The involvement of Liability Experts in a personal injury claim can be vital. They are instructed to independently determine the cause of your accident whether that be by way of accident reconstruction, slip testing an area or investigating health & safety on a construction site.
The type of expert instructed will depend on where and how the accident happened and the injuries sustained. Some cases require input from multiple experts. It doesn’t matter who pays the expert’s fees, their duty is to the court, not the person paying them. That is why they have to remain impartial when carrying out their assessment.
Here we briefly set out some of the most commonly used type of ‘liability’ experts, and the reasons why we may need to use them:
Forensic expert witnesses
These types of experts include specialists who investigate the technical and scientific cause of a slip, trip or fall. They can identify whether the flooring of premises is fit for purpose or if PPE such as work shoes are suitable for example.
They may be instructed to carry out a pendulum slip resistance test, amongst other types of testing, which simulates a shoe making contact with the floor and records the slip resistance. This test will assist in assessing the slip resistance of floors in both wet and dry conditions and will let us know if a surface is unreasonably slippery. These tests are often required following a slipping accident at work.
These experts can also be instructed to investigate cleaning protocols, the condition of a walkway where an accident has occurred, or the quality of lighting for example.
Accident reconstruction & collision forensics
An accident reconstruction expert will attend the scene of an accident to determine the cause of the accident and the sequence of events leading up to it.
They will examine the scene and any vehicles involved, analyse the evidence, calculate speed and distance before providing a report with their findings. This type of expert will be instructed in serious road traffic collisions where fault is in dispute, or they might be asked to investigate a major incident on a construction site.
They can provide reports about the location of the accident and determine whether a seatbelt was being worn at the time, and if not, they can advise on whether the use of a seatbelt might have prevented or reduced the injuries sustained.
Manufacturing experts
A manufacturing expert might be instructed to advise on product liability cases (where a faulty product has caused injury or there is a design fault that needs to be investigated). They can advise on industry standards, product designs and mechanical failures.
They are often involved in cases where defective items have caused people serious tendon and nerve damage, loss of fingers or burn injuries.
How Enable Law can help you
Liability reports are not always necessary, but we will advise you if obtaining one could strengthen your claim. As your case progresses, we will discuss which expert or experts may be appropriate to instruct. Once any investigations have been completed and a liability report is received, we will go through it with you in detail before sharing it with the other parties. This evidence can be an important step in establishing who was responsible for your accident.
To have a free confidential chat with Emma or another member of our personal injury team call us on 0800 044 8488 or fill in our contact form so we can call you back at a time convenient for you.
