Psychological Compensation Following Road Accident

We have recently completed a case for a client who sustained whiplash injuries to her neck and back together with consequent depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her car being involved in a collision in a supermarket car park.

Three months later our client was involved in another road traffic accident when a tyre burst on her car, causing it to roll over several times and her having to be cut from the car and flown by helicopter to hospital. The client did not feel that this accident was anyone’s fault and no claim could be brought in respect of it.

At the time of her accidents, the client had been in regular employment, which she was unable to continue due to ongoing problems with pain and depression, which she blamed on the first accident.

There was a considerable difference of opinion between the orthopaedic and psychiatric experts instructed on behalf of the Claimant and Defendant. The Claimant’s experts tended to support her contention that her symptoms were as a result of the first accident, whereas the Defendant’s experts believed that the vast majority of her symptoms would have been as a result of the second accident or factors unconnected with either accident. Consultations between the experts had not bridged this gap and as they were equally renowned and experienced, it was not possible to predict which evidence the Court would prefer, but the likely difference as to the level of compensation which the Claimant might expect to recover, depending on which evidence the Court did prefer, was very great.

The case was finally settled two weeks before the final hearing at a joint settlement meeting for £125,000.00.