Motor cyclist receives just under £250,000 for accident claim – posted 23/12/11

Our Senior Partner, Neil Somerville, recently settled a claim on behalf of a motor cyclist client who sustained a fractured dislocation to his left elbow when he was knocked off his motor bike by a van.  The van driver had turned right in front of the client giving him no chance to take any avoiding action and as a result a collision took place.   The client sustained significant fractured dislocation of the left elbow which required emergency surgery and internal fixation.  Despite receiving immediate care and a course of rehabilitation funded by the van driver’s insurers the client was left with some disability.  Unfortunately the motor cyclist was not able to return to his previous occupation as a coach driver and had to continue with a course of rehabilitation which included working closely with a Pain Management team and a psychiatrist that had been arranged on a private basis by the responsible insurers.  The client’s symptoms continued to improve with the passage of time and the assistance of the rehabilitation team and once his symptoms had started to plateau he was able to consider and indeed was keen to proceed with a final settlement of his claim. 

Throughout Ascot Lawyers had worked with the close co-operation of the responsible insurers and subsequently their Solicitors very much in line with the multi track pilot scheme and members of APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers) and FOIL (the Defendant’s insurers solicitors body) which meant that the cyclist was able to receive treatment on a private basis for his rehabilitation, and interim payments made available readily which assisted the cyclist considerably in relation to his immediate financial needs and difficulties.  All of this meant that in relative terms, notwithstanding the serious nature of the cyclist’s injuries that he had been able to receive appropriate rehabilitation, been able to deal with financial difficulties that arose as he recovered, and that he was able to achieve reasonable settlement of his claim relatively quickly to enable the cyclist to move on with the rest of his life. 

Ascot Lawyers continued to be involved with the multi track pilot scheme in relation to catastrophic cases whereby both sides agreed to fully co-operate and work with each other for the benefit of the victim of any type of accident.  Ascot Lawyers stance is that we will, where appropriate, continue to work very closely with insurers for the benefit of our clients.  It seems an obvious thing to say, but if insurers are to be expected to pay for private treatment to assist victims recovery, and make interim payments on account of claims generally to assist any potential financial difficulties that victims may incur following accidents, then it is not unreasonable to expect Claimants through their Lawyers to be open with insurers in terms of keeping the insurers fully in the loop as far as treatment is concerned and the victims needs.