18/12/18
The extent of pressure being felt by Local Authorities and in particular Social Workers working with children is starkly laid bare by recent statistics produced by the Department of Education. The headline grabbing figures are somewhat shocking. Councils in England started almost 200,000…
17/12/18
Bridgend County Borough Council has been fined after a boy ran into the path of a school bus and was killed. In 2014, the boy had finished school and was crossing the road to board his bus home when the collision with a minibus took place. The HSE found that the layby created before the school…
17/12/18
Following a week of snow and plummeting temperatures it is the ideal time to consider whether your organisation is prepared for all the winter season might have to offer. Here is a quick checklist to ensure that you have appropriate systems in place and taken the necessary steps to protect staff, pupils…
10/12/18
Caine Ellis (A Child By His Grandmother & Litigation Friend Janet Titley) (Claimant) v Paul Kelly (Defendant/Part 20 Claimant) & Violet Ellis (Part 20 Defendant) (2018) [2018] EWHC 2031 (QB) Are the parents always to blame? In 2008, Caine Ellis, then aged 8, was knocked down by a car and…
04/12/18
Seddon v Bolton Council Manchester CC The claimant alleged that she fell in a pothole and sustained serious personal injuries. She brought a claim for personal injury against the local authority. At trial, the claimant described that she was walking back from the local off licence. As she…
04/12/18
Guildford CC - Judgment of District Judge Bell The facts The claimant had attended a farm attraction for children. She had been playing with her 2-year-old son in the undercover soft play area when they left the area to go the toilets. As she walking along the corridor, she slipped. She…
04/12/18
Logistics Company Fined for Failure to Adapt Generic Risk Assessment Tuffnells Parcels Express Ltd has been fined after a lorry driver was fatally crushed against his vehicle by a trailer as he was attempting to couple it. The vehicle was loaded with parcels and parked on a 3° slope at a…
04/12/18
Annual statistics released by the HSE have revealed that in 2017/18, 1.4 million workers suffered from work-related ill health and around 555,000 from non-fatal injuries. According to key figures in 2017/18 there were: · 144 fatal injuries at work · 1.4 million working…
04/12/18
Liverpool Victoria Insurance Co Ltd v (1) Kamar Abbas Khan (2) Shafiq Sultan (3) Asef Zafar (4) Mohammed Shazad Ahmed (2018)[2018] EWHC 2581 (QB) QBD (Garnham J) 05/10/2018 A claimant personal injury lawyer and a medical expert have been found to have committed multiple civil contempts. The…
04/12/18
Surrey County Council v Hilliard (2018) QBD (Slade J) 16/10/2018 Surrey County Council successfully appealed a district judge's decision that it was in breach of section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 after a cyclist was injured in a closed road race. The facts The claimant had taken…
19/11/18
When is a public works contract a public works contract? On 14 November 2018, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment on the question on whether a future commitment in a development agreement entered into by West Berkshire Council constituted a public works contract for the purposes of the Public…
05/11/18
WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC v Various Claimants (2018)[2018] EWCA Civ 233 Morrisons supermarket has lost its appeal to the Court of Appeal. The Court upheld the decision that the supermarket should be vicariously liable for an employee who intentionally disclosed the personal details of staff on a…
01/11/18
Allen v Cycle Route Ltd t/a Override Skate Park In 2015 the claimant attended a skate park owned by the defendant accompanied by a guardian. The 11-year-old claimant was scooting along the street section of the park, consisting of a drop down ramp to a flat bank which included a grind rail, when he…
01/11/18
Construction Company and Director Prosecuted for Dangerous Building Site A construction company was fined and its managing director ordered to carry out 150 community service after HSE Inspectors found dangerous conditions at its building site. According to the HSE, inspectors had visited the…
01/11/18
Clive Bellman (A protected party by his litigation friend, Susan Thomas) v Northampton Recruitment Ltd (2018)[2018] EWCA Civ 2214 The Court of Appeal has held a company vicariously liable for an assault committed by its managing director on an employee after a Christmas party. In 2010 the…
01/11/18
Peter John Sebastian Murray v Martin Devenish (on his own behalf & as representative of all other members of the unincorporated association known as The Sons of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) (2018)[2018] EWHC 1895 (QB) QBD (Nicol J) 24/07/2018 The claimant alleged that he had been sexually abused…
01/11/18
Witley Parish Council has lost its appeal against a decision that it was negligent after a tree fell and injured Mr Cavanagh whilst he was driving a bus. In 2012 after a stormy night, a large lime tree situated on the Council's land next to a bus stop fell across the road at the same moment as…
01/11/18
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill 2017-19 is currently making its way through Parliament. The Bill seeks to amend the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to ensure rented accommodation is provided and maintained in a state of fitness for human habitation, and to amend the Building Act 1984 to…
