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Councils Still Fighting Compensation Claims on Occasion
[26.01.12] |
 A man who was taking a bath in his flat in Batley is suing his council for compensation after part of his ceiling fell on him. Chris Gawtrey received a blow to the head from a piece of plaster which measured one metre. After the ceiling collapsed, water came rushing through the hole which was caused by a leak upstairs. Mr Gawtrey is claiming he nearly drowned in the bath and that he suffered damage to his carpet and walls from the incident. The council, who were responsible for the flat above Mr Gawtrey's has sent a letter to him explaining that the leak was repaired on the day it was reported, however they were not liable for other damage in Mr Gawtrey's flat. The case is ongoing.
The government could face thousands of calls for compensation after it has been forced to extend the timing of its change to the solar panel tariff. The feed-in-tariff for solar panels was originally set at 43p and was changed to 21p last December. However the government was taken to the High Court by a solar installer and Friends of the Earth who claimed that the change was brought in without proper consultation. The result of that case has meant that the deadline for the change has been brought back to March 3. However many homeowners would have cancelled their solar installations back in December due to the decrease in the tariff and it is these people who may call for compensation. In addition, solar panel installation firms would have lost out on revenue. Some companies have even been forced to close. Libbie Henderson from law firm Dickinson Dees has commented that anyone who has incurred costs due to the High Court ruling and from any subsequent appeal may be wanting to apply for compensation.
A former employee of Phone4U has taken the company to a tribunal to ask for personal injury compensation of more than £300,000. The woman claims that she was left permanently disabled after an accident at work. Louise Mennell says that when a stack of computers fell on her foot she developed regional pain syndrome. In addition to the foot problem, Ms Mennell is claiming that she suffered psychological issues and depression following the accident. Phones4U have admitted liability for the accident, but have been unable to agree with the woman about how much compensation she should receive.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced that £379 million was paid during November 2011 to people who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI). This is the highest total for any month since the scandal began. The number of claims has increased significantly since a High Court test case was lost last April. Around 200,000 cases were put on hold prior to that announcement. The total number of complaints received by the Financial Services Ombudsman was reported as being more than 55,000 during the final quarter of 2011, which is a 10% increase from the previous quarter. 16 unnamed firms are responsible for 92% of all claims made during the first six months of last year. PPI is designed to pay off people's loans if they lose their income, however many people were sold policies which they would never have been able to claim on or they were not aware that the policies were added to their loan agreement.
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