Friday, February 22, 2013

Achieving fair compensation

Digby Brown legal funding helps client achieve 3-fold increase in compensation
Mr M was a self-employed sheep shearer.  While working on a farm, he was asked by the owner of the farm to enter an area between two pens which was secured by a gate which could be opened and closed by pulling a rope.  The rope had a hook on it to secure it in place when not being used. Unfortunately, as Mr M went to pull the rope, the hook sprung loose and struck him in the eye.

Mr M now suffers from permanent eye damage and is at high risk of developing secondary glaucoma.

Mr M asked Digby Brown to investigate and pursue a claim against the farm to compensate him for his injuries. Following the advice of Digby Brown, Mr M rejected pre-litigation offers of £3,000 and £4,500 and proceeded to litigation. Immediately after court proceedings were raised, the farm's insurers made an offer of £12,000 - 300% more than their initial offer. Without the backing of legal expense insurance to protect Mr M in the event he failed to beat the previous offers, he would not have been able to proceed to litigation and instead been forced to accept one of the ridiculously low offers the farms insurers originally put forward.

The robust approach adopted by Digby Brown and our refusal to put Mr M in a position of accepting less than we felt he was legally entitled to meant that the insurers had no option but to advance an offer that truly reflected what Mr M was entitled to.

Injury at work case settles for over 3.5 times original compensation offer
In this case, our client was injured at work, sustaining a crush injury to his right thumb ,with scarring and loss of sensation, when a spreader beam toppled over. We advised the client that his employers were in breach of Regulations 6 & 8 of the Lifting Operations & Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER 1998) together with Regulation 10 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (WAH 2005).

Following this advice, the defenders conceded they were liable for the injury, allowing us to prepare a valuation of this case.

Pre-litigation, the defenders offered a total of £2,270, with £1,400 of this attributable to the pursuer's injuries. We thought this wholly undervalued the claim and raised a court action. The case then settled for £8,000, over 3.5 times the pre litigation offer of compensation made by the insurers.

Fife client recieves six-figure sum after shoulder injury
Our client in this case, a female in the Fife area, approached us in May 2011.  She had tripped on a temporary manhole cover being used by Fife Council, breaking her shoulder.

The client had initially pursued a claim for compensation herself.  Solicitors for Fife Council made her an offer to settle the case for £5,000.  At this point, she approached Digby Brown to seek a second opinion on whether this was a fair offer.

Having investigated the case fully, we concluded It was not. When we informed the defending insurers that we had taken on the case, we immediately received an increased offer of £10,000.

The client’s medical problems worsened, she developed an infection in her shoulder which meant it could not be replaced, leaving her with greatly reduced mobility and totally reliant on her husband for assistance in cooking, cutting up food, dressing and other daily tasks. Unfortunately, during the case, he died.

To make sure our client received what she needed, we commissioned a ‘future needs assessment’ to evaluate the level of support and compensation she would require as a result of her injury and change in circumstances. The case settled at a pre trial meeting for a six figure sum, many times the original offer that had been made before the client came to Digby Brown.

Following the result, our client described themselves as ‘over the moon’ with the outcome and described the day she had walked into our Fife office as on the best decisions she had ever made.

Client receives almost four times the initial offer insurance company were prepared to offer

This lady was the front seat passenger in a vehicle involved in a road traffic accident. The vehicle in which she was travelling was hit from behind whilst stationary in a queue of traffic, shunting the vehicle into the vehicle in front. She sustained whiplash and an injury to her knee. She contacted Digby Brown and negotiations with the third party insurers commenced. An initial offer of £1600 was made and rejected and after prolonged attempts at a realistic settlement proceedings where raised in the Sheriff Court. Eventually the matter settled for £6000.

The dangers of allowing other sides Insurer to deal with your personal injury case
Mrs M. was involved in a high speed crash on the M74 whilst travelling on holiday. She suffered aggravation of lower back and leg problems. Esure represented the driver at fault. They persuaded Mrs M. that they could deal with the claim on her behalf. After almost 3 years of no progress and poor medical intervention Mrs M. contacted Digby Brown. After initial contact was made with Esure, they tried to advise Digby Brown that the case had been settled directly with Mrs M. for £750. This was clearly incorrect and a court action was raised where £7,500 was obtained in settlement

Insurers trying to deliberately under settle cases
The client was involved in road traffic accident caused by a third party driver . The client suffered a whiplash type injury and a soft tissue injury to his chest. The insurers made him an offer of £1,648. We were able to fund specialist medical evidence. We were able to advise the client that the offer did not reflect the true value of the case. We commenced Court proceedings against the insurers. The case settled, without a Court hearing, when client accepted an offer of £6,500. The final settlement was approximately x 4 the initial offer made by the insurers.

