Please find below 10+
Important FACTS on Compensation Advice
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Compensation facts and figures - Who pays?
Civil compensation is awarded by the courts where injury or illness has resulted
from employment, where the employer has been negligent and the employer could
haveforeseen the
harmful effects of that negligence. The payout will be reduced if the court
decides you were partly to blame through "contributory negligence." There are
about 100, 000 successful personal injury settlements each year, normally paid by
the insurer providing employers' liability insurance.
LIFE AND LIMB - Strain injuries: Iona Hotchkiss was awarded £538, 000 damages
for career-ending neck injuries caused by bad workstation design
(Hazards72). Abad keyboard led to RSI
and a £243, 792 payout for bank worker Fiona Conalty. Graphic designer
Michelle Gould’s computer mouse-related strains led to a £25, 000 payout and
a pair of dodgy bellows caused PSC member David Herbert’s tennis elbow,
leading to a£10, 000 settlement (Hazards68).
Big sums: The civil court calculates the size of the payout, made up of
"pecuniary losses" (lost past and potential earnings, medical expenses etc) and
the harder to calculate "non-pecuniary losses" (for the pain, suffering and loss
of amenity (PSLA)), based on published "JSB Guidelines". No crime: UK
compensation payments contain no punitive element,
even though a civil court settlement for a workplace injury or disease can only
be awarded where employer negligence has been demonstrated.
Paying the right price, a February 2000 TUC report, called for punitive damages
to be added to compensation awards, something also supported in a 1997 Law
Commission report. .
Union pay off: Unions win the lion's share of personal injury compensation
payouts. They consistently settle claims worth over £300 million a year - £320
million in 1999. The latest TUC figures show that well over 50, 000 union cases
are settled each year – over half of the annual total - with an average payout
of £6, 150, well above the level for all claims.
Union members, meanwhile, pay an average of just £6 per year to receive this
legal back-up. Information Guidelines for the assessment of general damages in
personal injury cases. Fifth edition. (the 'JSB guidelines'). Judicial Studies
Board. Blackstone Press. ISBN 1 84174 031 4. July 2000. £19.50. Trade Union
Trends survey. Focus on services to injury victims. TUC, December 2000. £30.00.
Paying the right price. Compensation for workplace injuries. TUC, February 2000.
WHAT'S IT WORTH? You think you are worth more dead than alive? Well, you might
be worth less than you think, either living or dead. It is hardly a fair system.
A stockbroker with a broken arm could feasibly end up with more compensation
than a building worker with a broken neck. This can happen because personal
injury compensation is decided by the civil courts and is intended to provide
recompense for what the victim has lost. It is not intended to provide justice.
The full award in all cases would be the pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA)
sum plus 'pecuniary damages' based on financial losses.
PSLA guide: Up to £33, 000 for severe, permanent, disabling asthma, with
severe impairment of social, physical and employment prospects. Down to no
more than £2, 500 for mild asthma, bronchitis, colds and chest problems that
resolve in a few months. Mesothelioma, lung cancer or asbestosis: The family
of hospital consultant James Emerson received £1.15million following his
death from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma.
The widow of UNISON member Kenneth Lord received £100, 000 following his
death from the same condition. June Hancock, who developed mesothelioma
after living near a T&N asbestos factory, was awarded £65, 000 in 1995, dying
less than two years later, aged 61 (Hazards 60).
LOSE YOUR SENSES Deafness/tinnitus: The number of industrial deafness claims are
falling but still dominate compensation payouts, making up two-thirds of all
industrial disease claims. Over 20, 000 cases were settled in 1998, most for
under £5, 000. Acoustic shock: In the biggest claim to date, BT operator, David
Stonier, was awarded £93, 000 for the condition (Hazards72). PSLA guide: Total
deafness, up to £70, 000; slight or occasional tinnitus with slight hearing loss,
£3, 750. Eye injuries: £135, 000 for total blindness, falling to £1, 000 for a
transient eye injury. Loss of taste and smell: £70, 000.
Q: What is a plaintiff and a defendant?
A: The real question is "Who is a plaintiff?" A plaintiff is the term used
to describe a person who brings a lawsuit (usually a civil suit, as opposed
to a criminal lawsuit which is usually brought by a prosecutor).
A defendant is someone who has been sued.
Content Courtesy:
www.hazards.org/compensation.pdf |
http://legal-personal-injury-gw.blogspot.com/
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