Lindsey* sustained a traumatic brain injury and multiple orthopaedic injuries when she was hit by a car as she was walking with her husband around Christmas time. The car mounted the pavement and hit them, killing her husband and a friend, and leaving her with life changing injuries.
Challenges
Lindsey experienced cognitive issues as a result of her brain injury, along with memory problems and problem solving, and word finding. She also lacked insight into the extent of her injuries and became fixated on being discharged from the hospital, as she didn’t understand what was wrong with her and why she was still there.
One of the key challenges in the case was the onset of covid restrictions, which meant that Lindsey struggled to access support to help with her recovery. She was also struggling to keep on top of the housework and gardening due to her injuries.
The defendants were also not fully admitting they were at fault for the collision and were arguing that Lindsey and her husband and friend were partly to blame. This caused a lot of anxiety, as Lindsey was adamant that they weren’t to blame.
How we helped with these challenges
Soon after Lindsey and her family got in touch with us, we arranged for a case manager to undertake an Initial Needs Assessment to check how suitable Lindsey’s house was for her to be discharged from the hospital. Due to the restrictions around covid at the time, we also helped the family with extensive emotional support to help them to get through such a difficult time.
We fought against the defendant’s claims that Lindsey was partly at fault for the collision and got them to agree to drop this issue. We also managed to get some interim payments (payments received from the defendant while a case is ongoing) to pay for a cleaner once a week and a gardener once a month, and helped with paying the invoices for Lindsey to take some of the stress away from her.
Due to Lindsey’s initial lack of insight into her injuries, she didn’t want to engage with rehabilitation and treatment straightaway. However, once she realised she needed some help, we arranged a case management meeting to assess her updated needs and pressed the defendants for more interim payments to get this paid for.
We also supported Lindsey and her family with the claim in relation to the death of her husband. We settled this claim for her ahead of her own claim to try and reduce the anxiety of two cases ongoing at the same time.
Outcomes
The defendant insurers made an initial offer to settle the claim for just £175k. However, we believed her claim was worth more than this so advised Lindsey not to accept this offer. After further negotiations, we settled her claim for over £290k.
This settlement will now support Lindsey in moving forward with her life and give her security in her home and allow her to make it safer now she lives on her own. Lindsey also loves walking and golf, and is looking forward to getting back to these hobbies.
*not her real name
