Archive for the ‘Categories’ Category
By Practice Administration Team - Thursday, March 11th, 2010
The following should you make you smile. These are genuine reasons given for car insurance claims …
ENJOY!
1. Taxi trouble
When bad weather caused havoc on the roads of Britain this winter, one AA customer thought it would be safer to call a taxi than drive his own car to the station in snowy conditions. However he probably wished he had not bothered as, ironically, when the taxi pulled up outside his house it skidded and crashed into his parked car.
2. A lovers tiff
One customer had a heated argument with his girlfriend about whether it was safe for her to drive to work in the snow. In the end she stormed off, went on her way and he followed a short while later. Unfortunately, as he approached a set of red traffic lights, he skidded and collided with the rear of the car in front, which in turn hit the car in front of that.
And who happened to be in the third car? None other than the very girlfriend he had advised not to drive earlier that morning. The details do not record whether the claim was settled amicably or not!
3. Good cop car
One customer was surprised to learn his car had helped the police prevent a robbery of a jewellery store in a town some miles away. The thieves had stolen his Land Rover to ram the roller shutter doors of a small shopping arcade where the jewellers was located. However, not content to be an accessory in a robbery (and perhaps a cop car in a former life), the clever car ensured it got caught on the roller shutter, flipped itself onto its back end and wedged itself tightly in the entrance to the store. This meant the thieves were trapped like canned sardines and could do nothing but wait for the police to arrive.
4. Something rather sheepish
Another customer driving home from the pub with a friend had the fright of his life when there was an enormous thump on the roof of his car, which caved in bumping both companions on the head. The pair got out of the car just in time to see a sheep slide down the windscreen, spring on to the car bonnet and run off down the road. The sheep, it later transpired, had escaped from a transporter on the motorway that was involved in a collision.
5. Doggy drivers
When one customer stopped his van on the side of the road to pop into his local shop and buy a newspaper, he did not expect to come out seconds later and find both his van, and the dog inside it, gone without a trace. When he asked bystanders if they had seen anything, one man remarked that he had seen a “large dog driving a van down the road”.
Somehow the dog’s lead had wound itself around the gear lever and had released it. Fortunately, the van was stopped in its descent by another vehicle parked further down the hill.
6. Bad balance
One unlucky lady who was driving through woodland in her open soft-top car received a nasty shock when a squirrel suddenly fell out of a tree above and into her car. In its panic to escape, the squirrel scampered over her in the car causing her to run off the road into a tree. Unwilling to hang around and make a witness statement, the uncoordinated squirrel shot up a nearby tree and vanished.
7. Toilet trouble
One motorist was left rather red faced when, after stopping in the woods late one night to “relieve himself”, he emerged from behind a tree to find his car had gone. In a panic he called the police and his insurer to report the theft and his Dad who came to rescue him. But the night was not over yet!
During the short journey home with his Dad the car managed to break down, forcing them to call for assistance. Later, when father and son poured out the events of the night to the AA Patrolman, he became puzzled by the fact that although the chap was only about 20 feet from his car he did not hear it start up. Acting on a hunch, they all returned to the “scene of the crime” only to find wheel tracks disappearing down a grass bank where his car was waiting patiently at the bottom.
Oh, so that is what the handbrake is for…
8. You snooze, you lose
When one customer parked his camper van on the beach to enjoy the view and a nice nap, he certainly did not expect to wake up to find his feet wet and someone in a boat banging on the window to rescue him. The tide had come in while he was asleep, and although he was safely rescued, the van sank without a trace.
9. Off your trolley
Another unfortunate lady calmly informed AA that her bonnet had been badly damaged after “several airborne shopping trolleys came flying towards her”. The offending trolleys had apparently fallen off the back of a delivery lorry.
10. Two in one
This final story apparently had the AA call centre in stitches. Two drivers tried to turn into a parking space at the same time and got jammed against cars on either side. Stuck fast and unable to open the doors, the fire brigade had to rescue them – while an audience of about a hundred people stood around laughing at them. Luckily they saw the funny side too!
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By Nicky - Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Lucy Neville-Rolfe, director of corporate and legal affairs at Tesco, has accused today’s school leavers of having “attitude problems” and believing that “the world owes them a living.”
Ms Neville-Rolfe has noticed that many school leavers have problems with their appearance and time keeping. She has noticed that the attitude of school leavers has changed over the years and individuals are often turning up late to work and late to interviews. She has also noticed that school leavers have poorer literacy and numeracy skills, which she blames on the falling standards in schools. For more details click here.
We would be interested in your views/experiences?
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By Olivia - Thursday, March 11th, 2010
We’re always pleased to see an employment lawyer receive the Times accolade of ‘Lawyer Of The Week’. The honour this week goes to Jessica Learmond-Criqui who acted for Stephanie Booth (stepmother of Cherie) who brought a successful claim for unfair dismissal after losing her job for whistleblowing (aside note - if you are dismissed because of ‘blowing the whistle’ there is no cap on compensation and dismissal is automatically unfair).
