£9,000 for Motherwell car crash victim after driver failed to swap details

Stephen Langford knew he needed help after a rear end shunt in 2024 – not just because of his injuries but because the driver who caused the crash was evasive. 

While on a rural road near Dumfries the 45-year-old was stationary while waiting to turn right at a junction when a Nissan Primera ploughed into the back of his Qashqai at around 30mph. 

The collision caused IT worker Stephen to suffer significant neck and back injuries after he was suddenly – and violently – jolted forward.

He said: “I felt a massive bang and then everything was shunted forward. The car was in a really bad way. 

“I was with three friends at the time and three of us got out the car and looked to the driver of the car who hit us – he seemed physically fine other than shaking quite a lot from what seemed like nerves or shock.”

Stephen then looked to follow standard steps of swapping details with the other driver in a bid to sort things out.

But when he spoke to the Primera driver he realised there were going to be challenges.

Stephen continued: “The driver was really hesitant to give his own details and wouldn’t give his license information or an address.

“After some time, the driver’s dad turned up in a taxi – he told us the car was a loaner from a local garage. Things were just not adding up so all I could do was gather what information I could and follow the right steps from my part in terms of reporting things.”

After the initial adrenaline wore off Stephen started to experience significant pain and mobility issues with his neck and back, so he saw his GP at Modyrvale Medical Centre in Motherwell and was given medication and access to physio treatment. 

Despite the initial medical help, the injuries still prevented him leading a normal life - he struggled to sleep, was forced to take time off work and couldn’t enjoy his hobby of fishing.

He even needed help from family members for simple daily tasks like carrying in shopping.  

Following recommendations from friends, Stephen looked into legal advice in a bid to recoup lost earnings and get access to enhanced medical care – this is what brought him to Digby Brown.

Steven Edmond, Solicitor in our Glasgow office, investigated immediately and even though lots of information seemed to be missing due to the other driver not being transparent, the lawyer was able to knit together a strong web of information. 

He found that the garage the car came from had been out of business for some time and was even able to trace the driver via social media. This enabled Steven to track down a home address, find an insurance policy and then serve a court action to recover compensation for his client. 

The insurance company for the vehicle which caused the crash initially tried to dismiss the whiplash compensation claim. They tried to claim the individual being pursued was not the driver of the vehicle at the time, and that Stephen had reversed into the front of their insured driver’s car.

However, there was a wealth of evidence already gathered that meant we knew this wasn’t a case the insurer could so easily ignore. 

The claim proceeded to a court action where the insurer made an offer of £6,000 to settle the claim however we advised Stephen to refuse this as the evidence showed he should be entitled to more.

He followed our advice and the claim settled one week later for 50% more to the tune of £9,325.

After receiving his compensation, our client Stephen said: “Going by recommendations and online research it was clear that Digby Brown was the best law firm to get help for a situation like this and I’m really happy with the outcome as I honestly didn’t know what to expect given everything that happened around the crash.”

Our solicitor Steven added: “There were several red flags about this case so acting quickly was key. 

“But he had a lot of strong evidence to support his case – he had multiple witnesses who could independently stand up what happened and ID the driver and then of course there was the medical evidence of the injuries that came from the GP.

“With everything that happened I could understand why many might think this looks like an uphill battle but due to the information Stephen could get, coupled with his decision to come to us as quickly as possible, it meant the claim was actually relatively smooth and settled quickly.”