Heating your home isn’t so much of a problem in the summer, but unless you’re in the habit of only taking cold showers and boiling the kettle every time you wash up, you could be left high and dry if your boiler breaks down. The boiler is a part of the home which is rarely, if ever, thought of, until it stops working. Suddenly it becomes a very prominent and rather expensive piece of essential equipment.

If you rent your home, you won’t have to worry about having some money aside for boiler repairs; your landlord will cover it. But if you’re a homeowner, you may want to think about putting a little aside to cover the costs should anything go wrong.

If your boiler is over ten years old, it might be worth investing in a new model; this can cut your fuel costs down considerably, especially if you get a high-efficiency model. Depending on the amount of space in your home, the size of your family and the existing boiler, you would have a choice as to the type of boiler to go for. A combi boiler is the most widely known, and is good for small homes with few people, or people who don’t want to wait for their hot water. A combi boiler draws water and heats it through the mains, doing away with the need for a storage tank. Hot water is instant and on demand; but if someone runs a hot tap while you’re having a nice hot shower, be prepared to jump out quickly!

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Claiming compensation for whiplash is your civil right. If someone collides with your car and you suffer whiplash as a result then you are entitled to receive compensation. Most personal injury solicitor will have dealt with a whiplash claim so would be able to advice you. You may have taken some time off work or in severe cases have to deal with an immobilising disability. And if the accident was not your fault then you would be daft not to take legal action. There are now “no win no fee” agreements where solicitors take on a case for nothing and only get paid at the end if the case is successful. You need to find a good solicitor that explains everything clearly. Some companies have hidden costs that you need to be aware off. Finding a company that offers straightforward advice for no charge is the best place to start.

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‘… They say that most accidents occur in the home – but the workplace probably comes a close second. After all, if you’re like the average UK employee, you probably spend more time at work during the week than you do at home. Figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) suggest that in 2006-07, 274,000 reportable injuries occurred. What’s more, during the same time period, 241 workers were killed while at work.

So what should you do if you’ve been in an accident at work? First things first: always report an accident to your employer. Remember, your employer is legally-bound to protect you from health and safety issues, so you shouldn’t feel that reporting an accident is tantamount to dissent against your company. Additionally, it means that in the future your employer will be able to make sure that no one else suffers the same fate.

What’s more, if you’re involved in an accident in the workplace that keeps you away from work, it’s likely you’ll only have the right to statutory sick pay. So when you report your accident to your employers, check whether or not they have a scheme in place for extra payment due to accidents. Don’t feel embarrassed or shy to do so either – if you don’t ask, you don’t get! …’

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If you were not already aware of it, the world of personal injury is awash with a new buzz-phrase: the no win no fee claim. However, what is no win no fee and more importantly, what are the benefits of appointing a no win no fee claim solicitor?

Origins

With the spiralling costs of Legal Aid swamping the UK treasury, the UK Government decided that the time has come to introduce a new method by which compensation solicitors could be paid for personal injury claims, thereby reducing the burden on them. The alternative agreed upon and put into operation in 1998, the no win no fee claim.

What Does It Mean?

Basically, a no win no fee compensation claim is available to anyone who believes they have grounds to make a personal injury claim for compensation. Under this conditional fee arrangement, an accident solicitor representing you in a personal injury claim is only entitled to be paid his fees if he actually wins the case.

Why Would A Compensation Solicitor Agree To Such An Arrangement?

Under the law, if you win your personal injury compensation claim, your compensation solicitor is entitled to claim his fees and expenses from your opponent. As a result, if your solicitor believes your case has merit, he’ll be willing to work for you for free, safe in the knowledge that he’ll be paid for his work by your opponent once he wins the case.

Is There Anything I Need To Be Aware Of?

Yes; sometimes a no win no fee solicitor will try to make you agree to pay his fees on the grounds that you can be reimbursed by your opponent once you win the case. However, you should keep in mind that the courts will only reimburse you for the reasonable fee costs of your solicitor – so if you agree to such an arrangement there is a chance that you will not be getting 100% compensation you are rightfully entitled to.

Also, you need to keep in mind that if you lose your personal injury claim, although you will not be responsible for your own solicitor’s fees, you may be held accountable for fees off your opponent and even, possibly, the court’s fees. So, if you are going to use the services of a no win no fee compensation solicitor you should make sure that you ask him who’ll pay if you do happen to lose the case.