18/10/18
A woman was hit by a stray ball at the recent Ryder Cup tournament held in France. US team member Brooks Koepka was playing a shot on the sixth hole when his ball unfortunately struck a spectator in the eye. The lady involved is said to have lost the sight in her right eye after she suffered a fractured…
08/10/18
According to the HSE the construction industry is one of the most hazardous industries in the country with around one third of all workplace fatalities occurring in construction. In the last 10 years more than 750 people (workers and members of the public) have died from injuries arising out of…
03/10/18
Hartley v Preston CC A claimant whose case for personal injury included multiple descriptions of the accident circumstances was found to be fundamentally dishonest at the conclusion of his trial. The case The claimant alleged that on Saturday 28th November 2015 at approximately 4.30pm he…
03/10/18
Lovell v Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council A claimant discontinued his claim at trial after proceeding on the erroneous basis that a highway is the same as a highway maintainable at the public expense. The claimant alleged that he was walking along an alleyway when he tripped, fell and…
03/10/18
Hussain v Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council July 2018 - Manchester CC DJ Osborne The claimant in this matter was found to be 'fundamentally dishonest' following the trial of his claim for personal injury. The judge delivered a no holds barred judgment declaring the claimant to…
03/10/18
Increasing trend of significant fines based on turnover irrespective of the status of the organisation Two Construction Companies Fined £1.4 million After Worker Injured Two construction companies have been fined after a worker's foot was trapped in a large rotating screw…
03/10/18
Claims for damages as a consequence of abuse show no signs of abating and remain a significant expense to Local Authorities. Claims for damages are often based upon an argument by the victim that the abuse they suffered has directly contributed to difficulties in their lives, such as, loss of earning…
03/10/18
Under new court guidelines to be introduced on 1st November 2018, managers charged with gross negligence manslaughter will face longer prison terms up to 18 years. It is the first time that the Sentencing Council have drawn up guidelines for these serious and difficult cases. Such cases are often…
03/10/18
There has been a recent spate of decisions concerning the issue of vicarious liability. Over the years, the concept of vicarious liability (which refers to a situation where an employer can be held strictly liable for the acts or omissions of its employees) has evolved and extended its reach for reasons…
23/08/18
Mercel Hislop v Laura Perde : Kundan Kaur v Committee (For The Time Being) Of Ramgarhia Board Leicester (2018)[2018] EWCA Civ 1726 The Court of Appeal determined that a claimant was not entitled to standard or indemnity costs where a defendant accepted a Part 36 offer out of time but before trial…
23/08/18
Ratcliffe v Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council District Judge Swindley - Manchester CC The local authority has successfully defended a claim following a fall on a defective kerb. The claimant was out walking one evening; she fell when she put her right foot forward onto the kerb which…
23/08/18
James Lewis -v- Burry Port AFC The claimant was playing in a junior football match for the defendant. During the course of the game the claimant made a sliding tackle and suffered a laceration to his leg. It transpired that there was glass embedded in the surface of the pitch. The claimant…
23/08/18
Tesco Feels the Brunt of the Sentencing Guidelines Tesco has been fined £160,000 after an employee was seriously injured in an incident involving a roll cage. In September 2015, the employee was working alone to unload roll cages containing stock from a delivery vehicle. The worker…
23/08/18
The Claims Regulator (CMR) has published its annual report. In the report, the CMR confirms that within the past year they have successfully managed to strike down misconduct in the holiday sickness claims market. However, the consequence of the crack down on holiday sickness claims appears to be an…
23/08/18
Pinkus v Direct Line [2018] EWHC 1671 (QB) In this RTA case, the judge made a finding of fundamental dishonesty when confronted by Facebook posts which revealed a very different view of the claimant's lifestyle and mental capacity to the one proffered by the claimant to the Court. The…
03/08/18
In the matter of Williams and another v London Borough of Hackney [2018] UKSC 37 the Supreme Court considered the limits of a Local Authority's powers and duties to provide accommodation for children in need (as defined by s17 CA 1989) under Section 20, without the sanction of a Court Order. In…
19/07/18
Allen v Oldham MBC - Manchester CC The claimant alleged that he was out walking his friend's dog, when he tripped due to a pothole in the alleyway. He fell and sustained an injury. Breach of duty was admitted but the defendant remained unconvinced by the claim and put the claimant to strict…
19/07/18
Austin v Lancaster County Council Local authorities often have to strike the balance between providing safe and exciting play areas for children as well as protecting the needs of local residents who live nearby. This claim arose after a child was injured after falling on a stone boulder installed…
