The claimants details have been changed but this is indeed a true case
Annemarie Ellis-Percival, a Personal Injury lawyer at Ward & Rider Solicitors acted for a client who was injured whilst at work. On the day of the accident he slipped on a piece of piping which was in a corridor, falling to the ground and severely injuring his knee.
This led to a rupture of a tendon in his knee and the client’s life was severely interrupted for several months. During this time he was unable to walk properly and had difficulty with many household tasks. He was also unable to work for several months.
A claim was directed to the client’s employer who quickly admitted that they were at fault for this incident and liability was admitted.
Medical evidence was then obtained regarding the client’s injury. Our expert confirmed that a rupture of a tendon had occurred but he also confirmed that our client was at risk of a further rupture of the tendon with the next 10 years of his life. Our expert also confirmed that our client was going to be left with some ongoing weakness to his knee and there would be a consequential effect on his leisure pursuits of hill walking and jogging.
It also came to light that our client had taken voluntary redundancy due to the accident because he did not feel he was able to work in that capacity any longer due to the injury.
A claim was therefore submitted for his loss of earnings for the period of time for which he took the voluntary redundancy.
This claim was successful. Our client was awarded £40,000 in compensation overall. This comprised of compensation for the ongoing injuries, some minor losses and expenses. Compensation was also gained for his future loss of earnings for 3 years during which time he was forced to take early redundancy due to the injury.
It is understood that following this accident, systems at our client’s place of work have changed with regards to leaving the pipes and other objects in the corridors which could be a tripping hazard.
