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Personal Injury Solicitors And Insurance Company Cuts Down

Personal injury solicitors and insurance giant Norwich Union is shedding more than 350 jobs in the city as part of a massive overhaul of its business. The company is cutting 359 positions at its Pynes Hill office - leaving just 54 posts. The shock move also involves closing the building and relocating the remaining staff to smaller premises by the end of 2010. Staff were told the devastating news at a meeting yesterday along with thousands of their counterparts around the country.

Employees told the Echo yesterday they were “gutted” by the news - but they said they had been ordered by management not to talk to the Press. A member of staff who has worked for Norwich Union for two years, said that all employees were gathered together by senior management and told of the decision.

“Everyone is absolutely gutted,” said another employee who asked not to be named. There was no indication this was going to happen. Everyone stood there with their mouths open, not believing what they had been told. The management said there was no easy way to tell us, but we weren’t going to be one of the seven offices saved, even though we are the best performing unit in the UK. It feels like we are not being valued.”

He said a lot of the work would be moved to India, where labour costs were lower, but he claimed customer services would suffer. “There’s a huge language barrier,” he said. “I think if you polled most Norwich Union customers, they would be disgruntled about the prospect of more work moving to foreign offices. This office deals with personal injury claims, so we have to be able to liaise with solicitors, read medical reports, collate information, and understand the rules and regulations of the British system. I don’t think that level of service will continue.”

Norwich Union’s owner, Aviva, is making up to 1,800 people redundant nationwide over the next two years as part of a company transformation. A leading Devon business figure has warned the job losses could be the first of many as financial services organisations respond to the deepening economic downturn. There have been widespread predictions that 50,000 jobs could go in the City of London. A spokeswoman for Norwich Union said: “Exeter is affected significantly by yesterday’s announcement.

“At the moment we have 413 people there and of them, 359 work in the operations function. These roles are being withdrawn from Exeter. As a result, we will be closing the office by the end of 2010 and finding a smaller one for the people remaining.

“The jobs will go gradually over the next two years and we will do everything we possibly can to minimise the impact in terms of redundancy. We will try to redeploy. There will be a high percentage of natural wastage and us not filling vacancies. We will be working with local business groups to see what we can do about redeployment.”

Tim Jones, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, said: “This is a complete bolt out of the blue. It’s very unusual not to have had an early warning. I think the last big job losses in Exeter were about 10 years ago when the army payroll office shut. Exeter’s economy is normally robust enough to absorb job losses but because of the credit crunch, this could be the first sign of more significant job losses. This could be a worrying trend. It may be the first sign of Exeter battening down the hatches - there may be more of this to come.”

Sofia is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.

Personal Injury Solicitors And Insurance Company Cuts Down / Author: Sofia Abasolo

Tiredness causes 1/5 of all road accidents

Driver tiredness accounts for around one fifth of accidents on major roads, and is responsible for around 300 deaths per year on the UK’s roads.

The road safety website Think! has recently launched a campaign to try to combat the issue of car accidents due to driver tiredness. The campaign will have a particular emphasis on people who drive for a living.

The company commissioned research into people who drive for work. This research confirmed that people who drive for work are an at risk group, demonstrating key risk behaviours such as talking on mobile phones whilst driving, speeding and driving whilst tired. However, although an at risk group, they do not recognise themselves as being at risk, nor do they recognise themselves as a group. THINK! therefore decided to address the key at risk behaviours, targeting the communications at drivers for work through the way they are placed. Campaigns on mobile phone use and speeding are already in place. The fatigue campaign has been developed specifically with the work driver in mind. It is hoped that the campaign can deliver its key messages of “tiredness kills” and “make time for a break”.

Think! hopes to reach its target audience that consists of young company car drivers under 30 years (e.g. Sales Reps), company car drivers aged 30-44 years (e.g. Sales Execs), HGV/LGV drivers, passengers and leisure drivers at weekends/holidays etc.

The main objectives of the campaign are to encourage drivers to take a 15 minute break every two hours of driving, increase awareness of the dangers of driving while tired and increase awareness of the signs/symptoms of driver sleepiness.

Facts about driving when tired:

* An estimated 300 people a year are killed where a driver has fallen asleep at the wheel.
* Research commissioned by the Government found that falling asleep at the wheel accounts for up to 20% of crashes on motorways or similar roads, and as many as one in ten of all crashes on Britain’s roads.
* If you fall asleep at the wheel you are 50% more likely to die or suffer serious injury because a sleeping driver does not react before a crash.
* The greatest risk of falling asleep at the wheel is between midnight-6am and 2-4pm.
* It can affect any driver, but people who drive as part of their job may be more at risk. About 40% of sleep related crashes are work-related, inasmuch as they involve commercial vehicles.
* Alcohol and drugs (including some medicines) can make you more tired without you realising it.

