Have you suffered an injury as a result of medical negligence? If so, it’s possible you’ll be able to make a claim for compensation. The only problem is, how are you going to pay for it? Solicitors’ and barristers’ fees, paying for expert witnesses, it all adds up! Luckily, there are a range of funding options available for medical negligence claims. We’ve highlighted the five main methods below.

Legal Aid

Despite the widely publicised cuts to legal aid funding, it is still available in some situations. To find out if you are eligible to claim legal aid, contact a solicitor. They will need some information from you, such as your income and expenses and those of your partner (if relevant), details of your savings and information about benefits you claim. A good solicitor should be happy to provide some initial advice free of charge.

Legal Expenses Insurance

Legal expenses insurance (LEI) is not designed to make direct payments towards your claim; instead, it covers you for costs like hiring an expert witness to testify to the severity of your injuries. It can also cover you for costs like solicitors’ and barristers’ fees. If you think this might be the best funding option for you, ask your solicitor for more information on how it works.

Number 3: Trade Union Funding

A Conditional Fee Agreement, also known as ‘no win, no fee’, is a situation in which you are not required to pay anything towards the cost of your medical negligence claim. Instead, if your case is successful your solicitor will claim all fees from the opposing side. Law firms tend to take cases on a conditional fee basis when the chance of winning is very strong; to find out if your case qualifies, contact a firm that offers ‘no win, no fee’ for a free consultation.

Trade Union Funding

Occasionally there are special terms available that will allow you to claim funding for a medical negligence claim from your trade union. Even if you are no longer a member of the union, if you were at the time when the negligence occurred you may still be able to fund your claim using this method. Your solicitor will be happy to make enquiries on your behalf, or you can contact your union directly.

Private Funding

If all else fails you may have to privately fund your medical negligence claim. If so, your solicitor will discuss rates in full with you before you decide whether or not to proceed, so you have a good idea of how much your claim will cost.

Once you’ve decided how to fund your medical negligence claim, you will need a solicitor capable of guiding you through the compensation claims process.

As clinical negligence solicitors, we hear some pretty horrific stories about negligent doctors, nurses and paramedics. However we would also like to stress, before launching into this list of some of the biggest claims in history, that the vast majority of medical professionals do a great job.

Whilst the vast majority of healthcare professionals do a fantastic job in a highly pressurised environment, from time to time mistakes are made, and their effects on patients can be catastrophic. Here’s our list of some of the biggest claims ever made by clinical negligence solicitors:

1) Kerstin Parkin, Compensation Awarded: 19 Million

The clinical negligence solicitors at Manchester’s JMW Solicitors successfully claimed 5.5 million for Baby Wesley and his family, after he developed irreversible Kernicterus following a complicated birth.

Mrs Parkin and her husband had planned to set themselves up as choreographers, allowing them to spend more time with their children, and therefore compensation was awarded to compensate the couple not only for Mrs Parkin’s brain damage, but also for their projected loss of earnings.

2) The Jeffers Family, Claim: $10 Million

Child H received substandard care at Princess of Wales hospital, Bridgend, and suffered severe brain damage as a result.

Child H was born in the breech position; the negligence of medical staff meant that he brain was starved of oxygen during birth, leading to brain damage. She is now unable to carry out simple tasks like walking unaided, talking and feeding herself.

3) The Jeffers Family, $10 Million

One of the biggest clinical negligence payouts in Californian history was awarded to the Jeffers family after their daughter had to have her feet, left hand and part of her right hand amputated.

Methodist Hospital in Sacramento made the family wait five hours before they were seen by a doctor, and during that time their daughter’s skin discolouration and fever got steadily worse. Eventually they were seen by a doctor, who identified her condition as an invasion of Streptococcus A bacteria. The huge payout will be placed in a trust for the Jeffers’ daughter, who was only a toddler at the time, and will provide her with a monthly income once she reaches the age of 18.