Road worker receives over ten times the original offer after serious accident at work

Mr S. was employed by Aberdeenshire Council as a roads worker who was trapped between a lorry and a chipping machine used to lay gravel. The machine had broken and caused the accident. Mr S. developed arthritis in both knees and was unfit to return to heavy work. An offer of £20,000 was made by his employers to settle the claim. Mr S. was retired on ill health grounds due to his injuries. Specialist reports were obtained from orthopaedic surgeons, employment consultants, consultant psychiatrists and a consultant actuary (to consider any potential loss of pension rights).

Mr S.'s claim settled shortly before a court hearing for £250,000, over ten times the original offer, compensating him for his injuries and his future loss of earnings.

Over four times the initial offered received for cyclist after being knocked down
Mr E.'s case was handled by another firm of solicitors for 2 years before he came to Digby Brown.  Mr E. had been cycling his bike when he was hit by a car and trailer, near Port Glasgow.  He suffered from a broken shoulder and the accident aggravated pre-existing knee problems. When Digby Brown took over Mr E's case an offer of £6,000 had been made. Within a year of having the case, Digby Brown had obtained an in depth medical report for Mr E. and his case was subsequently litigated in the Court of Session in Edinburgh. The Defenders increased their offer to £10,000 which was rejected.  After further negotiation with the Defenders, Mr E.'s case settled for £25,000.

The importance of speaking to a specialist firm of personal injury lawyers
Mr P. was involved in a road traffic accident in which he was hit from behind by a third party vehicle. He sustained soft tissue injuries and developed a chronic pain syndrome. Previous solicitors had secured interim payments on Mr P's behalf totalling £2852.33 and advised Mr P. that on the basis of the medical evidence, the third party insurers were not going to make him any further offers.

Digby Brown took over the handling of his case and instructed a report from a Consultant Neuropsychiatrist. Proceedings were raised in the Court of Session and Senior and Junior Counsel were instructed on Mr P's behalf. After negotiations with the defender's solicitors, Mr P's case settled for £300,000 gross of benefits received.

Don’t DIY your PI case
Mr M. was involved in a road traffic accident in August 2009.  He initially dealt with the insurance company of the negligent driver directly rather than seeking the assistance of a solicitor.  Mr M. suffered a whiplash injury to his neck and was having substantial on-going symptoms.  The insurance company offered to arrange an examination by their own medical expert.  On the basis of the report from their expert, the insurance company offered him £1,300.  When he rejected this, the insurance company increased the offer to £1,400.  Mr M. was unhappy with the offer and contacted Digby Brown.  After arranging a report from a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, it became clear that his injuries were much more extensive than the insurer’s expert had indicated.  After raising an action in the Court of Session, Mr

M.’s claim settled for £7,500 – over five times the original offer.
Mr M said after his case settled, “I was very pleased with the outcome and would like to thank you for all your help during the last 18 months.

I would like to say it was a privilege to work with such a professional company and would certainly have no hesitation in recommending you or your company to others.”

Monday, April 08, 2013

Compensation over 3x initial offer achieved for woman injured in supermarket

Ms S suffered cartilage damage in her knees when she slipped and fell as she excited a Supermarket in Midlothian.  She had slipped on some spilt food which had should have been either cleaned up or cordoned off with warning signs.

Ms S suffered both on-going pain in both her knees and considerable inconvenience and disruption, including time off work, as a result of her injuries.

Before raising court proceedings, Ms S received an offer of £1.800 from the supermarket’s insuers.  Because of the investigations we had undertaken and medical reports we had commissioned, we believed she was entitled to greater compensation and raised court proceedings on her behalf. This resulted in an increased offer of over £7,000 in compensation, over 3 times the orginal offer, which Ms S accepted.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Road Traffic Accident Case Histories

Compensation after road traffic accident on M74, Glasgow
In October 2011, Digby Brown was approached by four clients who had all been involved in a road traffic accident on the M74 near to Junction 3 at Glasgow.  While returning from a stock car racing event, the rear of their transporter was struck by a Peugeot 206 which had joined the motorway at high speed.

The accident was severe enough to require a complete closure of all northbound lanes of the motorway. All of the occupants of the transporter suffered whiplash injuries and their vehicle suffered significant rear-end damage. The driver of the vehicle was left without the use of the transporter, which he used to carry out his job as a mechanic and vehicle recovery specialist.
Not only were Digby Brown able to secure in excess of £6000 for the injuries sustained by the passengers and drivers, we were also able to recover over £5000 to compensate the owner of the transporter for the cost of hiring a transporter while his was being repaired.

Road traffic accident in Dumfries and Galloway

Miss B. was injured after a car pulled out of a junction in front of her near Castle Douglas. She was unable to avoid the collision and was injured as a result. Liability was denied by the Third Party Insurers.
Digby Brown were confident that the other driver was at fault for the accident. A court action was raised and after robust settlement negotiations Miss B. was awarded £1,000 for the injuries she sustained.

