Accident at Work Settlement for Injured Driver

Jason Claridge, Personal Injury Director and Lawyer at Ward & Rider Solicitors, acted for Mr B*, from Coventry, on a no win no fee basis.  Jason says "I had acted for Mr B in the past in relation to a couple of compensation claims.  At the time of his accident his job involved delivering glass to a local factory.  His recollection of the accident was vague because he was knocked out through a concussion injury as well as a whiplash injury as a result of the accident at work.  It seemed that a gate had swung into the cab of the HGV lorry that he was driving which affected the ability of our client to drive his vehicle, which ultimately struck a wall this led to the client having a personal injury.

We notified the factory.  For a long time they disputed liability.  They argued that they had in place a system where the gates were pinned back by a concrete block.  They relied on the fact that my client employer's insurers had, in my opinion foolishly, paid out for the damage caused to the gates in the building.  They also relied on the statement of a guard who came across the accident scene shortly after it occurred.  Furthermore they disclosed a DVD which had an effect on the accident claim.

I reviewed the DVD on a number of occasions but it didn’t show anything other than a grainy image of a lorry colliding with a wall.  As it happens there was an individual who was working opposite the plant and he was able to categorically tell us that the accident was caused by the fact that the gates had not been pinned back and had swung into the path of the lorry giving my client no chance to avoid this accident at work.  We were unable to agree a settlement initially for the accident at work Mr B had and therefore we had to issue court proceedings.  We made them an offer to settle the claim but this was rejected at first.

I kept pointing out the strength of our claim to the solicitors acting for the factory.  They kept refusing to make any offer of settlement for the personal injury.  My client's injuries were not so serious.  The injury to his head caused him to have headaches for a few weeks and the whiplash injury lasted for around six months.  He had to have some time off work in the aftermath of the accident at work.  He also struggled to do the housework and relied on his partner to do this for him.  Furthermore he incurred some expenses in terms of what he paid for his treatment, which mainly took the form of medication and the travelling he did for this treatment.

We pursued this compensation claim for him on a no win no fee basis.  In the build up to trial our opponents saw sense.  They accepted my offer many months after it had been made.  They confirmed that their client was responsible for my client’s accident and the injuries that he suffered as a consequence of this whilst driving the lorry during the course of his work.  The offer that we had made was £2,340.00.  This was accepted and he received a cheque for this amount in respect of his compensation.  They also paid his legal costs which had been incurred by this personal injury claim.”

* Mr B’s name has been changed to respect his privacy but this is indeed a true case.