In this regard, a good accident solicitor will tell you that they have taken out insurance to cover this scenario. If, however, your solicitor has not taken out insurance, you should urge him to do so – as solicitors’ and court fees are expensive and can easily be covered with a minimal premium paid to an insurance company.

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There are of course some exceptions to the rule. In cases related to Industrial Disease, Medical Negligence, Criminal Injury Compensation Claims and Motor Insurance Bureau ‘Untraced Driver’ claims, legal costs may not be covered. If this is the case, you will have to pay some or all of the solicitor’s costs out of your compensation. There are some other exceptions which your solicitor will explain to you before you begin your claim.

Your solicitor may also purchase an after the event insurance policy on your behalf to cover your disbursements (e.g. the cost of obtaining medical reports etc.) and the other side’s legal costs should you lose your claim. The premium is usually recovered from the losing side.

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Little did I know that I would soon suffer a terrible personal injury in a work accident that would hold up my career and prevent me from being able to fully enjoy Manchester’s immense cultural and commercial life.

During this difficult beginning there was one bedrock that would keep my faith and strength in the future: the no win, no fee Manchester solicitor who took on my accident claim and would eventually secure me compensation.

I think that when I suffered my work accident, I experienced the same series of emotions that anyone who has suffered personal injury in an accident at work goes through.

Why me? I thought. Have I done something wrong? Am I somehow to blame for this work accident? Is it morally acceptable for me to make a compensation claim? How do I find a Manchester solicitors who are right for me?

The work accident itself seemed to stem from nothing. One minute I was an up-and-coming set designer, who, young and healthy, had already worked on several high-profile theatre productions in Manchester, Edinburgh and London’s West End.

The next minute I was lying on my back staring at the ceiling with a gash in my leg and a painful, pulsating neck injury.

It was a simple accident, one that could happen to anyone. I had been on the penultimate rung of a wooden ladder (only now do I realise that the ladder was nearly as old as the theatre itself), painting a gloriously colourful vertical backdrop for a new musical, when the rung gave way leaving me to hopelessly tumble to the ground.

Being taken out of the theatre in a stretcher wearing a neck brace was one of the most frightening and bizarre experiences of my life. Several worst case scenarios went through my mind. Will I work again? Have I suffered, God forbid, a disabling spinal injury?

As it was, the work accident had caused a soft tissue neck injury. The doctors described it as being akin to a whiplash injury a person might sustain in a serious car accident.

I was devastated when I was told I was not considered fit enough to continue working on the musical production. Such jobs are hard to come by and it would have looked great on my CV.

Both my union and several of my colleagues urged me to contact a Manchester solicitor to make a work accident compensation claim.

I admit that at the time I knew practically nothing about the compensation claim process. I did not even know of a single Manchester solicitors firm, but I realised that in order to manage my neck injury and keep myself financially solvent – I had only just taken out a long-term lease on a gorgeous tenement flat – I would have to make an accident claim.

A friend who only a couple of years previously had had a traumatic experience of medical negligence recommended I make a no win, no fee claim.

For a while I hesitated. Weren’t no win, no fee claims and no win, no fee solicitors the terrible twin social evils that the media so liked to berate under the derisory banner of ‘compensation claim culture’?

But my friend who had had a positive experience in obtaining medical negligence compensation persisted.

“Do you want to sit at home feeling sorry for yourself, claiming disability benefit while you start to incur debts that spiral out of control?” He asked.

“Or do you want to do something about it? By making a no win, no fee claim you will at least be in control of your own destiny and certainly less of a burden to society. Surely your employers take out work accident claim insurance to cover themselves for situations exactly like yours.”

The argument won me over. So, not without a little trepidation I dialled the telephone number my friend had given me for his no win, no fee Manchester solicitor.

It was such a relief. Once I had given the Manchester solicitor my medical records and the photographs a colleague had taken of the work accident scene, she practically did everything for me.

Within weeks I had the compensation I needed. The settlement happened out-of-court and was really quite amiable. I don’t know what I’d been worrying about.

Five months later, after extensive patience and rehabilitation, I gained another job working on an independent theatre production in Liverpool. It may not have been as well paid as the previous job I’d had to abandon, but it was a reasonable commute from Manchester and represented the first step on the road to career recovery.

I’m still based in Manchester and am thankfully now spending more time shopping at the Trafford Centre, eating in Chinatown and going to the theatre than sitting at home wondering if I can pluck up the courage to call a Manchester solicitor.

http://www.youclaim.co.uk/leading-manchester-solicitors-waiting-to-help-you.htm