PERSONAL INJURY COMPENSATION CASES — “READERS’ SUCCESSFUL ACCIDENT CLAIMS”

August 4th, 2009 Hinchliffes

Published in Truckstop News August 2009.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury firm Hinchliffes Solicitors will consider some “READERS’ SUCCESSFUL ACCIDENT CLAIMS”.

Over the next few months Steven Hinchliffe will look at a number of different accident situations experienced by readers of Truckstop News leading to an award of compensation.

All of the accident victims mentioned in this series of articles are actual clients of my firm, Hinchliffes Solicitors. They have kindly given their permission for the disclosure of their details, and in particular of their real life experiences of incidents resulting in personal injury, and the steps taken to make a successful accident compensation claim. All of these clients contacted my firm after seeing our details in Truckstop News – and readers may recognise some of names referred to.

In each article I will highlight several different types of accident, but the common trend that will emerge is the effect on each individual’s life. They all suffered injury (with varying degrees of seriousness) and many lost income as a result, along with other financial losses. Although using the process of law as a means of redress cannot truly compensate for the trauma and inconvenience suffered, it can assist in requiring the guilty party to provide medical treatment and rehabilitation, in addition to financial relief by way of awards of compensation. The basic aim of an accident claim is to try and return the injured party to the position that he or she would otherwise have been in had the accident not happened.

CASE STUDY 1 – WORK ACCIDENT CLAIM

This accident happened on 18 August 2004. Mr R Parker of Copmanthorpe in Yorkshire (then 62 years old) was employed as a driver by Nick Wilson International Transport Services of Suffolk. He was moving a canvass sheet on the back of a flat bed trailer, when his heel got stuck on one of the 4 uncovered holes in the trailer floor that allow containers to sit securely. He lost his balance and fell from the trailer to the ground below, and suffered a major injury to his left shoulder that required extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation. He did not recover sufficiently to allow him to return to work and his claim included lost earnings up to his expected retirement age of 65.

Mr Parker first contacted my firm in November 2004 and a couple of weeks later a letter of claim was sent to his employer. This made its way to their insurers, who investigated the matters raised and in February 2005 they accepted partial liability for the accident. They argued that Mr Parker was partly to blame, and this issue took some time to resolve.

Due to the long period of recovery and Mr Parker’s continuing loss of income during this time, we were able to obtain 2 interim payments to ease his financial situation. It is important that claims are not settled until the medical position is entirely clear, otherwise the figure agreed might be less than the injury is ultimately worth.

By the summer of 2007 Mr Parker’s medical condition had stabilised and his claim was then settled. As is often the case, the insurers made a global offer that included compensation for his injury as well as his financial losses, and they also took into account their allegation that he was partly responsible for the accident. The amount they paid to Mr Parker totalled £42,000 (inclusive of the interim payments) and around one third of this was for his injury and two thirds for his financial losses. In addition, the insurers also had to repay State benefits in excess of £16,000.

Although the claim was successful, Mr Parker had to cope with several years of uncertainty, on top of having to end his working life early and being left with a residual weakness in his shoulder that will be with him for the rest of his life.

What is clear is that this accident should never have happened. His employer had a duty to provide him with a safe system of work, and work equipment that was not defective. The 4 holes in the floor of the trailer should have had fixed plates to cover them, and if this had been the case Mr Parker would not have fallen.

CASE STUDY 2 – ROAD ACCIDENT CLAIM

On 19 February 2008 Mr P (name withheld at client’s request) of Harwich was driving along the A14 when, without warning, a car pulled out in front of him. He tried to stop, but was unable to do so and a collision took place. As a result of the impact, Mr P suffered a whiplash type injury to his neck and shoulders. He contacted my firm a few days after the accident, and within a couple of weeks of a letter of claim being sent to the negligent driver, his insurers unconditionally admitted liability for the accident.

Once we had obtained Mr P’s medical records and instructed a consultant to examine him, a medical report was finalised at the end of July. It took a little while to gather details of Mr P’s wage losses from his employer, and this meant the claim could not be settled until October. However, he successfully recovered compensation for his injuries and financial losses, including his lost wages.

From start to finish, Mr P’s claim took only 8 months and in common with my firm’s other clients, Mr P kept all of his compensation. Our costs and expenses were paid by the negligent driver’s insurers.

PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM SOLICITORS:-

If you have suffered any form of accident or contracted an industrial disease contact personal injury claims specialists Hinchliffes Solicitors for immediate legal advice, to find out if you are entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation. All cases are conducted on a Free No Win No Fee claims basis, where you keep 100% of the compensation recovered.

Call now on 0800 138 1348 to speak direct to one of our specialist claims solicitors or go to our Start Your Claim Now page to submit details of your accident compensation claim online.