Settlement for amputee injured in Croydon tram crash

On 9 November 2016, Benn was travelling by tram from his home in South Croydon to work in London. As the tram approached a sharp bend near Sandilands station at excessive speed, it derailed and overturned. Seven people were killed and many others suffered life-changing injuries.

Benn lost consciousness during the crash. When he regained consciousness, he was sitting on the tracks with his right arm trapped in the tram door. He was freed from the wreckage and taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting.

Doctors diagnosed extensive fractures to Benn’s right forearm and right distal humerus. He also suffered fractures to his right scapula, right L2 transverse process and left little finger. His right arm could not be saved and he underwent a right transhumeral surgical amputation.

Our specialist lawyers met Benn in hospital within days of the crash. Liability was established relatively quickly and the defendant’s insurers cooperated from an early stage. A case manager was appointed to help coordinate Benn’s rehabilitation.

Our experts took a collaborative approach with the insurers. They were invited to Benn’s first rehabilitation prosthetic assessment at PACE Rehabilitation early in the claim. This helped demonstrate Benn’s needs directly and supported discussions about the technology that could assist him.

The insurers agreed to fund advanced upper limb prosthetic technology, including a pattern recognition system. This meant Benn could access specialist prosthetic support while the wider claim continued.

To understand the full impact of Benn’s injuries and value his claim, expert evidence was obtained across a number of specialist areas. These included orthopaedics, rehabilitation, prosthetics, psychiatry, care, occupational therapy, accommodation and physiotherapy.

A settlement meeting initially ended without agreement. Further negotiations resolved much of the claim, but the parties remained unable to agree the provision Benn would need for future prosthetics. A key issue was the number of prosthetic limbs he would require.

Court proceedings were issued when agreement could not be reached on this important part of the claim. Our lawyers obtained a witness statement from Benn explaining why his claim for a second high-functioning prosthetic limb was not simply a request for a spare. It was a secondary limb intended to help him continue his life as close to how it had been before the crash as possible.

The statement was served with the proceedings. Further negotiations followed and ultimately led to a settlement that was substantially higher than the defendant’s previous offers.

The claim concluded with a multimillion-pound compensation package. The settlement reflected the serious, life-changing injuries Benn suffered and followed extensive work to establish his future needs, including his prosthetic requirements.

For Benn, the outcome was about more than the financial settlement itself. As he explained in his own words, it enabled him to access the prosthetics he needed and finally begin to put the events of the crash behind him.