The claimant’s details have been changed but this is indeed a true case
Phil Mulryne acted for Mrs T, the Claimant, to pursue a personal injury claim.
The Claimant was at the Defendant’s premises when she tripped over the edge of a mat.
Liability was conceded by the Defendants, but the issue of contributory negligence was raised. The Defendants argued that the Claimant was not paying sufficient attention and should have avoided any potential hazard.
The Defendants argue that the Defendants’ claim should be reduced by 33% to represent her contribution towards the accident. This was then decreased to 25%, with eventually 20% contributory negligence being agreed.
The Claimant suffered a fracture to the upper part of her left arm near the shoulder. She recovered well with physiotherapy and at 3 years following the accident she only had very minor occasional symptoms.
As a consequence of the injury, the Claimant was off work. She was paid in full by the employer, but under the terms of her contract she was contractually obliged to reclaim sickness payments made during the period of absence as part of the claim.
The Claimant also undertook agency work but was unable to carry this out for the period of 3 months.
The Claimant had to rely on her husband assisting her with washing, dressing/undressing and washing and drying her hair. This lasted for around 1 month. In addition, the Claimant’s husband undertook all of the post-accident laundry duties and meal preparation for a similar period.
The Claimant claimed the costs of medication together with traveling expenses attending medical appointments.
The Claimant was due to attend a business conference on the day of the accident and claimed the pre-paid train fare and hotel costs.
An offer to settle was put forward at just under £11,000. This was net of contributory negligence so a total value of around £13,500 was offered.
This offer was rejected and an increased offer was put forward in the sum of £12,000 which was accepted.
Whilst a global settlement offer was forwarded, this represented around £8,000 personal injury damages, together with loss of earnings in the region of £3,500 with additional £500 being received to represent the claim for care and assistance and expenses.