Total Damages: £15,861
Trial/settlement date: 30/6/2009
Age at trial: 35
PSLA: £14,000 (£14,124.65 RPI)
Type of Award: Out of Court Settlement
Court: Out of Court Settlement
Age at injury: 31
Sex: Female
The claimant, a 35-year-old woman, received £15,861 for lower-back injuries and the aggravation of existing neck injuries sustained in a road traffic accident in December 2005. It was believed that the condition of the neck injuries had been advanced by approximately 14 years because of the accident.
Claimant: Female: 31 years old at date of accident; 35 years old at date of settlement.
Road Traffic: On December 5, 2005, the claimant (C) was driving a car onto a roundabout when a lorry driven by an employee of the defendant firm drove into the rear of the vehicle, shunting C's car onto the roundabout.
C sustained injury and brought an action against D alleging that it was negligent. Liability was admitted.
Injuries: C sustained neck and lower-back pain.
Effects: C spent between two and three days after the accident in her house, almost all of the time in bed. She subsequently consulted her GP and was referred to a physiotherapist. She underwent physiotherapy for several months and as a result there was some improvement in her symptoms, particularly her neck pain.
C's lower-back pain resolved within approximately one month from the date of the accident. However, in 1999, C had been involved in a go-karting accident when she had sustained neck and lower-back injuries. It was believed that the later accident had slightly exacerbated her lower-back symptoms by between three and four weeks.
Approximately one year after the accident, C was examined by an orthopaedic consultant who noted that C continued to experience intermittent neck pain, lower-back pain and heaviness and paraesthesia in her right arm.
C also continued to suffer a limitation of her cervical spine. In September 2007, an MRI scan revealed some early changes at C5/6 level. It was believed that the symptoms had been aggravated and possibly advanced by the later accident. In August 2008, C was examined again and although her condition had improved, she had not fully recovered. An MRI scan confirmed that there had been some degenerative changes at the C5/6 level but they were asymptomatic prior to the accident and had become symptomatic because of the accident. As a result, it was believed that, had the accident not occurred, C would not have developed symptoms from those changes until she was aged at least 45 years old and therefore the later accident had caused advancement of the symptoms by approximately 14 years. That evidence was accepted by D.
Due to her neck pain, C was unable to continue with her hobby of swimming.
Out of Court Settlement: £15,861 total damages.
Background to damages: The case was settled on a global basis with no particular breakdown of damages. However, the following breakdown was estimated by the claimant's solicitors:
Breakdown of General Damages: Pain, suffering and loss of amenity: £14,000
Breakdown of Special Damages: Treatment costs, cost of gym membership and personal trainer: £1,861.
Henmans LLP (Oxford) for the claimant DWF LLP (Leeds) for the defendant.
LTLPI 5/11/2009
This Quantum Report was provided courtesy of Irvin Thobourne, Henmans LLP, solicitors for the claimant.
Document No. AM020142 Reproduced by kind permission of Lawtel (www.lawtel.com)