Personal Injury - Gym whilst under PT supervision

[Peridot]

I think the issue is as we have previously pointed out the special damages such as loss of earnings flow from the general damages so the injury itself. If medical evidence supports the injury being as a result of the gym injury then the loss of earnings come into play. If there is a long standing problem that has been exacerbated by this incident then the loss of earnings will only be for the period the injury was exacerbated for. I would look back over the previous thread mentioned in post #3 or amalgamate the posts? Kati Amethyst ??

[2222]

This is potentially a very large claim. I was not exaggerating above. You can't rely on an online forum. The question is whether you can hold the club responsible, not whether the PT gave you the wrong exercises, and your solicitor needs to deal with that. You may have the wrong solicitor if he is concentrating on pain and suffering rather than lost earnings.

[NOCAB]

I found this https://www.halecountryclub.co.uk/personal-trainers/

Is that the right club?

That link talks about "Our fully certified Personal Trainers will develop a training program tailored entirely to your needs. With a vast array of experience and knowledge between them you'll be sure to find what you're looking for."

If you click the contact link, it says "Please leave your information here, our personal trainer will be in touch.".

That certainly does not look like they are distancing themselves from "their" trainers until after there has been a catastrophe.

If you possibly can, and your solicitor so advises, you should sue the club on the basis that a) you know their address, and b) they are almost certain to have insurance cover. Leave them to join the PT instructor into the action later on, if they think it worth their while.

"No idea if he has money or not how would I ?" For practical purposes, he hasn't. You earn £180k pa, and you've already been off work 6-7 months, with only a small, gradual improvement, so far, and the possible prospect of relapses in the future. You know perfectly well that the PT doesn't have a spare million in his pocket. He might have insurance, but if he had, surely he'd have put this case in their hands? It could be, though, that the club have arranged insurance for all these guys.

When the PT contacted you, did he clearly explain that he was self-employed and not connected with the club at that stage? You mentioned a contract he sent you. Does that make it very clear?

The contact does state that the trainer is self employed but does not clarify whether he is connected to the club or not as it does not make this distinction

It also sates that under my own obligations I should complete a PARQ, but one was never provided we simply exchanged money and began training. During the first session I advised the trainer of my pre existing conditions verbally, and he simply acknowledged these issues and did not ask for a medical cert to ensure that it was safe to continue.

Given that I advised I had broken my left knee, was due an op on my right knee and had a bad/weak lower back, looking back I at it, I am shocked he was directing me to do hack squats of any description which ultimately caused my back problems.

[2222]

I found this https://www.halecountryclub.co.uk/personal-trainers/

Is that the right club?

That link talks about "Our fully certified Personal Trainers will develop a training program tailored entirely to your needs. With a vast array of experience and knowledge between them you'll be sure to find what you're looking for."

If you click the contact link, it says "Please leave your information here, our personal trainer will be in touch.".

That certainly does not look like they are distancing themselves from "their" trainers until after there has been a catastrophe.

If you possibly can, and your solicitor so advises, you should sue the club on the basis that a) you know their address, and b) they are almost certain to have insurance cover. Leave them to join the PT instructor into the action later on, if they think it worth their while.

"No idea if he has money or not how would I ?" For practical purposes, he hasn't. You earn £180k pa, and you've already been off work 6-7 months, with only a small, gradual improvement, so far, and the possible prospect of relapses in the future. You know perfectly well that the PT doesn't have a spare million in his pocket. He might have insurance, but if he had, surely he'd have put this case in their hands? It could be, though, that the club have arranged insurance for all these guys.

When the PT contacted you, did he clearly explain that he was self-employed and not connected with the club at that stage? You mentioned a contract he sent you. Does that make it very clear?

[NOCAB]

You need one of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_Pharmacal_order I have no idea why your solicitor has not already suggested this?

I cannot say whether the gym is responsible for the PT. What does your solicitor say? I'd have thought that a lot depends on how you contacted the PT in the first place. Did the gym just allocate him to you? Is there a noticeboard where the PTs advertise? Are there notices from the gym disclaiming responsibility for PTs?

I am concerned about one thing. If the PT had insurance, why didn't he just pass your claim onto them and let them deal with it? Whilst, if he didn't have insurance, what's the point of suing him? Does he have any money? Worse still, some NWNF agreements mean you are liable for your own solicitor's fees if you win the case, even if you don't manage to collect any money from the defendant.

Hi

The PT works and advertises his services at the gym both on their website and via bill boards / posters etc at the club.

There are no disclaimers.

We have tried to contact the PT but he is not responding.

As the gym allow him to work there they have advised that all Its are insured, but won't disclose his personal details to either myself or my solicitor.

No idea if he has money or not how would I ?

My point re if he isn't insured is that the gym (i would suspect) should have some form of liability in that they allowed him to act as a PT on their premises with obvious advertising to support, yet failed to ensure the PT had suitable insurance cover.

[des8]

For anyone following this the original thread is here: https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...pt-supervision

Probably only has Public Liability insurance anyway, and what he needs is Professional Indemnity

[2222]

Hello

Approx 7 months ago I suffered a very painful back injury at my local gym whilst using one of their PTs. The gym are refusing to give me the trainers contact details i.e. address and insurance cover info, so myself and my solicitor are finding it hard to contact him.

The gym (The Hut Group) are stating the the PT is self employed and responsible for their own insurance cover and therefore not able to provide contact details, yet they allow the PTs to use their equipment for a monthly fee.

Are THG therefore ultimately responsible, i.e. allowing PTs to use the gym without knowledge of their insurance cover, effectively allowing PTs to train customers inside with insurance in place?

