Thank You Mr Minicab Driver

spen666

Finally got a cheque last night for the personal injury claim I made after my accident 12 months ago. ( delay partly due to me not pursuing claim in anything more than a slovenly manner).

the out of pocket expenses are still to be resolved, but that will be the spending money on the holiday the PI element is going to pay for.

Its well worth pursuing a PI claim after an accident- even if like me you are only relatively slightly injured.

antooony

Couldn't agree more and well done you for doing so. Im one for claiming. I came off my bike 10 years ago due to a very poor repair the council had done to a man hole cover in the middle of a marked cycle path. Basically they left the man hole cover raised and I came a cropper when I went over it in the rain and fractured my thumb. I claimed against them. Why not, I suffered due to neglegence on their part, I had to have time off work etc so why should I be out of pocket due someone elses mistake or carelessness.

Mine took 4 years though but was well worth it, I got quite a large payout due to the fact its 80% certain that in the future I will have arthiritis in my thumb and lose a lot of strength in it over the years.

SteveR_100Milers

Caution: Hot Contents!

Basically they left the man hole cover raised and I came a cropper when I went over it in the rain

Sympathise with genuine accidents due to others persons gross lack of care or negligence, but personally I look at the road ahead and avoid dangerous obstacles. We are increasingly becoming a blame culture, it's never my fault it's always someone elses. Nothing personal, but me and all the other forummers have had to cough up for your lack of riding skills

spen666

SteveR_100Milers wrote:

Caution: Hot Contents!

Basically they left the man hole cover raised and I came a cropper when I went over it in the rain

Sympathise with genuine accidents due to others persons gross lack of care or negligence, but personally I look at the road ahead and avoid dangerous obstacles. We are increasingly becoming a blame culture, it's never my fault it's always someone elses. Nothing personal, but me and all the other forummers have had to cough up for your lack of riding skills

There are often situations when it is difficult to see such defects in advance or to avoid them


The reality is that if the council did not believe they were liable, they would not have settled the claim/ nor would a court order compensation.

Additionally, by people taking action sch as this, it puts a financial pressure on the highway authority to maintain the road. if people did not take action against the council, the roads would be in a far worse condition

heavymental

How much hard cash did you get then?! :P

spen666

Heavymental wrote:

How much hard cash did you get then?! :P

When I get my internet connection in my offshore tax haven, I'll let you know!

Nah- enough for a bloody good holiday and a replacement bike

Bronzie

spen666 wrote:

The reality is that if the council did not believe they were liable, they would not have settled the claim/ nor would a court order compensation.

Is this true though? Don't local authorities generally not bother fighting "smaller" claims as the legal costs involved outweigh the cost of the claim?

cee

hmmmmm.

we have to be careful though... I agree if the council has genuinely neglected its duty of care by not fixing something properly, then it should compensate people who are hurt as a direct result..

On the other hand, look at America, where people have successfully sued companies because htey burned their mouth on a cup of coffee.

We certainly don't want the suing culture they have over there. (remember the west lothain roadie who tried to sue his clubmate for crashing into a ditch!)

Gavin Gilbert

Bronzie wrote:

spen666 wrote:

The reality is that if the council did not believe they were liable, they would not have settled the claim/ nor would a court order compensation.

Is this true though? Don't local authorities generally not bother fighting "smaller" claims as the legal costs involved outweigh the cost of the claim?

No, there was the well reported (including here!) case of The London Borough of Ealing defendiing a no-hoper and getting slapped down for it by the Judge.

In my experience Local Authorities tend to defend using sloth and stupidity rather than any basis in law. I've sued LBE twice and both times it's been years of banging my head against a wall.

Shadowduck

cee wrote:

On the other hand, look at America, where people have successfully sued companies because htey burned their mouth on a cup of coffee.

Slightly pedantic, but if you're referring to the case I'm thinking of*, she actually received third-degree burns requiring skin grafts and two years of treatment. Not quite as frivolous as people tend to make out.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled argument.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's_coffee_case - BBcode won't recognice this link properly because of the apostrophe, please cut & paste!

antooony

SteveR_100Milers wrote:

Caution: Hot Contents!

