Serious injury team secures £580,000 settlement for seriously injured motorcyclist

Our client was riding his BMW motorcycle along a main road and approaching a slight right-hand bend when a car travelling in the opposite direction, part of a line of traffic, failed to follow the bend and drove straight into a head-on collision with our client’s motorcycle. The force of the impact threw our client over the car and he landed on the nearside pavement.

Primary liability was conceded and eventually, after further investigations, it was confirmed that the car driver would not allege any fault on our client’s part. The car driver was eventually convicted of driving without due care and attention.

Our client suffered multiple life-changing injuries, undergoing 11 surgeries up to the point of settlement.

His injuries included a serious open fracture of his right leg; pelvic fractures in three places requiring plates and screws; several fractures to both wrists also requiring plating and screws and ligament damage, a right shoulder fracture dislocation requiring joint reconstruction; a spinal injury, a minor head injury and psychological injury.

Our client had been a self-employed plasterer and renderer throughout his entire working life, doing heavy manual work. Due to his injuries sustained in the accident, he has not been able to return to his pre-accident level of work, and it is highly unlikely he will ever return to that level.

From the outset, we supported our client by arranging an initial meeting with his wife, while he was in hospital. This meeting allowed us to gather initial details and history to provide preliminary advice, reassurance, and answers to their questions about the help available for both our client and his wife. We then formulated a plan of action to prepare for his return home and the necessary steps to support him on his arrival.

From the outset, we adopted the spirit of the Serious Injury Guide by engaging early with the third-party insurer. Our initial focus was on rehabilitation for our client under the Rehabilitation Code and the Guide, aiming to achieve the best possible outcome for his life-changing injuries given their serious nature.

Our experienced case manager provided a detailed assessment and a bespoke rehabilitation plan to support our client’s return home. This included physical multi-disciplinary rehabilitation involving a physiotherapist, occupational therapist and hand therapist, along with psychological therapy at home to supplement the limited NHS plan. We secured ongoing funding for the rehabilitation plan until no further therapy was required and pursued private surgical treatment for our client as recommended to aid his recovery.

We met with our client when he returned home from hospital to provide reassurance and maintained regular communication throughout the claim, ensuring he stayed updated on issues, treatment progress and setbacks. We addressed all his challenges to support him through difficult times.

Regular interim payments were secured to reflect his ongoing loss of income, ensuring his financial position did not worsen due to the accident and we challenged third-party insurers when necessary to maintain these payments.

After receiving a settlement offer, we discussed options and negotiated with the third-party solicitor to ensure our client was fully compensated for his injuries and losses. The settlement exceeded expectations, providing our client and his wife with long-term financial security.

Post-settlement, we referred him for financial planning advice to address any concerns over finances, income, and general financial security.

Early and proactive collaboration with the third-party insurer secured all necessary funding for our client’s rehabilitation without dispute and ensured regular interim payments whenever requested. Our serious injury team maintained pressure on the insurers to secure primary admission and confirm that no allegations of contributory negligence would be made against our client.

Despite his life changing injuries, and their significant impact, our client has always remained positive throughout the claim, providing timely and specific instructions. This helped us to secure substantial compensation, ensuring his lifelong financial security and helping him rebuild his life after the accident. It has been a great pleasure to act on his behalf and to exceed all expectations.

Our client and his wife were delighted with the outcome, sharing with the team:

“Can we say a massive thank you to yourself especially and also to the rest of the team involved in my case and that we are overwhelmed with the outcome that you have achieved…this will go a long way to making life easier.

I would like to say your service as well as all your team that have been involved in my case has been second to none.”