Lawford Kidd's Blog

The Law Society has criticised the government following their proposal to raise the small claims limit for personal injury claims to £5,000 and stop compensation payments for road traffic accidents and other such injuries.

The society has been critical of the changes as it believes that the system will result in unfair legal action as those who are entitled to and need compensation will be unable to obtain it.

Change to Small Claims Limit

The changes, which were announced in the Autumn Statement, saw Chancellor George Osborne raise the small claims limit and scrap damages for ‘minor’ soft tissue injuries. The government proposals would also see the removal of legal costs by transferring personal injury claims of up to £5,000 to the small claims court.

Whilst the office Christmas party is supposed to be full of fun, the combination of bad weather, alcohol and space not designed for partying can lead to workplace accidents. This post looks at a number of accidents that can occur in the workplace and gives you some tips as to when you will be able to make a claim for a workplace injury.

Insurers have recently revealed that drivers of luxury cars cause more road traffic accidents than their less flashy counterparts. The Smart car, meanwhile, has lived up to its name by causing statistically the fewest accidents of all drivers. But no matter what type of car you drive, whether it’s a Micra or a Rolls-Royce, if you’re injured in a road traffic accident that wasn’t you fault, you’re entitled to compensation for the loss you’ve suffered as a result.

In this blog post, we take a look at why luxury car drivers may cause more accidents and how to make a road traffic accident claim should you be injured in an accident.

Luxury Cars and Road Traffic Accidents, UK

The data produced by MoneySuperMarket analysed over 11.3 million car insurance quotes run on the site between July 2014 and June 2015. The result showed that Lexus owners were responsible for 111 accident fault claims per 1000 drivers, compared to Smart car drivers, at the top of the table, who reported fault in only 78.6 accidents.

A new study has revealed that luxury vehicles are more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents than Smart cars and other similar models.

According to the latest data, Smart cars have the lowest "at fault" insurance claim rate out of any model. Between July 2014 and June 2015, vehicles such as the Smart car only registered 78.6 at fault claims per 1,000 drivers. This is in stark contrast to drivers of high-end cars such as Lexus, who had a 111 fault claims per 1,000 road users.

Other high-end luxury brands such as Land Rover and Audi were some of the worst performing in the study, with 110.1 and 105.2 at fault claims per 1,000 drivers respectively. The survey, from Moneysupermarket, analysed over 11.3 million car insurance quotes from the last year and shed some light into the driving habits of drivers.

A new guide has been published by construction experts to encourage better management at construction sites and reduce the number of accidents on construction sites.

It is hoped that not only will the guide reduce the number of accidents, but also minimise the number of occupational diseases that affect hundreds of construction workers every week.

Workplace Accidents and Occupational Illness: Construction UK

Despite numerous efforts from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and safety campaigners, the construction industry is still a dangerous sectors to work in the UK with one of the highest numbers of fatal and serious accidents each year. Sadly a large number of these accidents are as a result of poor management and a failure to comply with health and safety guidance.