One Sheffield labourer found that the has been precluded from claiming the personal injury compensation award related to his work accident claim because his former employers were not insured.
Ryan Scott, now twenty six years old, had been working at Attercliffe’s Goodfellas Club attempting to remove a caravan awning when he was struck directly in the eye by a metal peg flying through the air. According to his accident claim, Mr Scott was knocked to the ground due to the force behind the impact. He was then rushed to Royal Hallamshire Hospital where he underwent emergency surgical procedures.
Mr Scott was in hospital for five days while he was recovering from the thirteen stitches he required during the surgery. However the young man has been told by his doctors that the injuries his eye sustained in the incident will have a substantial affect on his day to day life going forward, not to mention that the injury will result in constant pain as well.
Mr Scott made an initial personal injury compensation claim in order to have some cover for his injuries, loss of earnings, and the costs associated with rehabilitation and his future care. While he won his case, compensation has not been forthcoming. At the time of the incident, the company had no insurance. Moreover since the accident in which Mr Scott was injured, his one-time employer has ceased trading.
Thanks to the dilemma Mr Scott and other work related accident victims find themselves in, many legal experts have called upon the Coalition government to protect these victims through the set-up of an Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau.
The proposed bureau would be modeled after the Motor Inurers’ Bureau, which compensates traffic accident victims who suffer injuries at the hands of uninsured motorists or unidentifiable drivers.