From 1 October 2018, assuming the government’s proposed personal injury reforms pass through Parliament, the small claims limit for personal injury claims will be £2,000 or £5,000 for whiplash claims.
If you have been involved in any kind of accident such as a road traffic accident, a trip or slip in a pubic place, a trip or slip on property you were a visitor to or had an accident at work, the new rules on compensation may make it more difficult for you to find a specialist personal injury solicitor to accept your claim.
If you have had an accident in the last two years and have not yet submitted a claim for personal injury compensation, call MJV & Co Solicitors today on 1253 858 231 or e-mail info@mjvlaw.co.uk to begin your personal injury claim today.
by MJV&Co
Many of our small business clients have benefited from taking advantage of our free employment contract review service.
If you have a standard form contract and fewer than 20 employees we will review your contracts and policies without charge and provide you with our opinion n what, if any, changes to the contracts and any accompanying policies we recommend. If you decide to proceed based on our advice, we will provide you with a fixed quote to undertake the work and we will never bill you more than that for the work.
Lots of firms make monthly payment to Human Resources companies, but if you were to assess the true cost of this for your business, you will probably find that you are overpaying and would be better served having an employment law solicitor acting for you.
For more information call us today on 01253 858 231 or e-mail info@mjvlaw.co.uk
by MJV&Co
Earlier this year thermal imaging company, IRT undertook a survey of 250,000 properties to assess the effectiveness of cavity wall insulation.
The outcome was that was around a quarter of those properties surveyed were not obtaining any benefit from the cavity wall insulation and, in some cases, saw bills rise rather than fall.
An article in the Daily Mail reports that some 6,000,000 homes in the U.K. have had cavity wall insulation installed and so as many as 1,500,000 properties will see no benefit from the installation.
A survey of 250,000 properties by thermal-imaging company IRT found the addition of cavity wall insulation to existing homes had failed to work in a quarter of cases and problems in half the homes it surveyed. Some owners even saw bills rise.
Despite this, the Cavity Wall Insulation Guarantee Agency (‘CIGA’) claim that satisfaction rates among those who submit claims are up. In our experience, this could not be further from the truth. Claims against CIGA are rarely dealt with to the satisfaction of the homeowner and those affected by mould, damp and compensation caused by cavity wall insulation are being let down.
At MJV & Co Solicitors, we provide expert legal advice and assistance for victims of cavity wall insulation. If you have mould, damp or condensation on your walls and have cavity wall insulation fitted, there is a very good chance, especially if there was no such issue prior to the installation, that the cavity wall insulation is the cause of the problem. Removing it will help prevent further problems, but we can assist you in having the damage repaired and your home returned to the condition it was in prior to the installation.
In most cases we are able to offer cavity wall insulation claim representation under no win no fee agreements. To get your claim started or for more information call us today on 01253858 231 or email info@mjvlaw.co.uk
by MJV&Co
A report recently published by the Middlesex University business school claims that workers are losing £1.3bn a year in holiday pay.
Many self employed workers or those on contracts of very few, or perhaps zero, guaranteed hours are not aware of their rights. It is workers, and not employees, who are entitled to legal protections including holiday pay.
The recent Uber judgment, which is subject to an appeal to be heard later in 2017, confirmed a legal distinction between self employed workers and the genuine self employed person. A worker would be a hair dresser treated as self employed and responsible for their own tax affairs, but who rents a chair from a salon and relies on that salon and its clients for work. A self employed hair dresser would offer their services to the wider public including advertising and so forth so as they were not primarily reliant on the salon or any other sole source of work to continue to earn.
The self employed worker would be entitled to be paid holiday pay whereas the genuine self employed person would not.
There are numerous industries that often use contracts of ‘self employment’ to avoid various legal obligations including holiday pay. Others include the call centre industry and the construction industry.
If you are considered self employed, but receive your primary income from one business either now or at any time within the last year, we may be able to assist you on a no win no fee basis to recover the holiday pay you were entitled to and deprived of.
Call MJV & Co Solicitors today on 01253 858 231 or e-mail info@mjvlaw.co.uk
by MJV&Co
When the government “consulted” on reforms to whiplash claims, the only people they really listened to were insurance companies.
The number of claims is already on the way down. The last round of reforms have not yet properly taken effect and yet, rather than monitor their success, they have sought to significantly reduce the level of compensation to be paid for whiplash claims and, essentially, eliminate legal costs from the claims altogether.
