by Richard Craig
15 July 2011
While it seems that personal injury claims are a relatively new legal development, a new blog in the Guardian, compiling results of a piece of research from insurer Aviva, demonstrates that claims for mishaps and accidental injury are nothing new:
In 1878, a Lancashire grocer was awarded the modern day equivalent of £724 after he slipped while playing Blind Man’s Buff.
1904: a Belfast salesman, while rubber-necking at an accident from the top deck of a tram, ironically struck his head on a pole himself. He was awarded (M.E.) £401.
In 1892, an Essex wedding reveler was granted M.E £2,994 after the rice-throwing became a bit rambunctious and left him with an injured eye.
A Welsh artist pocketed ME £1,796 after he was floored by a sudden gust of wind in 1896.
In 1878, a Brummie innkeeper drank poison after mistaking it for sleeping potion: he got a whopping £48,000 in today’s money.
And finally, 111 years ago, a bank clerk was awarded a tangy £8,901 ME after slipping on an orange rind in a shop. Makes a change from a banana skin.