Vijay Parekh acted for Mr P with regard to a personal injury claim. Mr P, a father to four children, was a successful HGV driver for a large supermarket chain. On the day of his accident, he was heading back to his depot after delivering various items to a supermarket warehouse when the defendant driver drove head-on into Mr P’s HGV lorry. Sadly, the defendant driver died at the scene of the accident. The accident had devastating consequences for Mr P and his family in that he was no longer capable of returning to any meaningful employment in the foreseeable future.
Soon after the accident, Mr P instructed Ward & Rider Solicitors and the case was led by Personal Injury Specialist, Vijay Parekh along with a senior Solicitor and Director at Ward & Rider Solicitors, Huw Phillips. Mr P, as a result of the accident, sustained severe psychiatric injury, chronic pain disorder – in particular in his spinal region – and an injury to his right shoulder and arm which also had an impact on pre-existing osteoarthritis.
Mr P continued to suffer severe post-traumatic stress disorder and significant depressive disorder.
Says Vijay: This was a very difficult and challenging case. I pursued this matter on behalf of Mr P and obtained medical evidence from five different consultants, namely a Consultant Neurologist, a Consultant in Pain Management, a Consultant Spinal Surgeon in relation to Mr. P’s physical injuries and also a report from a Consultant Psychiatrist in relation to his severe psychological injury. I also obtained a report from a care expert in relation to Mr P’s care needs which he will require for the remainder of his life.
We also organised a Case Manager for Mr P, who put in place a Support Worker for him, and they also set up a taxi account for Mr P and his family as he was no longer able to drive due to the injuries sustained in the accident. There were other provisions put in place for Mr P’s day to day needs.
Vijay then instructed a leading QC, a senior barrister, to assist with advancing this case to the point where the parties were in a position to negotiate a settlement in relation to Mr P’s compensation. It was recognised by the leading QC that Mr P lacked capacity when dealing with finances and therefore it was important to appoint a Deputy to handle Mr P’s finances. Therefore an application was made to the Court of Protection in London prior to any settlement being reached between the parties.
We commenced proceedings against the estate of the defendant driver and against the leading insurer. The solicitors on the other side had also obtained five medical reports from like experts and the Court ordered all the experts to have joint discussions and prepare joint reports on the areas of agreement and areas of disagreement. Once the joint reports had been obtained from all the experts in this case the Defendant’s solicitors suggested having a joint settlement meeting. This is where the parties meet up to negotiate a settlement.
Following the joint settlement meeting, and with the help of our leading QC, a settlement was reached in the sum of just over £1.9 million.
Mr P and his family were extremely pleased with the outcome of this claim and thanked us and our leading QC for all the hard work that had been put into this rather difficult and complex case. Indeed, this was a great outcome for Mr P and no doubt this will help Mr P and his family financially.
This has been one of the most challenging cases of Vijay’s career.