Basically they left the man hole cover raised and I came a cropper when I went over it in the rain

Sympathise with genuine accidents due to others persons gross lack of care or negligence, but personally I look at the road ahead and avoid dangerous obstacles. We are increasingly becoming a blame culture, it's never my fault it's always someone elses. Nothing personal, but me and all the other forummers have had to cough up for your lack of riding skills

I dont think thats fair to mention my supposed lack of 'riding skills'. This is the only major accident Ive ever had in many years of cycling an I can asure you that my riding skills are excellent, having ridden both road and off road bikes to a high standard esp in my younger days. Why should I suffer at the hands of someone elses incompetence. I'll also mention that the 'repair' was put right soon after my accident as I complained about the state of it. If the man hole cover had been flat then I would have ridden over it no problem as Ive done many times before without problem on others.

weedy1

antooony wrote:

SteveR_100Milers wrote:

Caution: Hot Contents!

Basically they left the man hole cover raised and I came a cropper when I went over it in the rain

Sympathise with genuine accidents due to others persons gross lack of care or negligence, but personally I look at the road ahead and avoid dangerous obstacles. We are increasingly becoming a blame culture, it's never my fault it's always someone elses. Nothing personal, but me and all the other forummers have had to cough up for your lack of riding skills

I dont think thats fair to mention my supposed lack of 'riding skills'. This is the only major accident Ive ever had in many years of cycling an I can asure you that my riding skills are excellent, having ridden both road and off road bikes to a high standard esp in my younger days. Why should I suffer at the hands of someone elses incompetence. I'll also mention that the 'repair' was put right soon after my accident as I complained about the state of it. If the man hole cover had been flat then I would have ridden over it no problem as Ive done many times before without problem on others.

ooooooo hit a nerve

just jokin' :!:

SteveR_100Milers

antooony wrote:

SteveR_100Milers wrote:

Caution: Hot Contents!

Basically they left the man hole cover raised and I came a cropper when I went over it in the rain

Sympathise with genuine accidents due to others persons gross lack of care or negligence, but personally I look at the road ahead and avoid dangerous obstacles. We are increasingly becoming a blame culture, it's never my fault it's always someone elses. Nothing personal, but me and all the other forummers have had to cough up for your lack of riding skills

I dont think thats fair to mention my supposed lack of 'riding skills'. This is the only major accident Ive ever had in many years of cycling an I can asure you that my riding skills are excellent, having ridden both road and off road bikes to a high standard esp in my younger days. Why should I suffer at the hands of someone elses incompetence. I'll also mention that the 'repair' was put right soon after my accident as I complained about the state of it. If the man hole cover had been flat then I would have ridden over it no problem as Ive done many times before without problem on others.

Possibly, and I did say it wasnt a personal critiscism in your particular accident, but I am in principle against the concept of blame culture. I take responsibility for my own actions, even when the consequences are sometimes influenced by others outside of my direct control. I agree though that there is a large fuzzy grey area between common sense and wilful or avoidable negligence....

spen666

cee wrote:

hmmmmm.

we have to be careful though... I agree if the council has genuinely neglected its duty of care by not fixing something properly, then it should compensate people who are hurt as a direct result..

On the other hand, look at America, where people have successfully sued companies because htey burned their mouth on a cup of coffee.

We certainly don't want the suing culture they have over there. (remember the west lothain roadie who tried to sue his clubmate for crashing into a ditch!)

I presume you are referring to the infamous McDonalds case- I doubt if you have read the judgement or the facts in that case! I being a sad individual have.

I understand the point you make re the sue for anything nature of the US, but that case in the US was one where if it had happened here, MDonalds would probagly have lost. They had been repeatedly warned by the relevant safety watchdogs re the temperature drinks were served at- they were to hot to drink and too hot for the containers they were served in. McDonalds ignored repeated warnings and the victim suffered serious injuries when the over hot coffee caused the container to leak its contents