19/07/18
DHL receives £2m fine after employee crushed by a reversing lorry DHL has been fined £2m over the death of an employee who was crushed at a depot in Milton Keynes. The worked was trapped between a reversing lorry and a loading bay in February 2015. DHL admitted breaching s 2(1…
19/07/18
Tuson v Debbie Murphy (2018) [2018] EWCA Civ 1461 The Court of Appeal considered whether a claimant ought to receive a cost penalty even though the defendant made the Part 36 offer in full knowledge of the misleading and dishonest conduct of the claimant. The claimant, Ms Tuson, fell from her…
19/07/18
Philip Clarke v John Kerwin (T/A Dirtbike Action) (2018)CC (Carlisle) (Judge Peter Hughes QC) 26/04/2018 A claim for personal injury was dismissed after the Court found that the true cause of an accident occurring at a motorcycle event was the dangerously high speed at which the claimant had…
19/07/18
Philip Clay v TUI UK LTD (2018) [2018] EWCA Civ 1177 CA (Civ Div) (Kitchin LJ, Hamblen LJ, Moylan LJ) 23/05/2018 The Court of Appeal have for the first time in a number of years considered when the actions of a claimant might break the chain of causation. Mr Clay had been on a package holiday…
12/07/18
In our recent blog "S20 and the Duty to Accommodate…When is enough, enough?" we looked at the case of R v Haringey which considers the extent of the duty owed by Local Authorities to accommodate teenagers in accordance with s20 Children Act 1989. The Court concluded that it is not…
19/06/18
The case of R (on the application of A) v Haringey LBC considers whether the Local Authority (in this case, the London Borough of Haringey) had carried out its duty under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 to provide accommodation to a 17-year-old boy who repeatedly refused to be placed. I am…
19/06/18
Fishburn v Rochdale BC - Manchester County Court A Claimant has discontinued her claim for personal injury after a poor performance in the witness box. The Claimant alleged that she sustained a personal accident whilst walking along a pavement. The Claimant contended that she tripped on a…
18/06/18
Miles v Wigan Council This claim arises following an alleged accident in March 2014 when the Claimant stated that she tripped as a result of a rocking flagstone. The Claimant sustained a displaced fracture to her left elbow which required surgical fixation and presented a schedule of special…
18/06/18
After what feels like an age of the GDPR looming on the horizon, the new data protection regime has finally been implemented into law. There is no grace period so those who handle data must be ready to hit the ground running. But what impact will the GDPR have on claims and those who process data for…
18/06/18
Contractors face £526,500 penalty for failure to plan work at height An employee fell through a fragile roof at a leisure centre and sustained six fractures to his back. A HSE investigation found that two contractors involved had failed to plan and manage the work at height risk. The…
18/06/18
This week the Courts Service has admitted that since introducing increased court fees in July 2016, claimants have been overcharged for issuing stage 3 proceedings. The overcharged Court fees will have been passed on to defendants or their insurers when stage 3 costs were subsequently claimed. The…
18/06/18
The House of Commons Justice Committee have examined the Small Claims limit for personal injury and have rejected the proposals to increase the small claims limit for personal injury claims from £1,000 to £2,000 and to £5,000 for road traffic accidents. The Justice Committee have…
01/06/18
Having been looming on the horizon since 2016, GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 are now in full force and effect. Insurers, claims handlers, loss adjustors, and solicitors all handle vast quantities and categories of personal data relating to claimants, defendants, witnesses, experts, their own…
24/05/18
Today, the Queen gave Royal Assent to the Data Protection Act 2018 , which was first announced in the Queen's Speech on the 21 st June 2017. The new act comes into effect on Friday 25 May 2018. The previous legislation - the Data Protection Act 1998, has served us well and placed the UK at the…
17/05/18
In recent months there has been extensive national and local press coverage discussing the state of the highway network and the number potholes. A harsh winter and reducing budgets has taken its toll in some areas. One person in Swindon has even taken to submerging dolls heads in potholes to attract…
17/05/18
Gilpin v Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Preston County Court On 21 st May 2016, the claimant alighted from a taxi, took a few paces and stumbled in a pothole falling onto her outstretched hand and suffered injury. The claimant brought a claim against the local authority under the…
17/05/18
Potts v Wigan Council District Judge Mornington - Wigan County Court The claimant alleged that he was running along the pavement outside his home in May 2013 when he tripped on a raised paving slab. The claimant fractured his ankle as a result of the fall. At trial, the claimant…
16/05/18
DHL fined £2m over death of an employee An employee died after he was trapped between a reversing lorry and a loading bay at the company's site in 2015. DHL admitted breaching s. 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was ordered to pay costs of £100,000…