The PT did not complete a PARQ and despite me advising verbally of pre existing injuries has subsequently caused severe damage to my sciatic nerve which may not heal, by getting me to complete an exercise with excessive weight, which was completely inappropriate for me in the first place. I broke me left knee 5 years ago and have a metal plate in it, my right knee has torn cartilage, and my lower back is weak. The PT had me doing hack squats and kept increasing the weight.

Any help would be much appreciated

You need one of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_Pharmacal_order I have no idea why your solicitor has not already suggested this?

I cannot say whether the gym is responsible for the PT. What does your solicitor say? I'd have thought that a lot depends on how you contacted the PT in the first place. Did the gym just allocate him to you? Is there a noticeboard where the PTs advertise? Are there notices from the gym disclaiming responsibility for PTs?

I am concerned about one thing. If the PT had insurance, why didn't he just pass your claim onto them and let them deal with it? Whilst, if he didn't have insurance, what's the point of suing him? Does he have any money? Worse still, some NWNF agreements mean you are liable for your own solicitor's fees if you win the case, even if you don't manage to collect any money from the defendant.

[NOCAB]

Hello

Approx 7 months ago I suffered a very painful back injury at my local gym whilst using one of their PTs. The gym are refusing to give me the trainers contact details i.e. address and insurance cover info, so myself and my solicitor are finding it hard to contact him.

The gym (The Hut Group) are stating the the PT is self employed and responsible for their own insurance cover and therefore not able to provide contact details, yet they allow the PTs to use their equipment for a monthly fee.

Are THG therefore ultimately responsible, i.e. allowing PTs to use the gym without knowledge of their insurance cover, effectively allowing PTs to train customers inside with insurance in place?

The PT did not complete a PARQ and despite me advising verbally of pre existing injuries has subsequently caused severe damage to my sciatic nerve which may not heal, by getting me to complete an exercise with excessive weight, which was completely inappropriate for me in the first place. I broke me left knee 5 years ago and have a metal plate in it, my right knee has torn cartilage, and my lower back is weak. The PT had me doing hack squats and kept increasing the weight.

Any help would be much appreciated

[NOCAB]

Thanks for the update. You've got a lot on your plate at the moment!

Tell me about it

[Peridot]

Thanks for the update. You've got a lot on your plate at the moment!

[NOCAB]

Claim forms have been sent to the defendant, and it's been a month to date and we have not heard anything. My solicitor is going to chase this again.

I have managed to obtain a contact within the Gym owners (HUT Group - legal team) and passed this on to my solicitor as we have requested evidence from them that their PTs actually have insurance and proof to support this. I have also provided my solicitor with proof of my normal earnings as a contractor, but as I haven't been able to look for work I haven't been able to earn anything!!!

On the positive side, and after nearly 6 moths I am beginning to slowly feel some improvement but am still on strong medication which manages the pain and whilst on this I can't drive and have suffered other side effects which are not great....

[NOCAB]

Will do, just gong to speak to my solicitors re my lost earnings as he hasn't asked about that to date.

[Peridot]

Hi Robert,

The claim value tick box is to assist the Court with timetablimg but will also be loosely based on the likely value of the claim. Has the defendant admitted liability? I assume not if claim forms are being prepared?

Liability is the important thing here. If the Defendant can’t be shown to have been negligent then your claim will fail. Sorry to be blunt but do keep it in mind as your case may not be cut and dried. Try to do what you can to aid your own recovery and claim any benefits that you may be entitled to.

Make sure your lawyer knows about your usual earnings and be sure you can evidence this claim for loss of earnings when you get to that point. Keep all associated receipts too.

As I mentioned before if liability is proven then any losses you achieve will very much depend on the medical evidence and the time estimates for recovery and factor in any prexisting issues you have.

Keep us posted, will be interesting to hear your updates. Here if you need any other pointers.

[NOCAB]

Thank you ever so much this is extremely helpful. I noticed on some paper work received from my lawyer (which provided a copy of my statement to check) that there were 2 tick boxes (1 pre filled) stating claim amount unto £10,000 (not ticked) and unto £25,000 (ticked).

I was wondering if this purely based on my lawyers estimation and if this was purely a guess they need to provide to manage expectations relating to the claim injury on its own, i.e not taking into account lost earnings etc?

As an IT PM and Test Strategy manager I earn approx £15,000 per month and have been unable to work since the middle of May and still can't due to my ongoing back condition, so hope this situation will also be taken into account?

[Peridot]

Hi Robert,

Damages are calculated on a couple of aspects. Special damages are all those damages expenses that have left you out of pocket, loss of earnings, prescriptions, travel for treatment etc. As self employed you would need to provide your last couple of years accounts and any 'bookings' that you had that you have then been unable to complete etc. Travel is calculated by distance if driving or receipts/tickets if public transport/taxi etc. Depending on the likely recovery times, future losses can also be included.

General damages are calculated on the basis of the injury itself and it's prognosis so without medical reports you can't really start to guesstimate. This is particularly true when dealing with an exacerbation of a pre-existing injury. General damages are calculated based on previous case law decisions. There is also the Judicial Studies Board guidelines which provides a sliding scale for each type of injury. The figure adopted will be dependant on what the medical expert indicates the injury is and the likely prognosis for recovery bearing in mind any pre-existing condition and how that was likely to progress.

Your lawyer should be able to let you know the JSB guideline figures but you will probably have to wait for your medical report. They should also guide you as to what things can be included in your schedule of loss (the document setting out all your special damages and the injury).

Hope this helps.