Aberdeen solicitors secure 6 figure settlement for work injury

Work health & safety

Gordon Lorimer was seriously injured in a work accident that could have been prevented if the right health and safety regulations had been followed.

Using our no win no fee funding model, our Aberdeen personal injury solicitors were able to fully fund his case and take the claim to court, raising the compensation award by nearly £100,000 – more than three times the first offer.

Aberdeen work accident

At the time of the work accident, Mr Lorimer was employed as a maintenance supervisor for a large company in Aberdeenshire.

His employer asked him and his colleagues to move safes from one room to another. However, one of the safes - weighing more than half a tonne - fell and landed on Mr Lorimer, causing a serious injury to his left shoulder.

“My arm is useless”

Mr Lorimer required multiple operations. He has been left with limited range of movement in his shoulder and his left hand grip is greatly reduced.

He was off work for 18 months and was only able to return on a part-time basis, which means he earns less than he did before the accident. His pension has also been affected and his future employability is poorer as a result of his injuries.

“My life was on hold after the accident. I thought I would get better but we’re now four years down the line and I’m still in pain and my arm is useless and just does not work. My life has been ruined by what happened. I don’t expect it to get better now and I just have to live with that.“

Local solicitors couldn’t help anymore

Mr Lorimer had contacted his own local solicitor he had used before for buying his house but they could only take his personal injury claim so far.

His employer’s insurer admitted liability for the work accident but they maintained that Mr Lorimer was also at fault for the accident. They made an offer of £36,000 for compensation for the accident.

“I was with my local solicitor for two years and they told me this was as much as they could do for me. That’s when I went to Digby Brown.”

Digby Brown Aberdeen Personal Injury Solicitors

Our personal injury solicitors in our Aberdeen office undertook rigorous investigations and preparations to determine wage loss, loss of employability, pension loss, future care needs and proof of liability along with appropriate medical reports.

This was all funded using our no win no fee funding model called Compensate and allowed our legal team to fully gather the right evidence to prove the true value of Mr Lorimer’s claim and make sure he secured fair and rightful compensation for his injuries and losses.

£36,000 turns into £135,000 work injury compensation

When Digby Brown Aberdeen came on board, insurers made three further offers with the final offer of £100,000.

Our solicitors still did not believe this was a fair settlement and advised Mr Lorimer as such. He decided to accept their advice to reject the offer and the case proceeded in Court.

The afternoon before the case was due to be heard in Court, the insurers made an increased offer of £135,000 which Mr Lorimer accepted.

“I’m very much annoyed about what happened. It messed up not just my life but my wife’s as well as I’m not as tolerant anymore because of my injuries.

“It was an accident that shouldn’t have happened. If I could give all the money back to get my life back, I would, but that isn’t going to happen so I’ll just need to get on with it.”