16/05/18
In the case of Sally Woodward & Mark Addison v Phoenix Healthcare Distribution Limited the Court granted an order for retrospective alternative service of a claim form under CPR 6.15(2). The master found that the defendant's solicitors had breached their duty to further the overriding…
16/05/18
Sumner v Michael Colborne & Denbighshire County Council & Welsh Ministers (2018)[2018] EWCA Civ 1006 The Court of Appeal found that the highway authority did not owe a duty of care to highway users to cut back vegetation on land adjacent to the highway which interfered with drivers'…
16/05/18
Edward Wright v Satellite Information Services Ltd (2018)[2018] EWHC 812 (QB) A Judge had been entitled to conclude that, for the purposes of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 s.57 ("CJCA"), a claimant had not been fundamentally dishonest in relation to his personal injury claim…
09/04/18
Health & Safety Fine for Tree Climbing Fall Center Parcs UK has received a £250,000 fine and ordered to pay costs of £14,000 after an eight-year-old child fell from a tree and broke her wrist. The child was participating in an organised tree climbing class. Prior to the…
09/04/18
Universal Credit is the government's flagship reform of the benefits system. Universal Credit was introduced to simplify the benefit system but has proved to be unpopular with many. In this article we consider the implications for defendants and insurers who are responsible for re-paying social…
20/03/18
The Justice Secretary David Gauke has unveiled the Civil Liability Bill to Parliament. The bill includes reforms to clampdown on whiplash claims as well as changes to the way the personal injury discount rate is calculated for serious injuries. In a statement from the Ministry of Justice, Justice…
13/03/18
Gilpin v Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council DJ Hinchcliffe - Preston CC The claimant alleged that as she was crossing the road after alighting from a taxi, she tripped and stumbled in a pothole and fell onto her outstretched hand. The residential cul de sac was subject to an annual…
13/03/18
Mabb v English [2017] EWHC 3616 (QB) The Court has ruled that it is not an abuse of process for a claimant to file a notice of discontinuance to avoid possibly having to pay the defendant's costs. The claimant sought damages from the defendant for alleged clinical negligence. The…
13/03/18
It has been reported by the Motor Accidents Solicitors' Society that Ministry of Justice officials have confirmed that the government will implement the proposed reforms to the RTA system from April 2019, with personal injury reforms to be introduced at a later date. It is understood that the…
13/03/18
Barton (Appellant) v Wright Hassall LLP (Respondent) [2018] UKSC 12 The Supreme Court has confirmed that the rules of service apply to all litigants regardless of whether or not they are represented. The Facts Mr Barton acting as a litigant in person brought a negligence action…
13/03/18
Corstorphine (An Infant) v Liverpool City Council (2018)[2018] EWCA Civ 270 The Court of Appeal has provided further guidance on the application of QOCS. The court was asked to consider whether QOCS should apply to defendants added to proceedings after 1 April 2013 where the existing claim was…
06/02/18
The Claimant, aged 76 at the date of the accident, alleged that she sustained a personal injury after tripping over a base level barrier after collecting her grandchild from school. The school was partly under construction and base level barriers are generally used to segregate pedestrian walkways…
06/02/18
Wigan Council - DDJ Glassbrook - Wigan County Court A Claimant had her highways claim dismissed at trial after giving unconvincing evidence. The Claimant alleged that she was walking along a road one evening with her friend, when her right foot got stuck in a pothole. She pleaded that she…
06/02/18
Barnes v Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council A Judge dismissed a claim for personal injury after finding that the Claimant had failed to prove her claim. In April 2014, the Claimant alleged that she was walking home from the supermarket when she tripped on a defective grid and stubbed her…
06/02/18
Cook v Swansea City Council (2017) EWCA Civ 2142 The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal from an Appellant Claimant after his claim for damages in negligence and/or breach of duty under s2(2) of the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 was dismissed. The claim arose from an accident in…
06/02/18
Lord Keen of Elie QC has appeared before the House of Commons Justice committee to set out the government's agenda for personal injury reforms. This one off session was intended to explain: · the rationale and evidence supporting the Government's proposals for raising the…
06/02/18
London Organising Committee of the Olympic & Paralympic Games (In Liquidation) v Haydn Sinfield (2018)[2018] EWHC 51 (QB) The Court have set out the correct approach to applications to have a personal injury claim dismissed for fundamental dishonesty pursuant to s.57 Criminal Justice and…
06/02/18
Various Claimants v WM Morrisons Supermarket PLC 2017 EWHC3113 (QB) The High Court considered whether Morrisons supermarket ("the Defendant") was vicariously liable for an employee who intentionally disclosed personal details of staff on a file sharing website. The Facts On…
