Our Serious Injury Team were instructed by a client who was injured at work and suffered serious injury after being run over not once, but twice by a fork lift truck during the course of his employment.
Background to the case
Our client was a dedicated heavy goods vehicle driver who had arrived at a customer depot to deliver a product. When he alighted from his lorry to book in at the office a fork lift truck ran over him, stopping on top of him, before then being reversed off him causing further injury.
The operator of the fork lift truck had negligently failed to check his surroundings before driving onto our client.
Responsibility accepted in full
A Letter of Claim was sent to the insurance company of the customer who undertook investigation into this incident with a focus on whether our client could have done more to have avoided the fork lift truck because if they were able to establish partial fault on the part of our client then the amount of any compensation would be reduced by a percentage. As a result of careful analysis of the incident by us the insurance company accepted 100% fault.
Injury sustained by our client
As a result of the being injured at work our client suffered life changing injuries whereby he was transferred by the London Air Ambulance to a Major Trauma Centre at King’s College Hospital in London undergoing extensive treatment before being transferred to his local District Hospital for onward treatment.
The fork lift truck had caused to our client life changing injuries including fractures to his bilateral femurs (which have been pinned) and right ankle (originally treated with an external fixation). He also sustained injuries to his left and right elbows from where he was pushed to the ground. Further, he suffered symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Consequences of the injury
As a consequence of the injuries our client was unable to return to work and was medically retired. He was also unable to access the upper levels of his home. He needed extensive further treatment and remained at risk of amputation of his leg below the knee.
How Moore Barlow supported the client’s recovery
Upon instruction of Moore Barlow an approach was made to invite the Defendant Insurer to fund our client’s necessary treatment and rehabilitation under the Rehabilitation Code 2015, which was accepted. This involved the appointment of a Case Manager who at the insurer’s cost coordinated our client’s private treatment, the adaptation of his property to become accessible for him, a disability vehicle and exploring some form of unpaid part time employment.
Our client engaged with all treatment and rehabilitation provided, yet unfortunately he had continued issues with ongoing pain.
Complications and ongoing risks after being injured at work
Unfortunately, despite extensive treatment, our client’s lower leg fracture did not heal and he remained in significant pain.
Our team arranged for our client to be assessed by a leading orthopaedic and reconstructive lower limb consultation who identified that our client had an ongoing bone infection to the leg below the knee connected to the injuries sustained in the accident.
Our client underwent treatment for the infection that thankfully avoided an amputation allowing our client to rebuild his life but he would remain at a small risk of developing a reoccurrence of the infection at some stage in the future.
Provisional damages
As a result of the risk of reoccurrence of the bone infection we explored with our client what is known as provisional damages.
This is a form of award that allows our client to receive compensation for the injuries and losses sustained on the basis that he has the right at a later date to return to the insurer for additional damages if his condition worsens or if new complications arise beyond that which could be assessed at the time.
An award of provisional damages is not an automatic right but one where the parties agree to its application or a court orders the same.
Details of the settlement
Once our client’s rehabilitation had been optimised we approached the insurance company to explore a resolution of the claim. However, an issue was that the insurance company did not agree that our client was at risk of reoccurrence of the infection and if it did return then it would not result in an amputation. In short, the insurance company declined to compensate our client for this aspect.
We invited the insurance company to attend a Joint Settlement Meeting which is a forum where the Parties can discuss the case in an endeavour to either narrow the issues or settle the claim. In advance of this meeting we had the opportunity to further discuss matters with our experts in relation to the risk of amputation which due to the benefit of the significant rehabilitation had been reduced.
At the Joint Settlement Meeting we were able to extract from the insurer a settlement which was accepted by our client that compensated him for the injuries suffered, his financial losses and an additional amount that our client could use if he later required an amputation. On the basis of our expert evidence this was a good settlement for our client.
Our Matthew Claxson, a Partner, who acted for our client said:-
Fork lift trucks cause serious injury when negligently operated as in this case where our client suffered severe fractures requiring extensive rehabilitation to enable him to rebuild his life. It was disappointing that the insurance company initially wanted to explore where any fault for the incident rested with our client which it clearly did not that was later accepted. However, it was pleasing that we secured the insurer’s investment in our client’s rehabilitation which included regular upfront interim payments. Our client can now put the litigation behind him.
Matthew Claxson – Partner | Personal Injury
How Moore Barlow can help
If you have suffered a serious injury after being injured at work, then contact our specialist personal injury lawyers to explore how we can access for you rehabilitation, secure interim payments, and recover compensation to rebuild your life after an accident at work.
Freephone on 0800 157 7611 or email us on [email protected]