4) Baby Wesley, 5.5 Million

As the second of two twins delivered prematurely, Baby Wesley had an extremely low birth weight and, after being deprived of oxygen, developed irreversible Kernicterus and suffered a severe brain injury.

The clinical negligence solicitors at Manchester’s JMW Solicitors argued that his care had been negligent, alleging that the hospital failed to monitor Wesley’s bilirubin levels and also failed to take sufficient account of Wesley’s particular vulnerability to developing Kernicterus. Shortly before the case reached trial the hospital admitted its staff had behaved negligently. The case was settled and Wesley received a total of 5.5 million compensation.

Contact a Clinical Negligence Solicitor

If you or a member of your family has suffered as a result of clinical negligence, you may be able to claim financial compensation for your injuries. Call the expert clinical negligence solicitors at JMW to discuss a potential claim on 0845 872 6666 or visit the firm’s website at http://www.jmw.co.uk/

Road accidents involving city buses have seen a rise in publicity over the last couple of months as it’s been revealed a large number of passengers are deciding to pursue legal action by making personal injury claims.

Earlier this year was reports of a tragic incident in which a Double Decker bus overturned outside the Central Station in Belfast. Out of the 35 injured in the accident, the driver was badly injured and had to be rescued by emergency services, and 30 other passengers had to be treated at the scene. Last month it was also confirmed that 26 of those who suffered injuries are now seeking compensation by submitting personal injury claims.

A month later another story made headlines after an innocent bus passenger has decided to take legal action seeking personal injury compensation after being left paralysed by a lorry collision with the bus he was travelling on. David Horsefield, 38, was thrown to the ground when trying to leave the bus as a lorry collided with the vehicle in Sheffield, back in 2009. Reports claim he is seeking compensation worth to be around a six figure sum, however, as with nearly all road accident claims; it appears both parties are currently disagreeing on an overall amount.

There are some key factors which can affect the amount of compensation you receive from making a personal injury claim. These include your age, the seriousness of your injury, how long it take for you to recover and whether the accident has left you disabled as a result.

The amount of compensation which you receive from making a personal injury claim is usually considered by assessing several key factors. These include the seriousness of the injury, how long it takes to recover, the age of the victim and whether the injuries leaves the victim disabled as a result.

The assessment of compensation also considers two categories when each personal injury claim is put forward. The first is general damages which includes the amount of pain and suffering the incident has caused preventing you from continuing everyday tasks as well as sports and hobbies which you can no longer partake in a result. Secondly is special damages which includes the amount of losses that actually occur during the time of an injury which includes loss of earnings from work, potential medical expenses, travel expenditure and help around the home.

Holidays are a time for relaxation and enjoyment, whether it is a long vacation or a short break away a holiday should be always be pleasant experience. However, when an accident occurs on a holiday it turns into a stressful and expensive vacation. In many cases where holiday accidents happen, the injured can establish a holiday accident claim to help with the cost of medical and other expenses incurred. Holiday accident claims can be started for a number of different circumstances that happen abroad including car accidents, accidents in the hotel, or even aircraft accidents.

In majority of cases, the injured part can receive compensation for their accident to help cover the cost of medical bills and other expenses that have occurred as a result of the accident. There may be numerous reasons as to why people make a holiday accident compensation claim. The most common incidents may include: car accidents, accidents in the hotel, or even aircraft accidents.

The key element to filing a holiday accident compensation claim is proving that the accident was not the fault of the injured party. This may include an individual responsible for a car accident, or a hotel or public place responsible for poor upkeep of their property. Holiday accident claims can be quite difficult to handle because they often take place aboard. It is very important to urgently contact a holiday accident claim solicitor to insure that the claim is correctly handled and filed for compensation.

All accident claims require documentation that supports how the accident came about and what the results of the accident were. The documentation should include photographs of the scene, medical reports or eye witness testimony. It is also important that the event is immediately reported to the proper authorities, whether that is the hotel staff or the local law enforcement.

