SUCCESSFUL TRIPPING ACCIDENT CLAIMS

May 21st, 2010 admin

Published in Truckstop News June 2010.

In this month’s issue Steven Hinchliffe of the specialist Personal Injury Compensation firm Hinchliffes Solicitors will consider more “READERS’ SUCCESSFUL TRIPPING ACCIDENT CLAIMS“

Continuing his review of successfully completed accident injury claims, Steven Hinchliffe looks at more situations experienced by readers of Truckstop News that resulted in an award of personal injury compensation.

All of the accident victims mentioned in these 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 claims, 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 the names referred to.

In this article I highlight 2 cases where drivers were injured because of dangerous premises. As with previous articles, the common trend remains the effect on each individual’s life. Both men had similar accidents, but sustained quite different degrees of injury and financial loss. Although using the process of law to make personal injury claims 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. As previously indicated, 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 – Defective flooring

In November 2007 Mr L (name withheld at client’s request) of Dartford went to collect a load of concrete pipes and parked his truck and trailer in the designated loading area. Once the pipes were loaded he had to secure them to the trailer and as he stepped forward to throw a strap over the top of the load, his foot went down onto a circular grid a couple of inches lower than the ground surface level. This caused him to go over on his ankle and he suffered an injury that kept him off work for 3 weeks. He continued to have pain, swelling and restricted movement for a considerable time. The medical consultant instructed in the case recommended 12 sessions of physiotherapy by way of rehabilitation to help with the recovery process.

Mr L contacted my firm in July 2008 and after initial enquiries were completed a letter of claim was sent to the occupiers of the site where the accident happened. Their insurers tried to suggest that Mr L’s employers were at fault, but this was clearly inappropriate and by November 2008 they had admitted responsibility for what had happened. We arranged for Mr L to be examined by the medical consultant, whose report and details of Mr L’s financial losses were sent to the insurers and the claim was settled by December 2008. He recovered £3,500 for his injury and £2,500 for his financial losses, which included over £1,500 for lost wages while he was off work.

A few days after the accident the company repaired the defective grid, making it flush with the surface of the yard. Had they kept the yard well maintained the accident could have been avoided, saving Mr L the pain and inconvenience of his injury, and removing the need for their insurers to pay compensation and legal costs, in a case that took only 5 months to complete.

CASE STUDY 2 – Defective gantry

Mr C D Fowler contacted my firm in November 2007 following an accident the previous month. At that time he was on the weighbridge at Barton Plant Ltd’s Harlestone Quarry. He got out of his lorry and stepped onto a gantry, and as he stepped backwards to close the cab door he caught his foot on the edge of a metal plate that was standing significantly proud of the other plates. Mr Fowler lost his balance and fell into the gantry railings, suffering chest injuries.

A letter of claim was sent to the company at the end of November 2007, alleging that the gantry was defective as the metal plate was a potential tripping hazard and was dangerous. It proved necessary to press the company’s insurers for a response on liability and in March 2008 they denied responsibility for the accident. Their position was that the gantry was neither defective nor dangerous and the actual cause of the accident was Mr Fowler’s lack of attention.

My firm arranged for a specialist medical consultant to prepare a report on Mr Fowler’s injuries and we also gathered details of his financial losses. This evidence was then sent to the insurers, but they refused to alter their position. Full details of the case were then considered by a Barrister, who felt that the risk of Mr Fowler not succeeding before a Judge at trial were too high and it was not appropriate to issue Court proceedings. Therefore my firm continued to negotiate hard with the insurers, highlighting factual issues that supported the claim and also exploring the possibility of a commercial resolution in which Mr Fowler might be prepared to accept a smaller financial sum than he would otherwise be entitled to if responsibility for the accident was admitted. After much hard work it was possible to settle the claim, with Mr Fowler receiving £1,100 for his injuries and £400 towards his financial losses, representing about 60% of the claim’s full value. However, some solicitors might have withdrawn the claim after receiving the Barrister’s advice, leaving Mr Fowler with no personal injury compensation at all.

The outcomes in these cases were quite different, but each man kept all of the compensation recovered, as their legal costs were paid by the relevant defendant’s insurers. It is not unusual for insurers to fight claims strongly, but if my firm feels there is a chance of the client succeeding we will do our utmost to obtain justice for them.

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.