Well done to Jessica.
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By Emma K - Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Following on from Nicola’s blog yesterday, I thought I would inform you that all John Lewis employees are to receive a bonus equivalent to eight weeks’ pay after the group announced pre-tax annual earnings of £306.6m.
After turning round a poor start to 2009, John Lewis’ strong overall performance over the year ending January 30 means its 70,000 partners will now share a bonus pot of £151.3m.
However, the 146-year-old employee-owned group said it anticipated more challenging trading conditions in 2010, particularly in the second half of the year.
Read the whole story here
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By Sarah - Thursday, March 11th, 2010
A date has been set for our annual update seminar of 13th May 2010.
What will the update cover?
- Employee status
- Holiday pay
- Bullying
- TUPE
- Other key cases for 09/10
- Anticipated legislative changes during 2010 and beyond including the Equality Bill and Agency Workers Regulations
Date
Thursday 13th May 2010 9.30am to 1.00pm (registration from 9am)
Venue
The George Hotel, Stamford
Cost
£35 plus VAT £25 plus VAT if booked by 13th April 2010
ELS clients are eligible for one free place.
The cost includes documentation and refreshments.
To book your place email linda@pjhlaw.co.uk for a booking form
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By Nicky - Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
In 2008 Northern Rock reported a £1.36 billion loss. For the same period in 2009 this loss was reported to have been reduced to £257.5 million. Northern Rock have taken the decision to pay staff bonuses, totalling £14.9 million, on the basis that they have met agreed targets over the past 12 months.
For more information click here.
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By Olivia - Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
We are awaiting the decision in a disability discrimination Employment Tribunal case being heard this week. Catherine Gilbert is suing Kent police under the DDA as she claims her bosses failed to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate her spasmodic dysphonia, a condition which makes it difficult for the sufferer to speak due to sudden involuntary muscle movements or spasms. She cites stress as being the cause of the disorder.
In relation to failure to make reasonable adjustments, she says that Kent police failed to seek professional advice about her condition and failed to offer her a position that accommodated her disability.
On this point, an employer is under a duty to take such steps as are reasonable to prevent any provision, criterion or practice applied by him, or any physical feature of their premises from placing the disabled person concerned at a substantial disadvantage in comparison to those who are not disabled. A failure to make reasonable adjustments cannot be justified.
As in this case, a ‘provision, criterion or practice’ can include an implied condition that a person is fit for the job they are employed to do. If it transpires that a person through disability is no longer capable of doing that job then the duty extends to considering any adjustments that could be made to remove the disadvantage. This could involve offering an alternative job, even it if is at a higher grade, on a higher salary which the employe is capable of doing.
In other words, as Mrs Gilbert may benefit from, the DDA does involve an element of positive discrimination.
Which links us very smoothly into the ongoing debate about the extent to which the Equality Bill will permit positive discrmination. But that’s for another day/another blog.
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By Liam - Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
In Shanahan Engineering Limited v Unite the Union the EAT have considered the special circumstances defence to a claim for a protective award for failing to consult in accordance with s. 188 TULR(C)A 1992 (collective redundancy consultation).
The EAT held that even if the defence does not apply as a total defence to the complaint, where there are some special circumstances, these can be taken in to account when determining the length of the protective award. The judgment also gives some general guidance on determining the length of a protective award.
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By Nicky - Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Merlin Entertainment, which owns Legoland, Madam Tussauds and the London Eye, have reported an increase of 9.7% in the number of visitors to their attractions in 2009.
Private equity firm, Blackstone, that own Merlin Entertainment have reported a rise of 16% in group revenue to £769 million in 2009.
In fact the group has been so successful that they have opened Madam Tussauds in Hollywood and plan further openings in Bangkok and Vienna. Furthermore, there are plans to open Legolands in Manchester, Dallas, Florida and Malaysia.
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By Olivia - Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Harriet Harman, the Equality Minister, has called for businesses to disclose steps they are taking to improve gender equality in senior management. According to figures published by the Cabinet Office, only 1 in 10 directors on the board of FTSE100 firms is female.
The Equality Bill allows employees to take positive steps to improve gender balance in their workforce if women are under represented. This will impact on recruitment as faced with equally qualified candidates, an employer with gender inbalance, can give preferential treatment to the woman. They will not be able to extend such preferential treatment to an under qualified candidate.
The Bill also proposes that companies with more than 250 workers will have to disclose how much more they pay men than women. Harriet Harman has now also asked the Financial Reporting Council to consider including a new clause in the code of conduct to require firms to report on what they are doing to get more women into the boardroom.
Posted in Government Publications, Sex/Race Discrimination | No comments »
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