Tourist visiting Scotland involved in road traffic accident
Mrs P. was driving her husband’s car, in Leven, Fife, when it was hit from behind by an Italian tourist driving a hire car. After negotiating with the third party insurers, we raised a court action for Mrs P., and recovered damages of £3,000 for her whiplash injuries. We also assisted her husband in claiming back his policy excess and having his no-claims bonus reinstated.

Mrs P. said "I found Lianda to be very polite and helpful. I received an excellent service and would highly recommend Digby Brown to friends and family"

Client receives full compensation after disputed road traffic accident
This case involved a road traffic accident in which blame for the accident was strongly disputed.  Digby Brown’s client, Miss L., had suffered a whiplash injury when a car emerged from a T-junction.  Instead of accepting fault, the third party driver blamed her, claiming that she had lost control and struck his stationary car.  In court, Digby Brown successfully demonstrated that the version of events put by the third party driver was less credible and as a result Miss L was awarded damages for her injury of £4,5000 without any deductions.

Medical evidence key to level of compensation after road traffic accident
Mrs M. was involved in a road traffic accident in Fife and sustained a low back injury and a whiplash injury to her neck.  Digby Brown obtained an admission of liability from the Defenders quickly and on the basis of a very supportive medical report coupled with negotiations with the Defenders, Mrs M. case settled for £8,300.

The client said: “The solicitor I dealt with in Digby Brown’s Dundee office was very conscientious and hard working and always kept me up to date with the progress of our claim, if we had not had her support and help with this we would have probably given up the whole process.  On the whole your company is very professional and reliable and we have no hesitation recommending you.”

Motorcyclist receives £120,000 after road traffic accident in Dundee
Mr L. was badly inured in motorcycle accident in Dundee. A vehicle collided with Mr L’s motorcycle while attempting to do a U-turn.  Although fault was admitted, the third parties insurance company ignored Digby brown’s request for an interim payment, which is quite a common procedure when both sides agree who is at fault and just require to agree on the level of compensation.  Due to the lack of co-operation, Digby Brown raised court proceedings and secured a Jury Trial. The case settled prior to the Jury trial commencing for £120,000.

Full investigation into all aspects of the case is key in road traffic accidents
Mr M. was injured as a result of a road traffic accident in which a third party driver collided with the side of his vehicle. Previous agents had informed Mr M. that after carrying out liability investigations, it seemed that the third party was not insured at the time of the accident. In light of this information, his solicitors had made a claim to the Motor Insurer's Bureau (MIB) under their uninsuered drivers scheme and the MIB were denying liability.

Mr M. asked if Digby Brown would take over the handling of his case as he had been a client in the past and was impressed by the level of service provided. After carrying out our own investigations, we established that insurance was in place and, after failing to receive a response from the insurers, we raised an action in the Sheriff Court. The case settled shortly thereafter.

Fault of the road traffic accident admitted but initial offer rejected – settlement reached at £30k

Mr R. was a pedestrian who was knocked down by a car as he walked home. As a result of the accident, Mr R. sustained a fracture to his clavicle, rib fractures, and a fracture to his pelvis. As a result of his physical injuries, Mr R. temporarily lost some of his mobility and became depressed. Liability for the accident was admitted by the Defenders and they made an offer of £15,000 to settle his claim. Digby Brown advised Mr R. to reject this offer and , after raising court proceedings, Mr R. secured a settlement of £30,000.

Funding ensures rightful compensation in road traffic accident
Mr X was involved in a road traffic accident in which his vehicle was struck by an oncoming vehicle where the driver lost control of his vehicle and crossed over onto Mr X's carriageway thereby causing a collision.
Liability was admitted by the third party's insurance company. An initial offer to settle the claim at £1,400 was rejected.  Because Digby Brown had secure funding and insurance in place to cover all aspects of Mr X's claim, we were able to raise court proceedings on this his behalf. Mr X was awarded £3,000 by the court.

Road traffic accident causes death of family member
In August 2011, Digby Brown helped the wife and members of a family gain rightful compensation in a Court of Session fatal accident claim.  The accident occurred because a negligent driver skidded across a carriageway into the oncoming traffic, hitting head on a car in which the man was a passenger. Digby Brown was originally only contacted by one individual from the family who was unaware that a number of other family members were living in Pakistan and could also claim.

Digby Brown took on the case and after a difficult period of tracing the extended family, negotiations were entered into with the Insurers. Originally the insurers attempted to settle the matter for £2,500 per claimant which would have equated to £50,000 in total. After raising an action via the Court of Session, and moving for a Jury Trial, the case settled for £500,000 a tenfold increase from the original settlement proposal.