Chronic pain claimant awarded £791,000 after a three day trial

Posted 16/02/2015

Ashtons Legal personal injury specialist Tom Ranson has succeeded in obtaining £791,000 for Mr K, who suffered a whiplash injury in a low-speed road traffic accident which then gave rise to a chronic pain condition and an associated substantial ‘psycho-social’ reaction. Mr K, who was in his late 30s at the time of the accident, has had a number of long-term lifestyle changes imposed upon him as a result of his injuries.

The insurers against whom the claim was being made originally disputed that there was a claim at all and then offered him £20,000 when Court proceedings were issued and alleged that Mr K was exaggerating his injuries. Mr K accepted our advice that this was not nearly enough to compensate for his ongoing long-term losses and that he should continue to pursue his claim and also clear his name. Shortly before the trial the insurers increased their offer to £175,000 but this was still only a small proportion of what we believed Mr K should receive.

Again, on our advice and with our support, Mr K elected to go to trial in order to clear his name and to seek the appropriate level of compensation. The Court, having heard detailed evidence from both sides, accepted Mr K’s evidence and that of his medical experts and other witnesses; namely, that his condition was attributable to the accident and had caused him to incur significant loss and damage. He was awarded the sum of £791,000 by the trial Judge and was completely vindicated.

Tom Ranson comments: “Unfortunately, Mr K’s case is by no means an isolated example. It is baffling that defendant insurers routinely fail to assess properly not only the realistic value of a client’s case and the liability risks but the concomitant cost risks. Instead, typically, they choose to dig in their heels, make derisory offers and defend cases by way of spurious allegations, adopting a ‘scattergun’ approach, firing at everything, hoping that something hits the target. Whilst it may be a purely financial exercise from their perspective, it is actually about the lives of real people.”