| Accident
at Work – A Minor
Our client (who was aged 16 at the time of her accident) was working
on a production line in a factory. In the course of her employment
one of the lids she was putting onto a pie base flipped and missed
the pie base, as she went to place the lid on the pie the cutter
arm of the machine came down onto her hand cutting off her thumb
and lacerating her hand. We obtained an admission of liability
from the Defendants and the matter settled for £22,750
without the need to issue court proceedings.
Road Traffic Accident - Driver
Our client, the Claimant, whilst driving his vehicle was hit in
the rear by the Defendant’s vehicle. The Defendant alleged
that no impact occurred or that if impact did occur it was so
minor that it could not have caused any injury to the Claimant
whatsoever. We issued court proceedings and the court found in
favour of our client and awarded him £1,250
damages for a whiplash injury lasting 6 weeks.
Road Traffic Accident - Pedestrian
Our client, aged 54 at the time of the accident, was crossing
a road when he was knocked down by a motor vehicle which was being
driven by the Defendant. Our client could not recall how the accident
occurred as he was knocked unconscious at the scene. Police evidence
showed our client to be under the influence of drink. The Defendant
disputed liability, stating that he was driving the vehicle in
a safe and reasonable manner and the accident occurred because
our client was drunk and had walked out into the road without
checking for oncoming vehicles. There were no independent witnesses.
We proceeded to obtain medical evidence which showed our client
had suffered a fractured tibia & fibula, a fracture to his
right clavicle and a minor head injury. After negotiations the
Defendant accepted they had some responsibility to our client
even though they believed him to be partly to blame for the accident
and the claim settled for £5000.
Accident at Work
The Claimant was involved in an accident at work. The Claimant
was told that he had to remove a heavy object from the back of
a lorry, using a hand held trolley. As the Claimant tried to lift
with the lip of the trolley, the lip of the trolley broke off,
causing the Claimant to fall backwards and off the tail lift of
his lorry. The Claimant fell over 4 feet to the ground, landing
on his right heel, which shattered.
The Claimant sustained massively incapacitating personal injuries,
and his right foot is now 3 shoe sizes larger than the left as
a direct result of those injuries. The Claimant was unable to
return to work, and was told he will never work again. He had
10 years of his normal working life remaining. The Claimant was
dependent upon his family and partner for help and personal assistance,
and had to undergo months of physiotherapy. Now, the Claimant
can walk only 25 metres before needing to take a rest.
Liability was initially disputed by his employers, but was subsequently
admitted at a later date. Legal proceedings were issued, and after
lengthy discussions, the Claimant's claim was agreed between the
parties following a 'round the table' discussion, in the sum of
£220,000. The Claimant's money was invested in a personal
injury trust, so as to protect his financial position.
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