Solicitors for Successful Businesses

Earlier this year the insurers, Aviva, had a trawl through their archives and came across from weird and wonderful compensation claims.

Some of the clearly more weird and wonderful claims found in Aviva’s archives whilst they were undertaking this task include :

• An artist from Swansea who was blown down by gale of wind and received £30.00 in 1886 (today’s equivalent is £1,796.00).
• A chap from Birmingham, who rather unfortunately, ingested a poisonous potion after somehow mistaking it for a sleeping medicine. He was paid £1,000.00 in 1878 (today’s equivalent is £48,310.00).
• A grocer from Lancashire slipped while playing Blind Man’s Buff and was paid £15.00  in 1878 (today’s equivalent: £724.00).
• A travelling salesman from Belfast hit his head on a pole while watching an accident from the top of a tram and received £7.00 in 1904 (today’s equivalent: £401.00)
• A Glasgow man was injured whilst jumping out of bed to catch his poor wife who had fainted  and was awarded £42.00  in 1895 (modern day equivalent: £2,575.00).

So, whilst you may think with all the recent bad press about personal injury claims, that frivolous claims are something recent, and, if you believe what you read in the press, that the payment of referral fees are solely responsible for such claims, what Aviva’s archives show is that these sort of claims were being made decades and even hundreds of years before Solicitors were permitted to pay referral fees!

If you have suffered an accident at anytime within the last three years, no matter how bizarre the circumstances email our specialist team at PI@hilliershrw.co.uk to see whether you may be able to claim compensation.