Insurance in the Uk-what does it cover? (anyone heard of a claim)

[Matski]

I have had an e mail today from an insurance co reference a claim against a site for "tripping over a tree root" and it happened 3 years ago - this is the claim culture we now live in !!

The claim is not against my site just in case you thought it was - I have one for slipping on wet leaves !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aftre it had been raining for two days

Steve

Steve, I hope you are going to fight your corner on that. They are seriously reaching...

What is reasonable? For you to clear an entire forest of wet leaves?..

 

[JoseDominguez]

Bully, as the UKPSF head bod. How would I stand in suing the PA for letting me punch that telegraph pole so hard my hand broke in eight places?

I'm wondering if I should sue on the gorunds of using hard wood for telegraph poles, not putting up a 'do not punch' sign or for permitting someone to play when they knew fine well I was fairly unstable and knew where they lived?

It's all crap, then again, if I'd sued for all of my little 'accidents' I'd be laughing. Not my thing though.

 

[Matski]

Unfortunately these small-claims firms know that for most people it works out more cost-effective to simply settle than fight, given the potential cost of fighting. It dosn't mean the plaintiff is right though and or that their hick representatives could prove it. Everyone seems to think that they are automatically owed something to compensate their own stupidity...

 

[JoseDominguez]

The latest one is car insurance claims...... solicitors contact you if you've had an accident that wasn't your fault and take on the case, rather than your insurance company.
They only take it if it's going to be 'no contest' and it looks great on paper..... doesn't affect your no claims or anything.
I was speaking to a friend who drives a taxi last week, his wife was awarded £2,300 for whiplash after being a minor bump. They didn't have to claim at all. Which sounds great, until he got the final documents...... his £2,300 had cost £12,000 in legal costs which the other insurance company had forked over. (DIdn't cost him anything....... except when everyone's premiums start going up because of it).
Who ends up paying in the long run? the only winners are the solicitors who are making more work for themselves over nothing.

 

[Matski]

Jose, people will try anything these days. Just the other day I walked into B&Q and this harmless looking old man dressed in orange asked me if I "wanted decking?". Luckily I got the first punch in and walked away.

 

[SwissTony]

Jose, people will try anything these days. Just the other day I walked into B&Q and this harmless looking old man dressed in orange asked me if I "wanted decking?". Luckily I got the first punch in and walked away.

Groan

These injury lawyers are a hassle.
All the adverts say "no win, no fee" which isnt actually true.
If you lose, you still have to pay for the oppositions fees etc.

 

[flec]

Dont know how relivant this is, as well as my main job, I work part time in the youth service, for any activity we do, we have to do a hazard and risk assessment, basically list all the hazards and say how we would avoid them, so long as you follow your list you can say that you had done everything within your power to prevent the accident in the first place (see quote below)(then we would let the union fight it out )

Accidents do happen, and the law as I have hopefully outlined will not always find fault (negligence) with the accused party. In anycase, it is unlikely that signing waivers will protect anyone to a complete extent...lawyers are there to ensure that by picking away at whatever the waiver process was. The best protection is obviously to (as an organiser/site owner) take all measures to protect people from reasonably foreseeable harm (the extent of which is determined by the skill of the players), and (as a player)...use your (not so) common sense!!

common sense red tape and a good policy, all you need!

 

[PreacherMan]

the 'no win, no fee' brigade look at the cases first... and are only interested in the one's they know they are going to win by just submitting standard paperwork quickly rubber stamped ........... AND then take the lion share of the compensation...... easy licence to print money Nothings for free Boys and Girls...

They are manned by 100's of claim getters, hassling people at the shops and one solicitor to sign the paperwork.

the case which are borderline you would have to see a proper solicitor to act for you and pay wether you win or not....

 

[Bully]

Fighting

Yes the insurance companies are fighting both claims.

B&Q now that is funny !!

Steve

Jose - You could probably sue as there was not a sign saying "These telegraph posts are a possible health and safety hazard" - In fact what actually happened was that you accidentally ran into the post whilst trying to avoid a marshal (PA employee) who was in your way when you were attempting to exit the field after an altercation with a paintball - this is what your no win no fee company would have said - they would add that if the post had not been there you would have not been injured and therefore the PA are negligent because they put the post there, a member of staff directed you towards the post, there was not a hazard cone near the post and you were forced to wear a mask which prevented you from seeing the post - I estimate £10,000 plus costs

 

[Bully]

Claims

There was a claim against a paintball site because a player was bit by an insect - the claim made was that there should not be dangerous insects in the woods.

Another claim was made by a player who slipped in a muddy puddle - the claim company said the puddle should have been fenced and a yellow cone used to indicate a wet surface (same as in supermarkets when there is a wet floor)

This is why we pay insurance.

Anyone who knows me knows I have a bad knee which causes me to limp now and again - so in Rochdale where I live you run the gauntlet of claim companies, loan sharks and general "can I do a survey" people every time you walk down the main street. One day a young lad saw me limping and said "Looks like you have had an accident MATE!" Now I hate being called mate by someone I have never seen in my life before "No it is an injury that was self inflicted by playing rugby for 20+ years" - To which he said "Are you sure you didn't slip on the pavement as it is a wet day" - No - "If you say you slipped I will show you where you slipped and you will get about £5,000 minimum as the council don't fight claims" - No it is a self inflicted injury - "No such thing MATE it is a claim we have just got to decide who we can get the most money out of, so lets complete this form MATE and we will sort out the accident later" - Now if I was a person who was a bit short of cash, didn't have a job and easily influenced that form would have been completed and some poor company would have had a claim.

Mate you are barking up the wrong tree, I am not some fool who you can influence so you can get your £50 commission so crawl back down the drains where gutter scum belong - I thought this might do the trick but he said "We could get £10,000 if you said you hadn't worked for 6 months" so being more polite I told him to F*^% off.