Tips for drivers

* Plan your journey to include a 15 minute break every two hours of driving.
* Drinking 2 cups of coffee or other high caffeine drink and having a rest to allow time for the caffeine to kick in are effective methods of combating tiredness.
* Have a good night’s sleep before setting out on a long journey.
* Remember the risks if you have to get up unusually early to start your trip, or have a long drive home after a full day’s work.
* Avoid making long trips between midnight- 6am and 2-4pm when natural alertness is low.
* Share the driving if possible.
* If you start to feel sleepy find a safe place to stop (not the hard shoulder of a motorway) as soon as possible.
* Opening the window or turning up the radio does little to prevent a driver from falling asleep at the wheel.

Sav is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.

Tiredness causes 1/5 of all road accidents / Author: Sav

Whiplash Prevention Is Far Better Than Compensation

According to figures released by insurers Crystal Claims, 70 per cent of compensation claims following a road accident are for whiplash-related injuries. You-claim’s more in-depth figures show that 43 per cent of the more serious incidents that required hospital treatments were for rear-end accidents. 32 per cent were for head-on collisions, while the rest are due to side-on accidents or other sources.

It is not surprising that rear-end accidents are the highest cause of whiplash, due to the nature of the injury being caused by a rapid change of speed, which in a rear-end accident would force the head forwards a high velocity. What is surprising is that head-on collisions account for only 10 per cent fewer cases of severe whip-lash despite having the protection of the head restraint to support the head backwards. This means that a head restraint is only 10 per cent more effective, based on these statistics than without.

Research from Thatcham suggests that this isn’t due to poor design or lack of effectiveness on behalf on the restraint, but poor positioning by motorists. They believe that 60 per cent of drivers have their head-restraints in the wrong position, significantly increasing the risk of injury.

Matthew Avery of Thatcham said: “These figures are shocking; more than 125,000 whiplash injuries could be prevented in this country each year if people took a little time out to save their necks.”

Thatcham believe that it can be difficult to get the perfect height for a head restraint because of the varying differences to people’s height. It is always best to check the manual that came with your vehicle to check the correct height for the seat and head restraint. Sitting too close for example, could increase the whiplash risk in the event of airbag deployment.

Saab and Volvo have developed a solution with active head restraints and Volvo’s patented WHIPS, Whiplash Protection System. These automatically adjust to suit the driver in the event of an impact and have been proven to reduce whiplash injuries by 51 per cent.

Drivers should also remain aware at all times, particularly in heavy traffic at low speeds. They should always check their mirrors and avoid sudden, sharp breaking that cuts other drivers time to react and increases the risk of collision. No device exists that eliminates whiplash, but the use of such safety features, in addition to an alert driving style, significantly reduces the risk.

Whiplash is still a very debilitating form of injury and can lead to serious loss of earnings due to time of work. It often requires at least months of therapy, which can run into years if it is a serious incident. Claiming compensation in this instance is vital if the incident was not your fault because suffering in silence will do little to help lower these statistics.

Tom is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.

Whiplash Prevention Is Far Better Than Compensation / Author: Tom

Veterans Hit Personal Injury Snag

Hundreds of veterans who witnessed nuclear tests in the 1950s, have seen their claim for compensation in doubt due to existing laws on personal injury claims.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has indicated that it will use the defence of limitation to dispute claims for compensation over radiation sickness and other more serious related illnesses. This would prevent the case, thought to be the largest group compensation case for personal injury against the MOD, from reaching court because the law states the claims for personal injury must be made within 3 years of recieving an injury.

700 of the claimants witnessed the tests, held in the South Pacific, during the cold war to develop nuclear deterrents against the Russians. However the exposure they recieved during the tests has since been linked to a range of illnesses experienced by the veterans including a range of cancers, leukaemia, tooth rot, and mental illness.

It wasn’t until the 1970s when the first links were made and now the veterans believe they were used as human guinea pigs to assess the impact of radiation on humans. This is something that the MOD disputes. They believe that because the effects were unknown it was impossible to understand what adequate precautions were required, so therefore are exempt from liability for any claim.

