Jason Claridge, Director and specialist in Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence, recently acted for Miss W*. Miss W was involved in a road traffic accident. She had in her car with her, her son. The accident circumstances were relatively common place in that she was attempting to negotiate her way around a road traffic island when the defendant driver veered into her lane causing a collision.
After the accident, she pulled into a nearby car park as did the defendant. There then pursued an argument between the driver of the defendant vehicle and Miss W. That driver blamed Miss W despite the fact it was clear she had right of way at the time of the accident.
She called her family who attended and details were exchanged after tempers calmed down. Miss W attended her local hospital and confirmed to have suffered spinal injuries. Liability was initially disputed. However we were able to show by reference to damage to the vehicle that her description of the accident was correct. Unfortunately she continued to have problems with her spine and she also developed travel anxiety. We obtained medical evidence which supported Miss W suffering an acceleration of degenerative changes in her spine by 5-8 years and a prognosis of 6 years of travel anxiety as a consequence of this accident, although treatment would assist her.
As a result of the accident, Miss W struggled. She spent money on treatment and had travelling expenses incurred as a result of her going to see GPs, hospitals and physiotherapists.
In addition she required help from her family and her ex-partner’s family in respect of heavier domestic activities because she struggled with his. Critically for her she had worked as a career before the accident. This was a job she enjoyed and loved. She struggled at work and her employers made adjustments to the type of activities she was required to do and essentially she did less physically demanding tasks and she worked in a team of people with regards to particular types of clients. Her employers advised she had reduced her hours and this had led to a reduction in her earnings. We were able to argue as a result of that reduction and with the support of the orthopaedic surgeon, she had lost thousands of pounds and would lose thousands of pounds as a consequence of the injuries she suffered.
We served the defendant’s representatives with medical evidence and a Schedule of Financial Losses. There were a number of offers and counter offers. Ultimately the defendants made an offer of £50,000 which the claimant found to be acceptable. She intended to invest the money and use it as inheritance for his young son for when he reached adulthood so she could help him if he wanted to go into further education, to have a car or to seek some other qualification to advance his life.
This matter is indeed a true case although Miss W’s details have been changed. It was ran on a no win, no fee basis. We are of course willing to assist anyone with relevant cases in respect of road traffic accident claims, personal injury claims arising out of tripping and slipping cases, claims arising out of accidents at work as well as claims involving the medical profession.
