“My union lawyers didn’t get me proper help - but Digby Brown did.”

When Garry Race was involved in a three-car crash while at work in Livingston all he wanted was treatment for his injuries.

He was driving his work van to the transport depot for his break when road workers threw a cone that rolled onto the road in front of him.

While he was able to brake safely the cars behind failed to stop causing all three vehicles to collide.

The 35-year-old was shaken following the crash, and shortly after he started to feel severe pain in his left shoulder so he sought treatment from the hospital where he was given painkillers.

As it was classed as an accident at work Garry reached out to the lawyers his union had in place, but was left feeling like he was being passed from pillar to post.

It was his neighbour who recommended he get in touch with Digby Brown, with Gail McGinn in our Edinburgh office taking on the case.

He said: “Within an hour or so of contacting Digby Brown I had an email back to arrange a suitable time for a phone call and Gail took it from there. 

“She asked me to fill out some forms and arranged to get dashcam footage from my previous employers.

“The only thing I wanted was to get the full use of my arm back so getting treatment for that was really important to me.”

The constant pain in his left arm was starting to impact Garry’s ability to work: 

“Any time I was driving I couldn’t really use my left arm so I was doing light duties like training people.

“My arm was making this really horrible crunching noise which it didn’t do before the accident but taking time off to heal wasn’t an option. 
 
“I have a young child and bills to pay so I had to just grit my teeth and keep going.”

Gail knew how important it was to ensure Garry’s injuries were treated properly and arranged for a medical expert to re-examine him. 

They found he had soft tissue injuries to his neck, left shoulder and chest so it was recommended that physiotherapy was put in place.

Initially the insurance company tried to under settle the claim and offered £1,600 in compensation but after negotiation, his case settled for £6,000 - over three times the original offer.

Garry said: “I couldn’t fault Gail, if there was something she could do to help she would get it sorted.

“She put everything in place and kept me informed every step of the way so I knew what was happening.

“For me it was never about the money, it was about getting the right treatment that would help me to get back to work properly – that’s all I wanted and Gail made it happen.

“I’ve had a few physiotherapy sessions now and I’m really pleased with how it’s going - my shoulder is starting to feel much better.

“I know it will take a while before it is healed properly but when it is I won’t need to worry about it again and I’m going to be really happy."