Traders seek compensation over Shrewsbury explosion
Wednesday 29th September 2010, 8:19AM BST.
A solicitor is being sought to represent traders in a bid for compensation following allegations that BT is to blame for the Shrewsbury explosion.
Some businesses have already decided to pursue a claim for the heavy losses they suffered as a result of the blast on January 3, which left 12 people injured, destroyed a town centre building and caused widespread damage to other properties.
On Monday it emerged that National Grid, in a solicitor’s letter, made allegations about BT relating to the cause of the blast, which happened below a flat on the corner of Bridge Street and Smithfield Road.
Today traders revealed they were still feeling the effects almost nine months on.
Jeff Anderson, who owns Bodytech Health Club, in Mardol, has appealed for a solicitor to come forward and represent businesses in the area in their bid for compensation.
He said: “We’ve lost £45,000 through the explosion which is an ongoing loss.
“January is a big time for membership but the street was blocked. We normally sign up 100 new members at that time of year but we only got 20 which was disastrous. People cancelled their membership, too, because they couldn’t get down here.”
John Poole, whose photography studio is next door to the blast site, said he was hoping to claim for the losses he had suffered while his business was closed.
He said: “We had an awful year and then during demolition more cracks appeared in my building so we had to close again to repair those. I’m looking forward to having new neighbours when they develop the site and hoping it will make a difference to this end of Shrewsbury.”
But Dave Minshall, from the Giant Party Shop, in Mardol, said he would not pursue a claim.
He said: “It’s business as normal for us. It was a terrible time but the main thing is no one was killed and all the traders pulled together.”
By Emma Kasprzak
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Had they not better wait & see if BT were blame first?
Isn’t it funny how you only have to cough in shrewsbury to affect traders, they never seem to be happy about anything. I find it hard to believe that traders are still being affected 9 months on baring in mind the only thing near the site is a photography shop and its hardly something you impulse buy when passing.
I reckon they are painting a worse picture – where there’s blame there’s a claim – ker-ching!
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Everyone jumping on the bandwagon, solicitors arent going to tell them to wait: they want to be racking up the costs as they will get paid in any event…
Wait for a definitive conclusion for crying out loud.
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[baring in mind the only thing near the site is a photography shop]
What sort of photography shop have you got in mind Monkey!!!
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Stictly boudoir for me or nothing at at all. Monkey nuts anyone?
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This compensation culture has to stop – we all pay for it in the end. I know of a business owner on Wyle Cop who is claiming , for Gods sake !!!!! Surely that end of town saw increased footfall during this period ! Just a load of chancers jumping on the bandwagon !!!!Disgraceful.
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Whilst I am not a great fan of ambulance-chasers, there is a logic to getting the claim in early.
Where there’s two or more large companies (or rather their insurers) with legal teams trying to wriggle out of having to pay up in cases like this, where people were badly injured, you can be sure that those who need most will be waiting for years before any allocation of blame allows their cases to be considered for resolution. If they, or affected traders, wait until the blame resolution, then there will be another large period of time before their claim is heard.
Best to get claims in now so that they can considered as part of the wider claim and resolved much more quickly. In such cases, it may even be possible for victims to receive a faster resolution by virtue of the fact that the potential defendants could wish to make an out of court settlement to minimize the costs of their liability.
As for “the claim culture”, I can understand why it’s reviled, but when considered carefully, surely no-one is proposing that damage to life and property caused by the negligence of another party should just lead to a shrug of the shoulders and advice to get on with life? Especially if you’ve been paralysed and will need constant long-term care, for example.
The other positive aspect of “the claim culture” is that with the demise of legal aid, access to justice in the court system has been narrowed to the very rich or, predictably, benefits claimants (another freebie advantage which is often overlooked when referring to those in “poverty”). The great majority (even those on minimum wage) have to pay for their own lawyers from their after-tax income, so no-win, no-fee is a very welcome service offered by law firms although, even then, usually only accepted as a case when there’s a good chance of success. For this majority of people, this is now the only way to have their day in court in order to right a wrong.
The amount saved by successive governments in withdrawing legal aid has been negated many times over by the amount having to be paid out to successful claimants and the contingency fee lawyer costs are much higher, to account for the risk that they take in opting to get paid only if they win.
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Buildings were destroyed, people badly injured, careers wrecked, lives destroyed, much-loved pets killed.
Of course people want compensation!
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