Young dad secures £500,000 after falling 77 FEET from a roof

“You deserve a claim - that’s why we pay insurance.”

These were the words self-employed roofer Ryan Thomson heard from his contractor after his workplace accident happened.

The 24-year-old had been contracted by MG Roofing & Cladding Ltd – along with principal contractors Roof Linings & Cladding Ltd – to remove and replace roofing panels on a building in Renfrew.

As he was tidying up, a sudden downpour made the roof surface dangerously slippery – but no-one told him to stop working.

In a split second, a simple step to the left caused Ryan to lose his footing and he slid 55 FEET down the sloped roof on his back.

By the time he reached the edge he had built up so much momentum that he crashed straight through a wooden toe board.

This exposed a gap in the scaffold guard rails which he slid through, striking his head on the rail as he fell.

He plummeted a further 22 FEET to the concrete ground below.

Recalling the accident, he said: “Hitting the metal rail knocked me clean out but I remember waking up on the ground with loads of jackets on me and I was soaked through from the rain.

“I looked at my wrist and it was mangled. ‘Definitely broken’ I thought.

“The paramedics had to cut all my clothes off – I screamed in pain when they put me on the stretcher.”

Ryan was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where he had to undergo emergency surgery to remove his spleen which had ruptured during the accident - 1.2 litres of blood had entered his abdomen and he required a transfusion.

The young roofer suffered a catalogue of injuries…

Haemorrhages and contusions to both lungs. Post-traumatic arthritis. A head injury. Permanent scarring of his hip and wrist.

He also required corrective surgery for fractures to his pelvis and left distal radius – the forearm bone near the wrist.

Following the initial procedures, Ryan continued to struggle with mobility and six-weeks later a CT scan revealed that a fixating screw had been incorrectly placed in his pelvis during surgery. 

As a result, he had to undergo another operation to have the misplaced screw removed.

He said: “I’ve always worked all my days I mean I was young and fit – I felt like my full life had been taken away from me.

“I couldn’t get in the shower, couldn’t lift my legs into bed – I would just lie there in pain.

“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to walk properly again but thankfully once they removed the screw that was causing problems I started to feel a bit more normal.

“I had my family all about me as well - if I never had them I honestly don't know where I’d be.”

Ryan had heard adverts for Digby Brown on the radio and decided to get in touch for help with an accident at work claim after encouragement from his contractor at MG Roofing & Cladding Ltd who assured him they had Employers’ Liability (EL) insurance in place for situations like his.

Nathan McHardy, Associate in our Glasgow office, took on the case and investigated the circumstances of the incident.

He gathered key witness evidence from the other roofers working with Ryan the day of the accident to confirm what happened.

Nathan also instructed medical experts to fully assess the extent and future impact of Ryan’s injuries, both physical and psychological, to work out a fair value of compensation.

The expert reports concluded that the discomfort Ryan continued to experience in his left wrist would make it unlikely he could return to a job as a roofer, putting him at a disadvantage on the open labour market.

With this information, Nathan built a case which argued there had been a failure to conduct proper risk assessments that would have identified the weakness in the toe board and the enlarged gap between the guard railings wide enough for a person to fall through.

He also argued that Ryan was not provided with sufficient work equipment to minimise the distance or consequences of a fall and that, though rain is a frequent occurrence in the West of Scotland, to minimize risk the roofers should have been given instructions to stop working.

Insurer’s for the defenders MG Roofing & Cladding Ltd and Roof Linings & Cladding Ltd continued to deny liability throughout the claim, as did the third party who supplied and fitted the scaffolding for the job.

However, Nathan duly and rightly raised a court action in the Court of Session meaning the defenders insurers could now not avoid dealing with the claim properly.

An offer of £350,000 was made shortly after the pre-trial meeting but - based on the evidence - Nathan knew the offer was too low as it failed to reflect all of Ryan’s losses so the offer was rejected.

11 days before the court hearing was due to begin, insurers reached out with a further settlement offer of £500,000.

Nathan knew this was more like it – it was fair – and he advised Ryan to accept as it would be in line with what they expect to recover even if the court hearing went ahead, so he happily accepted.

Ryan, now father to a young daughter, concluded: “I didn’t have any expectations but Nathan was always there for me and reassured me.

“He didn’t leave any stone unturned and didn’t ever give me false hope – he’s always been really honest about what’s going on and how long things would take.

“The compensation means so much to me as obviously I can’t do roofing anymore, and especially now that I’m a dad this gives my partner and my family that added security - we’ll be able to buy a house and set things up right for our daughter.

“It’ll 100% make the future a lot easier.”