Moore Barlow and RoadPeace join forces to provide support for crash victims impacted by COVID-19

National law firm Moore Barlow has joined a regional legal panel launched by charity RoadPeace in the wake of Covid-19, to continue the provision of tailored legal services to victims of road crash who have been either seriously injured or bereaved.

Whilst lockdown reduced the number of vehicles on the roads, there remained a high number of serious injury collisions as empty roads saw speeds escalate. Victims of crashes immediately prior to and during the pandemic were faced with unforeseen challenges that have had serious consequences for their recovery. The legal panel has noted that core elements of their inferior experience were due to:

  • Worse experience in hospitals – victims experienced delays to care and were not allowed visitors.
  • Delays in criminal justice – courts have not been open delaying access to justice and fair compensation, it is estimated that trial backlogs in the magistrates’ courts increased by 41% between the beginning of March and the end of May; in the crown court, the estimated increase was 53%.
  • Access to rehabilitation support has been denied – the Government’s COVID-19 policies rendered it difficult to obtain hospital appointments and private rehabilitation centres stopped accepting new clients.

The RoadPeace legal panel exists to ensure people bereaved or seriously injured in a road collision have access to high quality legal advice and justice, including fair compensation. Panel members are leaders in their field and committed to road crash victims. In its current form the panel operates nationally, but following the Covid-19 crisis this will change to a more bespoke regional service.

Moore Barlow will take a leading role in the panel’s operations in London and the South East. The firm are well equipped to help victims across these regions with offices based in London, Richmond, Southampton, Woking and Guildford.

Covid-19 has introduced unwelcome additional stress and anxiety for road crash victims and their families. If you were bereaved you were limited in how you could bid farewell to your loved ones with restrictions imposed on funerals and gatherings. If you had suffered serious injury, in the early days of lockdown frequently you were not permitted visitors and may have had your treatment delayed.

During lockdown legal and rehabilitation teams have been doing their best to support victims and provide reassurance in these difficult times. At Moore Barlow we put community at the heart of everything we do. The changes to the legal panel are welcome and will allow Moore Barlow to provide bespoke support to many more people across London and the South East.

Matthew Claxson, Partner at Moore Barlow

COVID-19 has affected us all, but it has hit crash victims particularly hard. Delays in justice and accessing rehabilitation has been tough on crash victims. It has always been vital for victims to have a specialist personal injury firm representing them, and the RoadPeace legal panel is made up of such firms.

What COVID-19 has shown us though is how human contact and a close relationship with your solicitor is vital, on top of expertise. We have this month changed our legal panel structure, so that victims who get signposted to our solicitors through RoadPeace, will be offered a local firm in the first instance.

Nick Simmons, RoadPeace CEO


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