Moore Blatch Solicitors helped a 19 year old girl in a road traffic accident claim who was a passenger in an uninsured vehicle when it was involved in a serious collision.
As a result of the accident she suffered a severe closed head injury. She was unconscious for 14 days and sustained severe brain damage. Her injuries meant she was left with a range of permanent disabilities including headaches, fatigue, poor short-term memory, impaired concentration and attention span, dizziness, disinhibition, occasional aggression, mood swings, and severe impairments of information processing and organisational ability.
After 4 months in hospital, she returned to her parents’ care but it became apparent that her ongoing mental and physical disabilities would be permanent.
In conjunction with our private client team, we applied for her to become a Patient of the Court of Protection and we then had to pursue the claim against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau as the driver of the vehicle was uninsured. The first hurdle to get over was whether or not the client knew or reasonably suspected the driver was uninsured.
Fortunately we were able to overcome that hurdle and the driver was subsequently convicted of driving without due care and attention and various other offences.
We pursued proceedings in the High Court which eventually lead to a round table settlement with counsel, the solicitors and the representatives of the MIB.
We assisted in putting a formal care package in place for her continuing needs and secured compensation of £4.4m divided into an immediate lump sum of £600,000, and the balance being paid by periodical payments over the remainder of the client’s lifetime. It was important in this case to ensure that the settlement was designed to reflect both the client’s short-term and, more importantly, her long-term needs.
