Putting in a claim

sanaxe1 · 15 Dec 2006 at 20:04

go for it mate. Look at it this way you could be saving a life in the future and getting money for it

i know nothing · 15 Dec 2006 at 20:18

AcidHell2 said:
So he's financially out, pain killers, inconvenience what ever, the collage new the problem and ignored it and you think there's no reason to claim. I agree there's far to many claims these days, however this one is reasonable.

If he wants to teach them a lesson and get the problem rectified he needs to let them know and give them a chance. He can use his threat of making a claim to make sure they do the right thing and get it fixed.

Why is he financially "out" if he is at college? Presumably he is a student and there is no case of loss of earnings?

He takes a few painkillers and walks away.

Why do you think this particular case is reasonable?

LukeT · 15 Dec 2006 at 22:55

Right i've spoken to a solicitor, given my account of the incident and what witnesses i have. They're writing to me over the weekend with a ref number and stuff and i've been told to get pics of the stairs and send them in so that they can see if theres a claim. I also have to seek out the sercurity bloke that witnessed it and provide contact details for him and my mate.

Luke

-Mike- · 15 Dec 2006 at 23:04

AcidHell2 said:
So he's financially out, pain killers, inconvenience what ever, the collage new the problem and ignored it and you think there's no reason to claim. I agree there's far to many claims these days, however this one is reasonable.

The college pay EMA

I'm sure that £30 covers the pain killers. I agree they should have fixed it, but you milking them for money over it isn't going to help them.

beamer · 16 Dec 2006 at 00:10

Mohinder said:
Technically, but he could also stop being a whinger, and just say 'oh, I fell over and hurt myself' and get on with his life.

Why should the college give him money?

Do you think someone should immediately run out and mop every stair in the country the second it stops raining?

Or should you just open your eyes and try and not fall over?

People always try and put blame on someone else and get money out of them for everything, it makes me sick.

He fell over, he should just get over it.

Afraid I have to agree here. You had my support up to the point that you basically said you were a student, so no legal costs whatever happens.

The legal system works fairly, effectively and efficiently when people take a risk of having to bear the legal costs - this helps to ensure that only people who feel sufficiently / significantly impacted / affected or feel sure enough that they are in the right and will obtain a favorable judgment, attempt legal action. When there is no risk, frivolous claims are made.

Are there banisters on these stairs ?

Did you use them ?

Did you watch where you were stepping as you used the stairs ?

You say - "The stairs are actually metal not concrete like the rest of the campus and it seems they are an accident blacksopt." - so you recognise that they are more dangerous - so did you use these stairs more carefully knowing this ?

What did your mate do differently ?

My take - tell the college you will make a claim if the anti-slip items are not fitted to the stairs within a reasonable period of time. Then, and only, make a claim, if nothing is done after the reasonable period of time has passed - from the amount awarded, take your real costs, and give any remaining amount charity. Above all, learn a lesson - tread more carefully on wet stairs.

[TW]Fox · 16 Dec 2006 at 00:14

Pathetic. It was raining, the stairs were metal. Does it really take a rocket scientist to think 'Could be a tat slippy here?'

Take responsibility for your own actions, or better still get yourself to specsavers. The world is a harsh place, can't go wrapping everyone up in cotton wool becuase they can't be bothered to think 'rain = wet, wet + metal = slippy'.

We live in the UK. It rains. Stuff gets wet. Deal with it.

i know nothing · 16 Dec 2006 at 07:33

This thread was never about "should I claim?", it was all about "how can I get some money?". :rolleyes:

dirtydog · 16 Dec 2006 at 08:45

[TW]Fox said:
Pathetic. It was raining, the stairs were metal. Does it really take a rocket scientist to think 'Could be a tat slippy here?'

Take responsibility for your own actions, or better still get yourself to specsavers. The world is a harsh place, can't go wrapping everyone up in cotton wool becuase they can't be bothered to think 'rain = wet, wet + metal = slippy'.

We live in the UK. It rains. Stuff gets wet. Deal with it.

Hmm I think it depends just how slippery these particular steps get. Is it the normal sort of slipperiness that you should reasonably expect on external metal steps, or are they especially treacherous so that it is very hard not to slip on them without taking extraordinary care. I would have to see them for myself to judge whether the OP should be claiming or not.

Pez · 16 Dec 2006 at 09:02

Mohinder said:
and he wants to SUE THEM?