In a statement released to BBC news 24 it said: “When compensation claims are received they are considered on the basis of whether or not the Ministry of Defence has a legal liability to pay compensation. Where there is a proven legal liability compensation is paid.”

Bob Malcolmson remembers the explosions well and unfortunately will never be able to forget them as the effects have blighted his life since 1974, when he was diagnosed with polycythemia, a rare form of blood cancer linked to radiation exposure. He believes no action was taken to protect him and others, with his assignment to check the effects of radiation on radio equipment.

He said: “”The explosion was tremendous. They actually heard it in Australia 200 miles away from the islands. We turned our backs, covered our eyes with our hands. I had my eyes open and I could see the bones in my hands, even with my back to this thing.”

A new document releases under the Offical Secrets Act in 1953 re-opened the dispute over MOD liability, after it appeared to state intention, according to Rosenblatt Solictors representing the veterans, to expose them to radiation.

It reads: “The Army must discover the detailed effects of various types of explosion on equipment, stores and men, with and without various types of protection.”

However, Lorna Arnold, the official historian of the British nuclear tests, interprets this document differently, claiming the British government had no intention of carrying out tests on men.

Ms Arnold claims that section referred to tests carried out on models. These were placed in various positions at the test site, with instruments put on them to measure the amount of radiation and blast they received. This practice has been historically verified and is not under dispute.

Yet knowingly or not, hundreds of men had their lives ruined by being exposed to the radiation and with 50 more veterans dying each year, often from complications arising over the illnesses, the court’s decision to decide if the case can be brought in 2009, will come too late for some of them.

Tom is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.

Veterans Hit Personal Injury Snag / Author: Tom

Correct Use of Stun Guns

A stun gun can be a very useful weapon when it is used correctly. It is going to give an electrical shock to the muscle of a person that it is applied to and will usually keep them down for about thirty minutes.

The taser will projectile the shock and the stun gun is going to be a hand held weapon that will cause a shock by using direct contact to the person.

Stun guns are going to have a high volt of low current of electricity. It will soak through clothing and into the skin to temporarily knock the attacker down by paralyzing their muscles.

The attacker will feel pain and will not be able to move. There are going to be more sensitive spots on different people and will cause them more pain.

There are tests that show the best place on the body to hit with a stun gun is the upper shoulder, under the rib cage, and the top part of the hip. This is going to shock the muscles and make the body twitch or go into muscle spasms.

Safety on the stun gun is going to depend on the person using it and the person that is receiving the hit. There are many concerns over the use of a stun gun but overall they can safe someone from an attacker.

The set up is pretty simple and is based on an oscillator, resonant circuit and a set up transformer. This is what will cause the direct and continuation of the high voltage current.

One or more batteries usually power the stun gun. The power of the current is going to be dependant on the recipient’s resistance, skin type, moisture, type of clothing, and the condition of the battery.

A shock that lasts about a half of second will cause terrible pain and muscle spasms. This is going to startle a person. It will usually cause the person to be confused and hit the ground. It can drop the attacker and keep him they’re for many seconds giving you time to get away.

How to Use a Stun Gun

You must know more knowledge about how to use a stun gun than just carrying it around in your pocket. You have to spend some time checking information out and learning about the different types of guns out there and what you can use. You should also learn about what to do if you are ever actually attacked.

The stun guns of today are going to be battery operated. They will use electrical currents to take down the attacker or temporarily disable them for up to thirty minutes. Interrupting their nervous impulses that control the way they move does this.

Many people will have painful muscle spasms and be left paralyzed for a short time. This is a great method of protection on attackers.

The instructions for a stun gun are usually quite simple. You need to stay calm and focus on what you have to do. When you are leaving your car, you need to hold the stun gun in your hand. Turn the stun gun on before you get out of your vehicle so that you all you have to do is pull the trigger in case of an attack.

Be sure the prongs are not facing you. Never touch any part of the prongs. This current could end up getting you and paralyzing you for a short time.

Keep the gun against the attackers hip or shoulder area before you pull the trigger. These are the best muscles in the body to hit because they are the most sensitive. You should then hold the trigger down at least until the attacker falls to the ground. This may take up to thirty seconds. You need to be persistent because when they are down you will have enough time to get away from them.

After this happens you should call 911 to report the attack. This will help to make sure that the police make it to the attacker before they are able to run away.

For more information on providing protection for your home and family visit Home Security Alarms

Correct Use of Stun Guns / Author: DCJames

Occupation: Accident Investigator
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