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The most common form of personal injury often heard about is those experienced through being involved in a vehicle accident. Whiplash and the consequences of this is one of the more difficult to diagnose as there are unscrupulous people who will feign such illness just to get a claim. However there are many more types of persona injury which require much more attention as these claims are not always straightforward or produce instant or obvious physical damage.
People are often harmed by contact with dangerous or defective products – E.g. Children’s toys may be unsafe for normal play and your child will be cut. You may suffer an accident from a home tool or machine which was not correctly constructed or substandard – E.g. a D.I.Y tool may malfunction and you could have permanent damage to a finger or even loss of part of a limb. If you or your family are unfortunate to be one of these victims you will qualify to proceed with a personal injury claim.
However this procedure is not quite as straightforward as a car accident claim where there will already be insurance policies in place. For this type of claim you will have to ask for legal advice as how to proceed, this particular instance is commonly referred to as a product liability claim.
There are four types of personal areas where you may become injured through no fault of your own:
- Consumer products e.g. food, water
- Medicines and other pharmaceuticals not prescribed by a doctor e.g. dietary aids bought over the counter or online
- Faulty products often mass produced e.g. toys, home fitness or DIY products such as drills, bench saws, hedge trimmers etc.
- Bio-mechanical Devices – e.g. Orthopaedic aids, implants, silicone implants DePuy Hips Time
Limits for making your claim:
It is also important to realise that e.g. in the UK there are time limits set by law; to the time after which the accident/personal injury has occurred in that you are able to make a personal injury claim. This is 3 years but there are exceptions to this time limit for claiming compensation for specific types of claim. An example of this is when a person may have been working with asbestos and many years after is diagnosed with asbestosis. The rule here still applies but in this case the claim must be made within 3 years of the official medical diagnosis of the disease. It is advisable to ask solicitors for legal advice for any type of claim especially in the wake of new medical evidence constantly being produced about the dangers of handling what used to be classed as harmless products but now are known to be dangerous to long term health.Injured outside the UK?
The laws differ from country to country as to when or if you are entitled to make a personal injury claim. Health and Safety regulations also differ and travelling or living in any country means you must become aware of the laws for injury claims of that country. Holidaying abroad you will be covered to some extent for some personal injury in your travel insurance however it is not always adequate and must be checked. In the case of actually being injured you must immediately contact a legal authority both in the country you have been injured and in your home country to avoid the risk of losing your right to a personal injury claim.
