Substantial damages for significant brain injury following road traffic accident

Our client was walking along the road when a driver collided with them. They suffered a significant brain injury and were airlifted to hospital from the scene.

Before the accident, our client had been living independently. Afterwards, they relied on other people for most aspects of their daily care and moved into a residential home.

The circumstances of the accident made establishing responsibility particularly difficult. There were no witnesses, and our client could not remember how the accident happened because of their injuries.

The police did not investigate the accident and accepted the driver’s account that they had been blinded by the low winter sun. Liability for the accident was then strongly denied.

A number of law firms had declined to take on the case before our client’s cousin approached our specialists. Despite the challenges involved, we agreed to pursue the claim.

Our specialists continued to pursue the case despite the denial of liability. We ultimately secured judgment in our client’s favour, establishing their right to compensation.

There were also arguments about our client’s pre-existing medical problems and the effect these had on the claim. To address these issues, evidence was obtained from a neurologist and a psychiatrist with experience in dementia.

Our client’s brain injury had left them without the capacity to manage their own affairs. Our specialists therefore received instructions from a solicitor who had been appointed as their deputy.

This formed an important part of handling the claim while our lawyers continued working towards an outcome that reflected the consequences of the accident for our client.

The case settled before trial for a significant six-figure sum.

The outcome followed a challenging claim in which liability had initially been strongly denied and questions had been raised about our client’s pre-existing medical problems. Our specialists secured judgment in our client’s favour before reaching the eventual settlement.

For our client, the claim concerned the consequences of an accident that had fundamentally changed their independence. Before the accident they had lived independently. Afterwards, they needed help with most aspects of daily care and had moved into residential care.