Published in Truckstop News May 2017.

In this issue Steven Hinchliffe of the professional drivers’ “go to” Personal Injury specialists Hinchliffes Solicitors considers “THE OUTCOME FOR THE INJURED DRIVER”

In the last issue Steven Hinchliffe looked at a situation experienced by a reader of Truckstop News, whose Accident resulted in a claim for Personal Injury compensation.  Part 1 looked at the initial steps taken.

You will remember that my client Mr C of Leicester (name withheld at client’s request) had been required to manually grit a yard, as the faulty mechanical grit spreader had not been repaired, and in doing so sustained an injury.  We were waiting for a response to the claim from BT, who were the company at fault.

CASE STUDY – Shunter Driver Injured DUE TO WORK EQUIPMENT FAILURE – PART 2

You may recall from the first part of this accident report that we had arranged for Mr C to see a medical consultant who would then prepare a written report setting out his pre-accident health, the injuries suffered and treatment given, and finally a prognosis for achieving a full recovery.  While we were waiting for that report to arrive we received notification from BT’s advisers that responsibility for the accident was admitted, removing the complication of having to establish liability in a contested case.  Proof of liability against a third party is fundamental to the success of a Personal Injury claim – a claimant may have suffered the most awful injuries, but if it cannot be established that someone else was responsible for causing them, no compensation is recoverable.

Mr C was delighted with the admission of liability and we then looked into his financial losses attributable to the accident, and in particular his reduction in income during the time when he could not work because of the injuries.  There were other losses including his travel expenses in attending medical appointments, increased household utilities and private physiotherapy treatment.  You may remember that Mr C was employed by an agency even though the job involved him working at BT’s premises, and it took us ages to obtain his earnings information from the agency, which delayed the progress of the claim for a few weeks.

Finally, we were able to calculate all of Mr C’s financial losses and by this time the medical report had also arrived.  This confirmed that he had sustained an injury to his right shoulder requiring 5 weeks off work, and that he continued to suffer from symptoms.  The medical expert believed that Mr C had suffered a rotator cuff tear to his shoulder and that he needed physiotherapy and ultrasound treatment, and with this he would probably make a full recovery within the next 6 to 12 months.

We then wrote to Mr C with our advice on the amount of compensation he would likely recover from BT in respect of both the injury and his accident related financial losses.  Having approved the contents of the medical report and accepting our advice, Mr C instructed us to try and seek a negotiated settlement of his claim.  We therefore submitted all the evidence in support of the value of the claim to BT’s advisors and after a few days of negotiation an acceptable offer was received and the claim settled.  A couple of weeks later the funds arrived and the compensation due to Mr C was paid to him.  The total sum negotiated with BT’s advisers was £5,687.63.

When asked about his experience of my firm’s service, Mr C commented:-

“Somebody who looks after the little guys”

As I have already mentioned, although Mr C was employed by an agency he was contracted out to BT, who then took on the same legal responsibilities for his welfare as if he had been employed by them direct.  The mechanical gritter had been broken for weeks and it had not been repaired, despite it being winter when it was most likely to be needed.  If BT had had a proper system for inspection, maintenance and repair for their equipment the gritter would have been serviceable, Mr C would not have had his accident and BT would not have had to pay him any compensation.  Time and time again we come across situations like this where accidents at work could have been easily avoided.

In this case BT knew the gritter was faulty, but what would the outcome have been if it had broken while Mr C was using it, causing him injury?  Would his claim still have been successful?  Read my article in the next issue of Truckstop News, where I will be examining just this point.

All of my Truckstop News articles appear on my firm’s website at www.hinchliffes.co.uk in the “Latest News” blog link on the homepage.

You do not have to be a professional driver to seek our help – anyone hurt in an accident (eg members of your family or friends) can contact us for advice.

Steven Hinchliffe, solicitor and Principal of Hinchliffes Solicitors

© Copyright 2017 Hinchliffes Solicitors

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 No Win No Fee and No Risk basis.

Call now on 01684 580900 to speak direct to one of our specialist claims lawyers or go to our Start Your Claim  page to submit details of your accident compensation claim online.

If you would like to know what your injury claim may be worth, please go to our Value Your Injury page.

Confused by the claims process?  Please look at our extensive FAQs.

The post DOES SHUNTER DRIVER INJURED DUE TO WORK EQUIPMENT FAILURE WIN COMPENSATION? appeared first on Hinchliffes Solicitors.