Pathetic.

Yawn.

Its a personal injury claim. He is not sueing them, get your facts straight. He wont be awarded money from the college, the insurer for the college will pay that out.

And he's more than entitled to it, the college knew there was a problem from past incidents, and didnt act. £20 spent on grip tape would have saved this whole injury.

Mickey_D · 16 Dec 2006 at 09:21

I am usually with Mohinder and Fox on these type of things, but when one of thier own employees (the security gaurd) has been injured and the employers STILL don't do anything to correct a safety hazard, I'm with the OP in that he SHOULD make a claim, even if it's just to wake the college up.

Sometimes it takes an outside influence from someone not afraid of losing thier job over an injury claim to get an employer to fix safety violations / hazards.

It's like that at my wife's work. If you get injured on the job and file a workman's comp claim for the injury, you can pretty much expect to not have a job there in the very near future. They'll find some silly excuse to get rid of you. The only way they can get anything safety related fixed is to have a customer file a complaint. Then and only then will it be fixed. If an employee tries, they either get told to ignore it, go back to work or you're fired, or the employee is ignored. And it happens at a LOT more places than most people are happy to admit to.

Glaucus · 16 Dec 2006 at 09:26

telling them to fix it and I won't claim, wont make any difference. Ok they'll fix that problem, but when another one turns up they'll just ignore it. You put a claim in (which is covered by insurance) but will still hurt them and in the future problems like this should be sorted out.

i know nothing · 16 Dec 2006 at 09:53

AcidHell2 said:
telling them to fix it and I won't claim, wont make any difference. Ok they'll fix that problem, but when another one turns up they'll just ignore it. You put a claim in (which is covered by insurance) but will still hurt them and in the future problems like this should be sorted out.

Doesn't the second sentence contradict the first?

Surely a "result" would be getting the problem fixed?

Glaucus · 16 Dec 2006 at 09:55

i know nothing said:
Doesn't the second sentence contradict the first?

Surely a "result" would be getting the problem fixed?

No, by claiming, you help get all problems fixed, if you just tell them to fix that problem they will, but they would continue ignoring any other problems.

afraser2k · 16 Dec 2006 at 10:00

AcidHell2 said:
No, by claiming, you help get all problems fixed, if you just tell them to fix that problem they will, but they would continue ignoring any other problems.

Exactly. The college will not want to spend money on health & safety if it can get away with it. If other people also suffered a fall here then it isn't just the original posters fault but a problem with the area itself. A lot of the time colleges/higher education in general will only sort this stuff when someone makes a claim.

i know nothing · 16 Dec 2006 at 10:02

AcidHell2 said:
No, by claiming, you help get all problems fixed, if you just tell them to fix that problem they will, but they would continue ignoring any other problems.

I don't see why they would continue to ignore other problems. I would hope that they would realise that they have been lucky this time in not having a claim made against them and realise that they need to be more proactive. A "wake up call" if you like.

The OP is in a perfect position to force their hand and do exactly that, but he doesn't really give a toss about that does he? He just wants the money.

Glaucus · 16 Dec 2006 at 10:06

i know nothing said:
I don't see why they would continue to ignore other problems. I would hope that they would realise that they have been lucky this time in not having a claim made against them and realise that they need to be more proactive. A "wake up call" if you like.

It doesn't work like that, no financial punishment no interest. That's how company's work. Even when some one claims, It's a throw up between paying people off and the cost of fixing the problem. Often with large company's is cheaper to pay people off rather than fixing the problem.

i know nothing · 16 Dec 2006 at 10:54

AcidHell2 said:
It doesn't work like that, no financial punishment no interest. That's how company's work. Even when some one claims, It's a throw up between paying people off and the cost of fixing the problem. Often with large company's is cheaper to pay people off rather than fixing the problem.

Well I don't agree. As with this example, it is far cheaper to fix the problem than pay anyone anything. Problems like this (if indeed it is a problem as the OP claims) don't just go away after you've paid one person off!

-Mike- · 16 Dec 2006 at 13:00

AcidHell2 said:
No, by claiming, you help get all problems fixed, if you just tell them to fix that problem they will, but they would continue ignoring any other problems.

How does him claiming get all other problems fixed? Or wait - maybe its when everyone else starts slipping over accidentally (on purpose - Lee evans gotta love it) they will notice some more of the problem areas around the college