£30,000 obtained for road collision victim after initial offer from insurers of £1,400

Posted 03/11/2014

Nick Peake, a personal injury specialist at Ashtons Legal, has obtained a £30,000 settlement for Mr T from Lincolnshire in spite of an early attempt by the defendant’s insurers to get him to accept £1,400.

Mr T was waiting to turn right at a junction when his VW Passat was hit from behind by another vehicle, causing substantial damage. He was taken to hospital and diagnosed with injuries to his right calf and knee and to his neck. His neck pain resolved within a few days but his leg injuries have continued to cause problems, initially causing him to take time off work, have disturbed sleep and be unable to drive. Two years after the accident Mr T had an MRI scan due to the continued pain in his knee which revealed knee ligament damage and a prominent chondral irregularity and fissuring of the medial patellar facet with subcortical bone oedema.

Medical experts believe Mr T is likely to develop worsening post traumatic arthritis in his injured knee over the next 10-15 years or so and there is a 50% chance he will need an arthroscopic procedure to the affected knee by the time he is 50 and a knee replacement by the age of 60.

An initial offer was made by the defendant’s insurers of £1,400 which they later increased to £15,000 having seen medical evidence. It was nevertheless necessary to issue legal proceedings in order to arrive at the final settlement of £30,000.

Nick Peake comments: “Cases like this show why it is so important for people who have been injured to take both legal and medical advice rather than rushing into accepting the first financial offer made by insurers. The long term effects of an injury are often not known for quite some time after the incident which causes them but they may make a substantial difference to someone’s future quality of life and should therefore be compensated properly.”