How can our Client Rehabilitation Service help you?

The Client Rehabilitation Service (CRS) is a dedicated team at Ashtons Legal which supports clients following injury or illness to maximise their recovery and access the services they may need in the community.

There is often a gap between the point at which a client sustains injury and their lawyer being able to secure compensation from the negligent party and so when clients are referred to CRS they are often not only suffering medically but can find themselves struggling financially.

Our dedicated Rehabilitation and Welfare Rights Advisor, Ruth Sparkes, specialises in accessing funding in the community. This can be assisting clients with applying for welfare and disability benefits, social care funding, NHS Continuing Health Care funding and sometimes education funding for children and young people.

Mick Upton, a solicitor in the Personal Injury team at Ashtons Legal was instructed by Client C following a serious road traffic accident where another vehicle had run into the rear of our client’s vehicle, as he waited at a junction. Client C sustained multiple, orthopaedic injuries and was unable to work. Once his savings began to run out, he found himself facing financial difficulties.

People in these circumstances, through no fault of their own, often find it difficult to accept the idea of state support. Ruth is experienced in supporting clients to not only overcome their own resistant feelings towards welfare and disability benefit support but also in assisting them to navigate the sometimes daunting processes involved.

When faced with potentially life-changing injuries which severely limit their ability to work, victims may be entitled to:

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP): this is a non-means-tested benefit paid to people for the extra costs of having a disability or illness
• New Style Employment Support Allowance (NSESA): a non-means-tested benefit paid to people who cannot work due to illness or injury and have paid sufficient national insurance contributions in two out of the last three financial years
• Universal Credit (UC): this is a means-tested benefit that is payable to people on low, or no income and has several components to it. One of the components is for people who cannot work due to illness or injury, called, ‘Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity’.

Once Client C felt ready to start the processes, Ruth supported Client C closely, over several months to complete the necessary application forms and attend medical assessments conducted by a Department for Work and Pensions appointed medical professional.

With intensive support, Client C was successful in his applications and was awarded the maximum benefit for both PIP and UC, which as is standard, will be reassessed in a few years.

Ashtons Legal was also able to assist Client C in protecting his means-tested benefits by setting up a personal injury trust to hold his personal injury compensation.

A PI trust helps to define and ‘ring fence’ the funds which have been received in personal injury compensation, keeping the compensation separate from other assets that would be taken into account as part of a ‘means’ test.

A PI trust will also protect a person’s personal injury compensation from being taken into consideration should that person need care services in the future and so can be a vital tool in ensuring vulnerable clients are properly protected.

Thanks to Ashtons Legal, Client C was supported with not only his compensation claim arising from his accident but also with protecting his compensation going forward and ensuring he attained and retained his welfare rights.

Contact our injury law solicitors today

If you believe we can assist you when pursuing a Medical Negligence or Personal Injury claim, please get in contact with us on 0330 191 4835 or fill out our online enquiry form.

Our experienced team of lawyers will be able to offer advice and guide you through every step of the claims process and our in-house rehabilitation coordinators can help to support you through your recovery.