Insurers have a vested interest in these claims being stamped out. They have already backtracked on the amount of saving that can be expected for the average motorist and we can safely assume there will be no genuine saving when the reforms are finally implemented.
Anyone who has suffered from whiplash following a road traffic accident will know that it has a serious and detrimental effect on your life. You have reduced sleep and the sleep that you do get is of an inferior quality. It affects your work, your social life and your general well being, which is why the Courts and the Judicial Studies Board have set compensation at the appropriate levels for decades.
A Claimant who suffered a 12 month whiplash injury, using the current scale, would receive up to £3,630 in general damages (personal injury compensation). Following the forthcoming whiplash reforms, the same injured party would receive £1,190.
During the last wave of reforms to the industry, legal costs were reduced and Claimants now normally pay 25% of their personal injury compensation to their solicitor who receives a small amount (comparatively to previous levels anyway) from the insurer of the at fault vehicle. From October 2018, they will receive nothing from the insurer and so costs will be limited to 25% of the compensation received. This will inevitably lead to the closure of dozens of specialist personal injury firms and or claims being run by unqualified staff at Claims Management Companies as happens now with claims for mis-sold PPI.
All we at MJV & Co can hope for is that the government sees sense and retreats from its position on whiplash and personally reforms to ensure that injured members of the public are adequately compensated for the pain and suffering they endure through no fault of their own. Surely this is better for the greater good than increased profits for insurers.
by MJV&Co
In October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force. Many readers will be familiar with the Sale of Goods Act and the Supply of Goods and Services Act, but the new legislation enhanced and improved upon the rights these provided.
Most companies providing goods and services have not changed their guarantees to match the new rights and so, as always, knowledge is power.
The New Rights
If you purchase goods in the UK and they are proven faulty within 30 days of purchase, you are entitled to a refund. The retailer must refund your monies within 14 days of you rejecting the goods.
Outside of the initial 30 days, you must allow the retailer one opportunity to repair the goods and they must do so within a reasonable period of time. If the goods are still faulty, you are entitled to request a refund up to six months from the date of purchase. The period where the retailer has the gods in for repair is not included as this stops the six month clock.
After six months you are still entitled to ask for a repair or replacement, but the retailer is permitted to make a reasonable deduction from the refunded price to make an allowance for the time you have had the use of the product.
Digital Purchases
If you buy goods online, you already have enhanced protections for purchasing goods under the EU’s Distance Selling Regulations and these offer more protection than even the new Consumer Rights Act. However, for the first time, digital downloads, e-books and the like are covered by the legislation.
Second Hand Goods
If you purchase second hand goods from a company, but not a private individual, you are covered by the act. This would also cover a sole trader who sold cars or similar. This ensures that if you make a significant second hand purchase you have the same protections as someone buying a similar item from new.
Services
The Act requires that providers of all services must be provided with reasonable care after consultation with the customer. If you believe that this is not so, you are entitled to ask the provider to put it right or give you a refund.
What if they refuse me my rights?
We are currently acting for clients in this very position. Retailers are often ignorant of the law at store level and blindly follow the refunds and exchanges policies that are set by their head offices and, in many cases, these breach customers rights under the new legislation.
If you believe your rights as a consumer have been breached since October 2015, call us today for a free, no obligation discussion of your problem on 01253 858 231 or e-mail info@mjvlaw.co.uk
by MJV&Co
Being involved in a road traffic accident can be very stressful and upsetting, but when you are struck by a van as a cyclist only for the driver to flee the scene it can have a terrible effect on the victim.
We acted for Miss B who was cycling on a road with parked cars on either side. She proceeded very carefully as there was a large van coming, but as the van passed her the driver came too close and the mirror of the van collided with her causing her to fall from her bicycle and suffer injuries including a fractured toe.
The driver failed to stop and Miss B was concerned that she would be denied justice, but at MJV & Co we have many years of experience in handling claims against the Motor Insurers Bureau who deal with such claims under their uninsured drivers’ scheme. The scheme has a variety of rules and requirements that, if breached, entitle the MIB to reject them and deny Claimants compensation.
We were able to recover personal injury compensation and all her loses such as lost earnings and taxi fares while she was unable to ride her bicycle.
If you r someone you know has been injured in a road traffic accident, especially when the driver and their vehicle is untraced, have MJV & Co on your side. Call us today on 01253 858 231 or e-mail info@mjvlaw.co.uk
by MJV&Co
The Taylor report was published today and the response has been rather negative from employment lawyers.
