Settlement of £465,250 for retired teaching assistant

I concluded proceedings in a case recently for my client who was involved in a serious road traffic accident while going to visit her daughter at home in November 2016.

My client alighted from a bus on Roehampton Lane, across the street of her daughter’s flat. As she crossed, she was hit by a scooter filtering through the traffic. Fortunately my client was shielded to an extent by a car that had stopped to wait for her to cross. It was the same car which the scooter rider said had blocked his view of my client, giving him no time to react and avoid her.

Sadly my client suffered life changing injuries in the accident including a very serious pelvic fracture and fractures of her legs. Early contact with the rider’s insurers resulted in an agreement that they would pay some money on account of the claim. The funds were much needed and allowed my client to move into more accessible accommodation and to pay for care and treatment in the private sector. A long period of rehabilitation followed and my client’s mobility gradually improved.

Court proceedings became necessary after the insurers concluded their enquiries and firmly disputed liability. Funding was quickly exhausted leaving my client in significant financial need. I obtained the expert medical evidence needed and served a fully particularised schedule of financial loss to which my opponents responded with a settlement offer in compromise of the claim.

It was clear that there were significant risks on both sides. My client was the more vulnerable road user, but she also had a duty to ensure her own safety when crossing and the scooter rider’s clear evidence was that she was obstructed from his view, leaving him unable to avoid her. It was necessary to compromise on liability because of this.

In time I was able to secure for my client an increase on the original offer which provided her with a substantial further payment to compensate her and pay for her lifelong needs. She will not make a full recovery from her injuries, but the settlement represented a good outcome in her claim and allows her to live with the support she needs and with funds to pay for her continuing rehabilitation.

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