Holiday accident compensation claims can be more successful when the holiday was purchased as part of a package, for instance a flight and hotel combination. Even though the claim may have happened out of state or out of the country, it will be handled in the jurisdiction where the claimant lives.

Personal injury can be simple injuries or it can be serious injuries caused by a careless party. If the latter is the situation, intervention of any court should be sought by the person who has been gravely injured by a careless person. Success in any court action depends on the qualifications and ability of the lawyer handling the case. A careless party can be a motor vehicle driver, an employer or a medical practitioner.

Cases of doctors who have given wrong diagnosis to patients are rampant in the medical world. In some situations, a patient is forced by a surgeon to undergo a wrong type of surgery. If a patient takes wrong medicine or is treated with a wrong treatment procedure, he may die or get serious complications. In such instances, the patient has the right to seek full monetary compensation from the doctor who gave him wrong diagnosis.

If the machines of a company are not well maintained, employees can be injured any time. The duty of maintaining machines is the employer’s duty. Therefore, the employer is fully responsible for injuries employees get while using machines that are not well maintained. An employer is required to take some policies that cover all employees while they are working. Monetary compensation to injured workers will come from the contributions that have been made over time to an insurance company.

A particular disability can be the result of the careless actions of a reckless motorist. Reckless driving involves driving under the influence of alcohol or driving without observing the road carefully. Such driving will cause the reckless driver to be sued. Anybody afflicted by the actions of a reckless driver has a right to sue such a driver.

The insurer who receives premiums from a motor vehicle owner will pay all innocent third parties who have been disabled due to his client’s mistake. The mistake in most road accidents normally lies with car drivers. Due to this, it is mandatory in most jurisdictions that vehicle owners have insurance that covers all third parties. Third parties referred in car insurance are pedestrians and passengers.

So as to win in a law court, a lawyer is needed. A lawyer who has broad knowledge on this niche should be contracted. Before entering into a contractual agreement with any lawyer, the lawyer’s level of education must be checked. So as to practice, a solicitor is required to have a basic law degree and a certificate that shows he has passed local bar examinations.

A lawyer will file one’s case in a court of law. After a case is filled, it will be assigned a hearing date. During the hearing date, material facts related to a case will be presented. After the hearing date, a case will drag on for some weeks. The judge will rule on a case, once he has been convinced that all material facts related to the case has been presented by both parties.

Personal injury in the legal world is defined as permanent disability caused by another person’s carelessness. The person responsible for the disability can be one’s personal doctor or in some cases an irresponsible driver. Monetary damages will be awarded by a judge after hearing the different arguments of a case.

A number of accidents every year are caused by a friend’s negligence and lack of care that could be avoided. Many of these accidents will result in serious injuries and can go unnoticed when the victim doesn’t want to lose a friend and decides to suffer in silence. However it is extremely unfair for these victims that are liable to high medical expenses and loss of earnings if they are unable to work when they have been involved in an accident that wasn’t their fault.

Most of the accidents that happen through a friend’s lack of care are road traffic accidents. Car accidents can result in very serious injuries and if the victim wasn’t driving it is more than likely the fault of their friend who was driving. When a serious injury occurs the victim may be unable to work, when this happens and they have high medical fees to cover they can quickly fall into financial difficulty.

The compensation generally won’t be made against the friend personally; their insurance should cover the expenses and damages that the injury has caused. While their insurance premium will increase it is important to understand that when suffering an injury, the victim shouldn’t suffer if financial problems if it wasn’t their fault.

When driving passengers a driver has a duty of care to drive safely. If a driver does not take care when on the road they may be negligent and liable for damages and expenses incurred by the passengers. This liability is why compensation should be claimed as a victim of accident shouldn’t suffer the consequences for another person’s actions.

When an accident does occur and the victim is injured it is essential that they seek legal advice immediately. While many people fear they may lose a friend it is important to remember that a friend shouldn’t expect you to be faced with high medical fees and loss of earnings if they were at fault when the accident happened.