Over £70,000 obtained for father injured in road collision

Posted 31/10/2014

Nick Peake, a lawyer in the Ashtons Legal personal injury team, has obtained over £70,000 for a father of five who was injured when his car was hit by a Range Rover which had veered onto his side of the road. The accident resulted in Mr P suffering multiple injuries, in particular a whiplash injury to the neck, soft tissue injury to the left shoulder, multiple lacerations to the right shoulder region and a head injury resulting in a loss of memory function and psychological injury in the form of an adjustment disorder. He was rendered unconscious at the scene and it took the fire service around an hour to extract him from the wreckage of his vehicle.  He underwent a course of physiotherapy and returned to work approximately four weeks after the accident but continued to suffer from his psychological injuries. Initially he also needed help undertaking tasks which he would normally have done himself such as gardening and decorating. 

Various medical experts were consulted including orthopaedic surgeons, psychologists and neurologist. The defendant’s insurers made an initial offer of £5,000 in settlement but following protracted negotiations a settlement of just over £70,000 was obtained.

Nick Peake comments: “Orthopaedic and soft tissue injuries are usually much easier to quantify following an accident than psychological or brain injuries. It is important to ensure that the full impact of psychological and neurological injuries are assessed and taken into account in any financial settlement as they often have a greater long-term impact on someone’s life and wellbeing than the physical injuries they suffer”.