Insurers ignore injury claim after car accident on M8

Stuart was driving along the M8 in Glasgow when a lorry crossed lanes and caught the back of his car, then continued to accelerate, driving into the back of his car and pushing him along the motorway.

The lorry driver then left the scene without leaving any details or checking Stuart was okay.

“I work as a bus driver and I know that when you’re driving a large vehicle you can see a lot. The driver should never have done what he did, I think he must have been on drugs or something.”

Injuries from car accident

Stuart’s neck and back were sore after the accident and as weeks went on the pain began to get worse. 

“I didn’t think I was badly injured at first but it turned out it was my sciatic nerve in my lower back that was injured.

“I was off work for 5 and a half months and couldn’t bend down at waist level or sit down. Sleep was non-existent.

“It was the worst pain I’ve had in my life. When I managed to go back to work, it wasn’t pleasant as being a bus driver, I’m sitting down which is the worst thing you can do with it.”

Injury claim with Digby Brown’s personal injury solicitors

Stuart decided to contact Digby Brown after a friend encouraged him to make a claim for his injuries from the car accident.

“I was treated perfectly by Digby Brown throughout the case, the level of service was very high. My solicitor called or emailed to tell me what was going on, although the insurers dragged their heels.”

Insurers ignore injury claim

When Digby Brown’s personal injury solicitors in Ayr tried to contact the insurance company of the lorry driver, there was no response.

They then went on and raised the injury claim on behalf of Stuart, but again there was no response from the insurance company.

Court order demands insurers to pay compensation

Our Ayr solicitors then got the court to give an order granting Stuart the payment of compensation from the insurers on the basis that they hadn't bothered defending the injury claim.

This court order was sent to the insurers, who at this point instructed solicitors who applied to the court to re-open the case so that they could defend it. 

Our solicitors opposed this and the insurers ended up having to pay our client the full sum sued for, which was double the average amount of compensation victims often receive in these types of accidents.

Advice for others injured in a car accident

“I would advise anyone to put a claim in as you should get injury compensation for someone else’s mistake. The worst case scenario is that you don’t receive any compensation but you may as well try.”

“It was the worse pain I’ve ever experienced in my life and although it’s a low level to what it was before, it’s always there in the background.

“I wish the accident had never happened in the first place. If I could spend all my compensation for the pain to go away I would do it in an instant.”