| Accident injury claims in the homeMost people | | | | at Ella's family home, so it was a pretty low key affair. |
| probably don't think about the dangers of facing an | | | | The celebration had been put on by my friend's |
| accident injury claim being made by a visitor to their | | | | parents. To mark our graduation and our burgeoning |
| own home. | | | | adulthood they had even laid on some beers and wine |
| Yet this is a very real possibility. While a compensation | | | | for us to drink. This was despite the fact only around |
| claim certainly has the potential to sour friendships, | | | | half of us had reached 18 the legal drinking age. |
| there is no real reason why one should. Usually, the | | | | Ella's best friend, Jenny, was there. She was of a very |
| insurers of the residency where the accident occurred | | | | slight build and, at that stage, had virtually no |
| will pay out any compensation arising out of the injury | | | | experience of drinking alcohol. Pretty soon she was |
| claim, meaning there need not necessarily be any | | | | friendly, cheerful and effusive, but by no means |
| financial loss incurred by the home-owner. | | | | completely drunk. |
| Looking at these kinds of personal injury claims from | | | | As it approached midnight, Jenny decided it was time |
| an objective viewpoint is a useful exercise. If someone | | | | for her to go home, so she phoned her parents to ask |
| has suffered pain, injury and financial loss through no | | | | for a lift. What she hadn't noticed was that Ella's |
| fault of his or her own, seeking compensation is a | | | | parents had only recently closed the sliding glass doors. |
| perfectly reasonable thing to do. | | | | The fact that these glass doors had no markings to |
| People have been doing this for thousands of years. | | | | indicate their presence, coupled with Jenny's tipsiness |
| Many eminent historians argue that the existence of a | | | | meant she failed to notice them so crashed through |
| system of monetary compensation is a good indicator | | | | the glass as she walked towards the phone, sustaining |
| of a civilised society. | | | | severe cuts to her face and arms. |
| The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents | | | | Ella rushed over to and tried to stem the flow of blood |
| (ROSPA) have long been trying to drive the message | | | | with several t-shirts, while I called emergency services. |
| home that accidents in the home represent a real | | | | Eventually, Jenny turned out to be alright, although she |
| danger to everyone and that people should be doing | | | | did need some corrective cosmetic surgery to |
| more to lessen their likelihood. | | | | minimise the effect of scarring to her face. |
| They report that every year, 4,000 people are killed in | | | | Funding of both the her surgery and the counselling |
| accidents in the home. Further to that, hospitals report | | | | Jenny needed to help her recover from the trauma of |
| that 2.7 million people each year turn up at accident | | | | the incident cost her parents quite a lot of money; |
| and emergency wards seeking treatments for injuries | | | | money they didn't really have. |
| sustained in the workplace. While only a small | | | | This was part of their motivation for making an |
| percentage of these resulted in accident injury claims, | | | | accident injury claim. |
| enough of them did for the total compensation claim | | | | I would be lying if I said that this didn't sour the |
| cost to run into millions of pounds. | | | | atmosphere between the two families for a while. |
| A personal account | | | | However, nearly a decade on Jenny and Ella are again |
| I must admit that I do, in fact, have a personal interest | | | | really close. So close, in fact, that Jenny was recently |
| in this subject. Nearly ten years ago I was at a friend's | | | | bridesmaid at Ella's wedding and Ella's husband, he's |
| school graduation party. There were around 15 of us | | | | none other than Jenny's big brother. |