Farm animals are responsible for more injuries than you may imagine. A farm animal which has escaped from its paddock and emerges suddenly in a country lane can badly injure a car driver in a collision. Within the farm environment, moving unpredictable animals – especially mothers with their offspring – can present problems, and diseases such as zoonoses (a bacterial infection), orf (a dermatological condition) and E coli can be contracted from infected animals.
In all circumstances, the management, health and security of farm animals is the duty of the farmer/employer and, if he has employees working for him, he is also responsible for their training and supervision. Therefore, if you have been injured by a farm animal (or catch a disease from one), whether as a worker or a member of the public, you are entitled to make a farm animal injury compensation claim against the farmer/employer.
Your first consideration, however, should be for your health. Injuries sustained in a collision, acquired in an attack by a farm animal or through infection, can all lead to more serious consequences if left untreated. Only once you have visited the accident and emergency department of your local hospital or attended your family doctor´s surgery should you consider speaking with a solicitor in respect of making a farm animal injury compensation claim.
Making a Farm Animal Injury Compensation Claim
Even if you are a member of the public who has sustained injuries after being in collision with a farm animal, making a farm animal injury compensation claim is not always straightforward. When an animal has emerged from a field or paddock suddenly and collided with you, there are rarely any witnesses and a farmer may feel that he is not liable for your accident.
When you are working on a farm, not only is there the issue of liability to contend with, there is also your employment status. Many people who work on farms believe they are “employed” when they could be self-employed, subcontracted or on a short-term agency contract. Not being “employed” does not disqualify you from making a farm animal injury compensation claim, but may change the person you are claiming against.
These are just two examples of how complex a farm animal injury compensation claim can become, and for this reason we have set up a freephone legal claims advice helpline which you are invited to ring to discuss your own personal circumstance with an experienced solicitor. Our lines are open everyday twenty-four hours a day. Our solicitor will be able to provide you with some valuable and practical advice without any obligation on you to proceed with a claim.
What You Can Expect When You Call
When you call our legal claims advice helpline, you will be speaking with a solicitor with many years experience of dealing with compensation claims for injuries sustained on a farm. Many of these are quite frightening events, and we will treat you with respect for the trauma you have just been through and ask you to explain how your injury was sustained, what treatment you received for it and what have been the ongoing consequences of your farm animal injury.
These consequences may be in respect of your quality of life, future employment prospects or interaction with family and friends, and will help us build an assessment of whether you have a farm animal injury compensation claim which is worth your while to pursue. Issues such as your employment status and any element of contributory negligence will also be taken into account to help determine what the likelihood of your success is and how much you could expect to receive from a successful claim.
There may be a number of questions that you also have for us in respect of your entitlement to make a farm animal injury compensation claim, and we will attempt to answer any areas of your entitlement to claim that have not been covered in our general discussion. We usually conclude our initial conversations by summarising what has been spoken about and offering a list of options for you to consider, depending on your personal circumstances.
You are under no obligation to act on any of our suggestions and it is often better for clients to adsorb the advice we have given them and discuss it with family members before committing to a decision. If your family discussions lead to further questions, you are more than welcome to call again and speak with us once more.
It is often in your best interests to call us at the earliest possible opportunity after any risk to your health has been treated. Witnesses’ memories can fade and the weather can remove physical evidence in a farm animal injury compensation claim, protracting the preparation of a case. If you would prefer us to call you, please complete your details in the call-back box below – indicating when would be a convenient time to call – and one of our helpful team will get back in touch.