Members should make the free call to lodge their claim -
0800 055 6333.
You will need to provide your:
- Name and address.
- Telephone and email contact details.
- Date of birth.
- Date of accident.
If you have your membership number it will speed up the process
- but the membership number is not essential.
The operator will give you the following numbers which you
should keep safe:
- A case number.
- A telephone number of the appointed Solicitor.
Within one working day the Solicitor should contact you.
If you have had no contact you should call the telephone number
of the appointed Solicitor. If there are any further difficulties
in processing the case you should call the Legal Department - 0161
224 2804.
Reporting the Accident
Make sure that
you:
- Let your Usdaw rep know about the accident.
- Tell the employer and get it recorded in the Accident
Book.
- Check that the Accident Book entry is accurate and keep a copy
of it.
- Ask for help from your rep if there is any problem in getting
the correct version of events in the Accident Book.
Keeping the
Evidence
You must keep any letters,
memos, receipts or any other documents that will be useful in your
case. Also any receipts, tickets or evidence of expenditure.
You also need to keep wage
slips and make a note of the pay you receive from the employer
whilst off work.
You should work with your
rep to make sure that any tools or equipment which were involved in
the accident are not thrown away but are kept safely for future
inspection. If vehicles, fork-lift trucks, etc are involved, make
sure you have the registration or serial number to identify the
vehicle involved.
Health and Safety
Investigation
Independent research shows
that workplaces with a trade union are twice as safe as those where
there is no employee consultation on safety. Please make sure that
you tell your Usdaw rep about your accident. This will give them a
chance to investigate it and raise their safety concerns with the
company. This will not only be useful for your accident claim but
will help make the workplace safer for others.
You must co-operate with any
reasonable investigation the employer needs to make because of
their duties under health and safety law. The purpose of the
investigation should be to identify what went wrong and decide what
can be done to prevent it happening again. It is important that
they stick to the facts about what happened and avoid getting into
discussion about who was to blame. You should have your Usdaw rep,
or a trusted colleague, present when the manager is interviewing
you.
Apart from the accident
investigation you should not make any statements to the company,
its insurers, their Solicitors, or anyone else acting for the
employer in connection with the claim.
Medical
Examinations
If your employer, their
insurance company or Solicitor wants to arrange to have you
medically examined, you should not agree to anything until you have
spoken to your Usdaw Solicitor.
The employer may wish to
meet you to discuss your future employment situation. This might
include the prospects of returning to work, transferring to
different work, or dismissal.
Before the meeting they may
want to arrange a medical examination to assess your ability to
return to work. You should co-operate with your employer as fully
as possible about this. This examination should concentrate solely
on your fitness to return to work.
Contact your Usdaw rep
before any meeting with the company about your employment
situation.
Seeing Your
Doctor
You should see your Doctor
as soon as possible after the accident so that there is a record of
it. This is important because the Doctor may be asked to provide a
medical report later on.
You should also go back to
your Doctor if the injury continues to give you trouble, not only
to get the proper treatment but also so that there is a record of
it.
Sick Pay
Company sick pay may be
payable - this will depend on the terms of your contract.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
should be payable through the payroll. If SSP is not paid you
should query the position with the employer and contact the
Benefits Agency.
Disablement
Benefit
You should claim Disablement
Benefit if the injury is still causing problems 15 weeks after your
accident, whether or not you have returned to work. To do this you
need to get a form from the local Benefits Agency. If you have any
difficulty filling in this form you should contact the Union
Solicitors dealing with your accident claim.
The Benefits Agency will get
a Doctor to examine you and assess the degree of disability. The
assessment will determine whether you receive any benefit and how
much you get. So you must send a copy to the Union Solicitors
dealing with your claim along with any comments. The Solicitors
dealing with the accident claim should also be told if your
condition changes after the Benefits Agency assessment is made. If
there is any need to appeal against the decision of the Benefits
Agency, the Union Solicitors should be able to advise.
Claiming Union
Benefits
You may be entitled to Union
benefits if you are off sick.
Warning about
Filming
Insurers sometimes obtain
evidence of a claimant's capabilities, for example, by secretly
filming them doing DIY or shopping, if they suspect the claimant of
exaggerating their injuries. The courts can allow such evidence to
be used, but expect insurers to show it to the claimant as soon as
possible. Judges may not allow it to be used if it amounts to
'trial by ambush'. The message to members, of course, is to be
honest about the extent of their injuries.
Keeping in Touch
You must tell us whenever
something important happens which may affect the case.
Tell the Usdaw Legal
Department if:
- You change your name.
- You change your address.
- You change your phone number or email address.
- You change your job or lose your job.
Tell your Usdaw
appointed Solicitor if:
- You change your name or contact details.
- You have hospital treatment or an operation.
- Your medical condition changes.
- You discover any new evidence or witnesses.
- There are major changes in the way you do your job compared to
before your accident.
- You change or lose your job.
Contacting Usdaw - Use the
Case Number
You should always use the
Usdaw legal case number when you write to or telephone the Union.
This is because we deal with thousands of claims and this number
helps us to find the file quickly.
The Usdaw legal case number
is usually printed in bold type at the top right of an Usdaw letter
and will be your name with a six-figure number after it, for
example:
P
Smith/01/1234
A
Choudhry/99/4798
In Personal Injury cases you
will be given a case number when you contact FirstCall Usdaw.
Members are welcome to
contact Usdaw to discuss the claim. However, generally you should
contact the Usdaw Solicitors for any information or advice in
respect of the progress of a personal injury case.
It is usually better to
write than to phone, but if you have trouble putting what you want
to say on paper, you do not understand something, or you want to
discuss the case with the Usdaw Legal Department, then you are very
welcome to do so.
Contacting the Usdaw
Solicitor
Usdaw Solicitors will
appoint a named person to deal with the claim.
Address any queries to that
person directly. When telephoning or writing to the Usdaw
Solicitors use their reference number. If this is not available,
give them the Usdaw case number and the name of the employer.
Make sure you keep
the contact details of the Solicitor in a safe place. Contact the
Legal Department if the contact details get lost or you have any
difficulty getting hold of the Solicitor.
Members'
Checklist
- Have you called FirstCall Usdaw?
- Have you told your Usdaw rep?
- Have you reported the accident to management?
- Have you recorded the accident in the Accident Book?
- Do you agree with the record?
- Have you kept a copy of your Accident Book report?
- Have you reported the accident to Job Centre Plus? Get the
appropriate form from them to get it declared an industrial
injury.
- Is your accident being investigated?
- Have you made enquiries at your local Benefits Agency and
claimed your full entitlement to State Benefits?