The purpose of the inquiry was to come up with suggestions as to how current laws can be simplified to better protect workers with special attention being paid to those working within the “gig economy”. This is comprised of short term or zero hour employment contracts rather than secure, permanent jobs.
His primary suggestions are, according to City A.M.:
Businesses should be transparent as to how they employ people and provide detail of how many zero hour contracts they offer and who is classed as working within which employment status;
A worker’s employment status should be determined before a case proceeds to the Employment Tribunal and the burden of proof will be on the employer to disprove a Claimant employee’s claimed employment status. However, there is little detail on this and it is unclear what mechanism there will be to determine this prior to a tribunal hearing and more clarity is required;
The term worker should be defined as a dependent contractor to make it clearer that the self-employed who rely primarily on one business for their income are included, although the report warns that this change should be enacted in a way that does not harm those who benefit from the current system;
Use data to calculate the cost of each job. This suggestion involves an employer being required to analyse data they hold to calculate the average length of a task, how many tasks per hour a worker could reasonably be expected to undertake and monitor whether that worker is receiving the national minimum wage. If they are not, they will be required to top up the worker’s income to the minimum wage;
Abolish the loophole that allows agency workers to be paid less than permanent ones; and
Make the National Insurance changes proposed and then scrapped by the Chancellor to ensure parity between the N.I. paid by the employed and the self-employed.
Time will tell whether the proposals will be implemented and, if they are, whether they go far enough. Publishing the details of zero hour contracts to, seemingly, attempt to name and shame employers may have some impact, but in the writer’s view not enough. Workers on zero hour contracts are entitled to holiday pay calculated with reference to the number of hours worked on average rather than the hours within their contract, but few workers who work under such agreements have the confidence and job security to insist upon this if it places their job and income at risk.
More needs to be done to protect workers from unfair treatment and dismissal, exploitation in terms of holiday pay and sick pay and employers not paying the minimum wage. Perhaps, though, for now, it is for the lawyers to ensure that correct advice on the protections they do have is provided to as many workers as possible so they have the tools and the knowledge to stand up for their rights.
by MJV&Co
Our client, Mr N, was badly injured when he fell over a hazard caused by a property owner’s failure to adequately maintain his property and so he brought a claim against his public liability insurance for damages. These are often known as trip and slip claims.
He instructed another local firm of solicitors who claimed to specialise in personal injury, but after three years of acting for him, and on the eve of the deadline for issuing court proceedings, they informed him that they did not believe his claim would be successful and so would be closing their file. Mr N contacted us and we reviewed his case before corresponding with the insurers in a way that gave them little choice but to settle.
It is only with true expertise in a field that you can have the confidence to take on, and win, public liability personal injury claims.
Within three months of being instructed, Mr N was in receipt of a payment of £18,000 in personal injury compensation and loss of earnings payments. He said, “I was very frustrated at the lack of progress with my claim and was shocked when my previous solicitor wanted to close it. I knew that I had a good claim and believed I should be compensated, but I did not have the right person in my corner. From the moment Michael at MJV & Co Solicitors took over the case I had full confidence in him. He came up with a plan on how to settle it and it worked. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him and his firm to anyone.”
Mr N added, “If you are not happy with the solicitor dealing with your trip and slip claim, instruct Michael. You won’t regret it.”
If you have been injured injured in a public place through the negligence or breach of duty of someone else, whether you have already instructed a solicitor or not, call us on 01253 858 231 or e-mail info@mjvlaw.co.uk today to see how we can help you.
by MJV&Co
Uber have been granted permission to appeal a landmark Employment Tribunal decision that provided that their “self employed” drivers were workers entitled to protection under Minimum Wage, sick pay and Working Time legislation.
The decision meant that thousands of Uber drivers and, potentially, tens of thousand of workers employed under similar terms could claim back pay and unpaid holiday or sickness pay against the taxi app company.
The appeal will be heard in September at the Employment Appeals Tribunal in London and is scheduled to last two days.
If the California based company’s appeal is rejected, it could be a significant decision for workers in other industries, such as construction, hairdressing and call centres (to name but a few) in addition to the taxi industry.
If you are self-employed, but primarily provide your services to one business you may be entitled to holiday pay and sick pay following the outcome of the appeal.
MJV & Co Solicitors can assist you in making a claim to recover the unpaid sums and in many cases no win no fee is available. Call Michael Vincent today on 01253 858231 or e-mail info@mjvlaw.co.uk
