Our client was a 35 year old male banksman.
His job involved directing cranes on building sites. At the time of
the accident our client was riding his bicycle home from work. It
was a sunny day and he was wearing shorts. Our client went past a
stationary car that was parked in a bus lane and was suddenly
knocked to the ground when the person sitting in the driver's seat
opened the car door. Our client was taken to hospital by ambulance
and told he had broken his leg in two places and severely damaged
his knee. Our client remained in hospital for 2 weeks and had 3
operations. Metal pins and plates were inserted into his leg and he
was left with reduced movement in his leg and a permanent scar.
Our client had a very long and painful
recovery and was off work for 7 months following the accident.
As a result of our representation he was
awarded £105,000 in damages.
Points of interest
Our client worked as a banksman but he was due
to take his crane driver's licence test 3 weeks after the accident.
If our client had passed his test he would have been earning
considerably more money than he had done as a banksman. Our client
did in fact pass this test 6 months after he returned to work, 13
months later than he had originally planned. Therefore he had a
claim for lost earnings while he was off work and also had a claim
for the additional earnings he could have earned if he had been
able to pass his crane driver's test earlier.
The medical evidence we obtained also stated
that our client would develop arthritis within 10 years as a result
of the accident and this would restrict his ability to work as a
crane driver in the future. Our client therefore had a claim for
the future disadvantage he was going to be placed in as a result of
the accident. The medical evidence also stated our client would
need surgery in the future.
The award of £105,000 included £30,000 for our
client's pain and suffering (general damages), £18,000 for future
surgery costs, £24,000 for loss of earnings and £25,000 for the
future earning disadvantage he would experience when he developed
arthritis. Our client was also awarded £8,000 for travelling
expenses and some other miscellaneous expenses.
Simon
O'Loughlin
Hodge Jones & Allen