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Personal Injury - Case Studies
| We never lose sight of the fact that we are
dealing with real people, with real injuries. This sections
tells some of the true stories of people we have helped with
Personal Injury claims. Identities have obviously been changed
to maintain client confidentiality. |
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- Accident on the road - serious on-going injuries - compensation
£200,000-300,000
2 - Accident at work - back
injury - compensation £10,000
3 - Road traffic accident
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Driver:
amputation below knee - compensation £650,000
Passenger:
whiplash - compensation £3,450.
4 - Pedestrian hit by car on
zebra crossing - compensation £2,250
5 - Accident at work, victim
partially liable - crushed thumb - compensation £4,122
6 - Accident at work - head
injury - compensation £4,122
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Case Study 1 - Accident on the road
Mrs G's vehicle had broke down on a busy road. She was forced
to walk from her car in order to try to get some assistance.
Tragically an articulated lorry was coming along the road and
knocked her over.
She was extremely badly injured and sustained fractures throughout
her body. More importantly, she also sustained a complete tear
to her brachial plexus which is the network of nerves connecting
the arm to the trunk and the spine. As a result of her injury
she effectively lost the use of her dominant right arm. As you
can imagine this has had a profound effect upon our client.
She was in hospital for several weeks as a result of this accident
and when she returned home she gave us a telephone call.
As it would have been very difficult for our client to get into
the office, we visited her at home to take details of her accident.
We took full instructions and despite the fact that this was
a very complicated claim managed to secure an admission of liability
from the third party insurers within a month.
We immediately appreciated that our client was going to be in
a great deal of financial difficulty as a result of this accident.
That turned out to be the case as she fell into severe difficulty
in meeting regular rental payments on her home. She was working
part time prior to this accident.
We obtained medical evidence from our client within six months
of the date of the injury and this was sent to the insurers.
We then proceeded to obtain several other medical reports to
include the following: |
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- Consultant Orthopaedic report (to deal with
the bone injuries)
- Consultant Neurosurgeon's report (to deal
with the injury to the brachial plexus - the most serious
injury)
- Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon's
report (to deal with the scarring that my client sustained)
- Consultant Psychiatrist's report (to deal
with the psychiatric injuries that our client sustained
as a result)
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The fact that we obtained early medical evidence
for our client meant that we were able to secure interim payments
for her. This enabled her to meet her financial commitment for
the next year or two. Our client received the better part of
£20,000 during this period which in fact would probably
have been greater than the sum she would have recovered in earnings
had the accident not occurred.
The difficulty that our client ran into was that she was living
with her son and this was becoming a real strain upon her. As
a result of the fact that we were able to persuade the third
party insurers to make another interim payment, this time of
£50,000.
This is extremely rare. Insurance Companies are generally reluctant
to make sizeable interim payments because, for obvious reasons,
if you keep paying the Claimant interim payments the Claimant
is less likely to be pushed into a corner and accept reduced
final compensation.
Our client does not have any financial constraints and due to
the fact that she has just been paid £50,000, she has
been able to purchase her own home and she will also hopefully
have enough money to have the home adapted to include the provision
of a "walk-in bath" etc.
Of course nothing can compensate anybody for the loss of one's
arm but our client in particular seems to be very pleased with
the way this claim is progressing.
We are continuing to pursue the balance of her claim which will
include the recovery of the costs of care both in the past and
in the future. It will also include a claim for her potential
loss of earnings and the claim could be worth in the region
of £200,000 to £300,000 eventually.
One of the major points to note with this claim is that a sizeable
claim need not be a claim where no compensation is available
for four or five years. Whilst it would be unduly hasty to settle
a claim such as this within a year or two, this need not mean
that you should be without compensation during that period. |
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Case Study 2 - Accident at work
Our client worked as a milkman and came to his float at the
start of the shift and prepared his electric float. He was fitting
together the battery connectors in the float (with our client
bending in the cab at the time) when the float set off despite
the fact that the float was not "in gear" nor was
the "drive" pedal depressed.
Our client was thrown heavily to the floor and he suffered a
bad strain injury to his back.
Liability for the accident was firmly denied by the third party
insurers apparently on the basis that the hand brake was not
depressed - as they suggested it should have been.
