Personal Injury Blogs Archive

To view our on-demand webinar on Hierarchy of Defendants in Road Traffic Accident Claims, click here. This is a brief guide to identifying the correct Defendant(s) in RTA claims. We will consider the position of the Defendant tortfeasor, the hierarchy of claims that can be brought against the tortfeasor’s insurer and when claims are correctly…

A recent decision of particular importance to those involved in claims against Highway Authorities – particularly such claims as engage the Authority’s duty under s. 41(1A) of the Highways Act 1980 (“the Act”) – is Smithson v (1) Lynn (2) North Yorkshire County Council [2020] EWHC 2517 (QB). HHJ Gosnell (sitting as a Deputy High Court…

The Court of Appeal’s decision in Diriye v Bojaj [2020] EWCA Civ 1400 is of significance to all civil practitioners, and credit hire practitioners in particular. It considered (i) the proper pleading of allegations of impecuniosity in credit hire cases, (ii) whether the Royal Mail “Signed For 1st Class” service is caught by the deeming provision…

In Needle v Swallowfield plc [2020] EWHC 2759 (QB), the High Court considered the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and reiterated that risk of injury is a context-specific question. The Court must have regard to the particular place of employment and the particular employees involved, including their training and experience, in deciding whether a workplace…

Adverse inferences are means by which at least an evidential burden can be placed on the Defendant’s side of the litigation fence. They can be drawn where there is a failure to call witnesses that are available or to adduce documents that should be available. In the personal injury arena, there have been efforts to…

The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (Remedial) Order 2020 (“the Order”) came into force on 6 October 2020. The effect of the Order is to extend the eligibility for bereavement damages under section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (“the Act”) to cohabiting partners, provided that such partners are able to satisfy the same criteria…

In Pegg v (1) Webb (2) Allianz Insurance plc [2020] EWHC 2095 (QB), Martin Spencer J overturned the trial judge’s finding that a personal injury claim arising from a road traffic accident was not fundamentally dishonest. To read the judgment, please click here. Pegg is the latest in a series of decisions where claims have…