanent scarring and sometimes requiring a significant period of time off work.

If a dog attacks whilst not under full control, regardless of whether it’s a police dog or household pet and no matter how out of character it was for the animal or whether it was provoked, then the victim or their family will have very strong grounds on which to base a personal injury claim.

In this instance, it certainly appears as if our victim has a strong case, although he is currently not disclosing whether or not he will make a claim.

Many dogs are trained to attack, whilst others are just provoked.  Both kinds are extremely dangerous and personal injury claims arising from canine attacks are on the rise.

If you have been bitten or attacked, give us a call on 0800 083 0110.  Our advice is free, and we will advise whether or not you have grounds to proceed with a claim.

Regularly working with tractors, combine harvesters, balers and threshers, not to mention unpredictable livestock, one of the main causes of injury and death appears to derive from insufficient training with regard to handling not only animals but heavy farm machinery, which often amounts to neglect on the part of the farm owner.

With some farm items weighing several tons, being trapped under or within these machines is a life threatening issue, one that worryingly seems to be on the increase.

It does appear though that, finally, Personal Injury specialists have reached this once isolated sector of the working public, as claims too are growing in number.

The consequences of such an accident can be life-changing, with victims being afflicted with permanent side-effects from injury, or life-shattering effects to families, in the unfortunate event of a death.

If you are employed on a farm and involved in an accident that you believe to have occurred as a direct result of poorly maintained equipment or lack of appropriate supervision or training, then contact Bott & Co now.  Lost income, lifestyle and medical expenses are all taken into account when assessing a claim.

The Health and Safety Executive is keen to make agriculture a responsible industry and is advocating strict guidelines for working practices which offer the appropriate levels of protection and care to anyone employed in this sector.

If you are unsure as to whether your circumstances are appropriate to make a claim, contact Bott & Co today on 0800 083 0110.  We deal with a number of agriculture and farming claims and can advise you if you have a case, and the likely outcome.

For too long, agricultural workers have simply accepted injury as a way of life.  Those perceptions are it seems now changing and the increase of numbers in Personal Injury claims will certainly help to teach irresponsible farm owners that they must take steps to safeguard their workers.

The figures make grim reading, with an average spend of £83,000 for each authority given to each claimant that had an accident in the years 2004-2009. Across the UK, the figure then amounts to around a staggering £100million.

These figures are perhaps unsurprising given recent economic events – the recession, redundancies, unemployment and now public sector staff cuts.

More people than ever before in recent years are living hand to mouth and whereas they may have simply tripped or even fallen but brushed themselves off and carried on without another thought at one time, they are now less willing to pass this off as a common accident and, particularly if they have been injured in some way, are now keen to penalise local authorities for their negligence.

Uneven paving stones and walkways have been present for many years now, so isn’t it time, rather than bearing the brunt of these phenomenal costs of compensation, that local authorities actually do something about it?

Surely the price of monitoring and maintaining safe places to walk (particularly main pedestrianised areas and around principal shopping areas) is considerably less than the millions paid out each year in compensation?

Until local authorities realise that they must address this problem proactively, we will continue to accept and process the dozens of related claims which we receive on a daily basis. Surely the elderly and the infirm have a right to walk around without fear of stepping on a wobbling paving stone, slipping on rubbish left lying around or tipping over the lip of an uneven curb stone?

Uneven pavements form a considerable percentage of the claims Bott & Co receives each day, yet these claims appear to be increasing, not decreasing.

If you have suffered any sort of injury by tripping or falling on an insecure pavement, do give us a call on 0800 083 0110 or make a claim now. If you’re not sure, call us anyway and we’ll be able to advise you.

Don’t let your local authority continue to ignore the problem.

However, accidents which weren’t your fault can arise absolutely anywhere outside the home, a fact which has been supported by a very individual and unique case which has recently come to the attention of the media, reminding us that just because an accident or illness is very much out of the ordinary, it is always worth pursuing.

It is every parent’s worst nightmare come true – taking your children to a family attraction for the day, and ending up in hospital. Such was the case for a group of parents who had planned an innocent family day out at a petting zoo.

Unfortunately, the potentially fatal strain of E. coli O157 was rife on the farm where this particular petting zoo was located, and 93 adults and children were infected before farm owners managed to contain the outbreak.

The one saving grace for the troubled farm was the fact that all those struck down by the bug survived, although unfortunately for a group of 28 children, the long term effects are unknown.

This case has acted as a stark reminder that personal injury doesn’t just have to mean a physical accident causing damage to the body, but that suspected health and safety neglect is potentially just as viable when it comes to making a PI claim.

No doubt some members of the infected group will have felt that this neglect didn’t fall under the umbrella of personal injury, and thought perhaps there was no case to be had.

However initial enquiries and research carried out to date indicates that these individuals will be successful in their claim application.

Evidence shows that the farm owners took well over a month from the discovery of the first case of E. coli to quarantine and shut down, and that they had not been prompt in the clearing of animal faeces. Had they been more proactive and efficient, the numbers of infections may arguably have been dramatically reduced.