We obtained a report from an expert in electric vehicles and
he was able to prove from the background facts - fumes coming
from the battery in the weeks before, lack of maintenance etc.
that the fault was likely to be due to faulty components in
the truck which would have been spotted had the company operated
a proper inspection system.
We were also able to prove that the established practice in
the company was to leave the trucks in gear and that management
turned a blind eye to this. (This is a very important feature
because insurers often try to turn the blame onto the client
for failing to follow supposed established practice despite
lack of training, supervision or turning a blind eye.) The employers
duty to the employee is after all continuing and its not enough
to just let the employee watch a video setting out " safe
practice ". They have to ensure it is carried out.
On this occasion we were able to convince the insurers solicitors
that our client should be compensated because of the expert
evidence and the fact that the employers were turning the blind
eye etc. to dangerous practice in the workplace.
Our client was awarded £10,000. |
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Case Study 3 - Road traffic accident
Mr B was travelling home from a day at the coast with his wife.
He was on a dual carriageway road when a car travelling in the
opposite direction came across the central reservation. There
was a head on collision.
Mrs B was lucky. She received moderate whiplash injuries, although
they took sometime to heal. Her claim was settled eighteen months
after the accident for £3,450.
Mr B's injuries were much more severe. His Consultant Orthopaedic
Surgeon struggled for a number of years to try and repair the
damage done to Mr B's right leg. Unfortunately, it was ultimately
necessary to undertake a below knee amputation. Whilst Mr B's
prognosis remained uncertain interim payments amounting to £35,000
were recovered from the Defendants.
Mr B was forced to give up his well paid job as a Sales Manager
with a National Company.
A substantial loss of earnings claim was formulated and ultimately
Mr B settled his claim, one week before the Court were due to
assess his damages, at £650,000.
On our advice Mr B has now invested this sum to provide for
regular income for himself and his wife for the remainder of
their lives. |
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Case Study 4 - Pedestrian hit by
car
Mr K was a pedestrian who was knocked over by a car whilst on
a zebra crossing.
A medical report was obtained on Mr K's injuries and as he was
off work for a period of two weeks a loss of earnings claim
was presented.
Thankfully Mr K's injuries were relatively minor and accordingly
his claim was settled for £2,250 within four months of
the date of the accident. |
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Case Study 5 - Accident at work,
victim partially liable
Mr G who was employed as a toolmaker, had an accident at work
where he sustained a crush injury to his left thumb whilst adjusting
an air power press machine.
We were instructed to pursue a claim for personal injury and
loss.
In terms of liability it was argued that there would be a finding
of contributory negligence against Mr G. Mr G accepted that
he had constructed the press tool and should have know better
with regards to his safety. Liability was apportioned 80-20
in his favour.
Medical evidence was obtained supporting the claim for injuries,
pain and suffering and loss of amenity and together with the
calculations as to loss of income and expenses were submitted
to the insurers. Negotiations were entered into. An initial
offer of settlement was rejected.
Mr G finally accepted a sum of £4,122 and in addition
his legal costs were met by the Third Party Insurers. |
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Case Study 6 - Accident at work
Mr E was involved in a significant accident whilst at work when
he was knocked off a pipe and sustained a head injury as he
fell past a loader bucket falling some 12 feet on to a gravelled
floor. He landed heavily on his right side sustaining fractures
of the upper 3 ribs and a significant head injury due to the
blow sustained on the loader bucket and a laceration to left
anterior shin area.
Mr E was detained in hospital for some 3 days requiring extensive
analgesia. He gradually mobilised such that he was able to be
discharged home to the care of his wife. He was in considerable
discomfort for 4 to 6 weeks, 3 months overall. There was still
some moderate discomfort some 9 months post accident.
Mr E instructed us and entered into a conditional fee agreement
(no win no fee). Liability was resolved in June 1999 with the
Third Party Insurers confirming that they were willing to settle
the claim. Following the obtaining of medical evidence and assessing
Mr E's expenses and losses, negotiations commenced to conclude
the claim for personal injury and loss.
An initial offer was made by the insurers of £3,000 for
the personal injury element of the claim. This was rejected
and eventually damages were recovered in the sum of £4,122
in settlement. In addition Mr E recovered his legal costs and
disbursements. |
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