If you feel you might have grounds for a claim but are concerned that this is not the case, why not ask us? Our advice is impartial, free and you may find yourself hundreds, if not thousands of pounds better off.

Despite stringent Health and Safety standards, many employers continue to shirk their responsibility to ensure that their employees are kept safe during the course of their work.  This is usually down to one or a mixture of the following reasons:

• Not enough staff to ensure that adequate standards and procedures in accordance with H&S regulations are maintained;
• A reluctance to spend the time or money needed to ensure that employees are sufficiently trained in handling dangerous equipment, that working areas are safe and that they are fully compliant;
• Ignorance of H&S regulations, and an unwillingness to learn them, despite the risks;
• The “ostrich” syndrome – the misconception that accidents will never happen.

Whatever the reason in this instance, Anthony Baillie of the now defunct Sub Surface Engineering firm in Fareham was driving a forklift truck, fitted with a “makeshift extension”, when a half-ton metal plate fell from the truck’s forks onto a young trainee, Jonathan Holmes. The accident reached court this week.

The accident, which occurred in 2008, broke Mr Holmes’ leg, but let’s face it, he was lucky to not sustain any further injury.

This makeshift extension, we are told, had been in use for some time.  Presumably, Mr Baillie was aware of this and the dangers it posed? Regardless of the reasons he chose to ignore the hazard, the accident finally did occur, and Mr Baillie was charged £2,500, with £1,000 costs.

Sub Surface Engineering is now no more.  Whether or not this was as a result of the payout required as compensation is unknown.

It is every employer’s duty to make sure that each and every employee has been trained thoroughly in the equipment they will use whether on a daily or infrequent basis and that all equipment is safe to use.  This is the basic premise of Health and Safety regulations.

If you have been injured at work, either through faulty machinery or the carelessness of a colleague, you may be entitled to accident at work compensation. Your employer should have an insurance policy in place to cover this, so don’t feel guilty or worried about making a claim.

If your employer has no such policy in place, chances are they are very lax about H&S issues in the first place and are not particularly concerned about your welfare.

If you’re not sure if you have enough evidence to make such a claim, call us first on 0800 083 0110 for an informal chat. Give us the details, and we’ll tell you if you have something we can work with. We have years of experience in dealing with these types of claims, so you can be assured that the advice you receive is accurate.

Don’t suffer in silence and help to protect your other colleagues.

The 39-year-old social worker and mum of two was having an enjoyable night out when she slipped or tripped down the stairs.  The original cause of death was deemed to be unexplained but this was altered to accidental death at the Coroner’s Court on May 13.

Tragic as this case is, accidents like this happen all the time in public places, particularly in pubs, where in some cases (not necessarily in the one here of course), the intake of alcohol can affect balance to a lesser or greater degree.

In most instances, we laugh it off and suffer nothing worse than wounded pride and acute embarrassment.  However, some accidents do happen, through no fault of our own, and with severe consequences.

You may not realise that if this has happened to you, and you may have incurred medical costs, or had to take a substantial time off work, resulting in a loss in wages, you may be able to claim public liability compensation.

A personal injury compensation claim can be brought about in any public place, which you would expect to be safe, including the street, a shop or school.  All public authorities and most organisations will have a policy in place in the event of an accident occurring on their premises, so you could certainly legitimately make a claim.

We deal with hundreds of such claims each year and are surprised by the number of people who were at first hesitant, reluctant to “make a fuss” or who simply felt that they wouldn’t have a case.

Let’s get one thing straight – you had every right to remain safe in that public place, the accident occurred through no fault of your own, you have suffered either physically, mentally or financially as a direct result of that accident, and the authority or organisation involved will no doubt be in an excellent position to settle the claim quickly and painlessly.

So go ahead and make a claim – we have an expert team on hand to answer any query you may have – we’ve heard of all sorts of accidents and have an excellent rate of success in settling claims, so ring us for a chat and we’ll tell you if you’re likely to have a case or not.

We’re on 0800 083 0110 – what have you got to lose?

Repairs are reported to reach £300,000 with the £500,000 super car (similar to the one pictured left) expected to be sent for repair in Italy.

At Bott & Co it doesn’t matter to us how much damage has been done to your car or the cost of your repairs.

We understand that your car is special to you and no matter what the cost of repairs we’ll fight as hard to recover them, no matter the value of the claim we deliver the same level of service.

Read more here

The RTA reforms are here to stay.

On Friday, the new RTA reforms were officially rubber-stamped when amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules were approved by Parliament. The full details of the statutory instrument can be found here.

It means that the compensation scheme for low cost RTA personal injury claims (between £1,000 and £10,000) will soon be streamlined, as originally announced by the Ministry of Justice in September.

Since then lawyers, insurers and compensators have collaborated with the MoJ to develop a new electronic portal to support the reforms.

The resulting portal will speed up the process and cut costs in accident claims, and will be the only way to begin a road traffic claim in England and Wales.

The ‘go live’ date is now April 30, having been pushed back a few weeks to give those involved more time to adjust to the changes.

We’ve been heavily involved with the reforms all along and are looking forward to their implementation. We’ve blogged in more detail about how they will enhance the personal injury claim process here.