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COMPENSATION WON
£320,000
Sheldon Davidson Solicitors recently secured an injury compensation claim settlement of £320,000 for a 74-year old retiree from Sale, Greater Manchester, who was hit by a car while crossing the road in Sale.
When aged 69, our client, Mr. Henderson was crossing Brooklands road in Sale, when he was hit at speed by a car turning on to Brooklands. The collision knocked Mr. H off his feet and on to the bonnet of the car, before rolling off the bonnet to land on the road on the right side of his body.
Treated at the scene, and as one may expect when a pedestrian is hit by a car, Mr. Henderson suffered significant injuries. Mr. Henderson suffered mild but complicated brain injury during the accident, caused by a subdural haematoma and bleeding on the brain. Mr. Henderson also suffered an injury to the right shoulder and soft tissue damage in his legs.
Prior to the accident Mr. Henderson, who was a happily married retired gentlemen, father, and grandfather, led a full and fulfilled independent life. He was in good physical shape for his age and enjoyed good all-round mobility. Mr. Henderson was a keen DIY enthusiast and keen carpenter, having been responsible for much of the home improvement work undertaken on the family home in Sale.
He enjoyed a great quality of life and was socially active, with his wife, family, friends, and of course participated fully and actively with the upbringing of his grandchildren.
Unfortunately, the accident left Mr. Henderson with multiple and life-changing injuries with lasting psychological problems. The damage suffered by his brain, left Mr. Henderson, experiencing extreme tiredness and fatigue, hypersensitivity to noise and crowded places, and an increased risk of developing PTSD.
Mr. Henderson was also left with a benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (dizziness) and was left suffering from depression, which often accompanies, serious injuries that have a life-changing impact on the victim.
Sadly for Mr. Henderson, life would never be the same again.
Mr. Henderson is no longer able to lead a full and independent life, he is now heavily reliant on his wife Anne, even to navigate normal day to day actions and activities.
Mr. Henderson’s mental capacity and confidence in his own ability to look after himself has understandably been severely impacted.
He is no longer confident, nor able to do out alone, nor is he able to participate and enjoy life with his grandkids in the way he once used to. Once a key enthusiast of air shows, he is no longer able to deal with the noise and hustle and bustle of large crowds.
The Henderson’s approached Sheldon Davidson Solicitors for representation. As a leading Personal & Serious Injury claim law firm in Greater Manchester, with a long track record of success in claiming compensation for Pedestrian accident claims, we were an ideal match to help the Henderson’s in their time of need.
Once instructed, and In our first exchanges with the defendant, it was clear they were not willing to accept full responsibility for what had happened, with the driver citing the fact that they had right of way and that Mr. Henderson should not have been crossing the road at that moment in time, and therefore 50% of the blame should rest with Mr. Henderson.
While Mr. Henderson did indeed cross the road with the red light against him, the road at the time was completely clear, and once crossing a road a pedestrian should always be afforded the right of way.
Full liability investigations were undertaken by SDS with a site visit, securing several witness statements, evidence from the police, and obtaining evidence from an Accident Reconstruction expert we brought in to help demonstrate the exact sequence of events of the accident.
We were able to record sufficient witness testimony to the fact that the road was indeed clear, therefore enabling us to make the case, that a reasonable driver should have been expected to respond in time to overt any danger to a crossing pedestrian.
When in receipt of our presented findings, the defendant backed down from their earlier position, an agreement was reached between the parties to agree on liability at 80/20 in favour of Mr. Henderson.
Neurological expertise was called upon to assess the extent of brain damage sustained to Mr. Henderson. It was clear, that in order to ascertain the full extent of the injury; its ramifications, and how future life may be affected, that a variety of specialist neurological assessments would be needed to evaluate the level of physical and mental damage done.
Once all specialists had assessed Mr. Henderson, we collated all information and opinion, as well as hosting multi-disciplinary conferences to establish what rehabilitation therapies would be most beneficial to getting Mr. Henderson on the road to making the best recovery.
The combined expert opinion agreed that a multi-faceted therapeutic treatment schedule would be required, and there would naturally be a significant cost attached to such specialist ongoing treatments.
Court Proceedings were issued in 2017. Due to the significant costs associated with the multi-disciplinary therapy schedule deemed necessary for Mr. Henderson, our team made a request to the defendant for an interim payment to be made in order to fund the vital therapies required.
This request was ignored.
In Jan 2018, we made a formal application through the courts for the interim payment, but the court hearing was scheduled to take place later that year in May. During these early months of 2018, we continued to press the defendant to make the payment that was justified, to allow Mr. Henderson’s therapies to start in earnest. After all, the full extent of Mr. Henderson’s needs and future prognosis could not fully be appreciated until after this initial round of therapy (set to last 12-months).
Our opponent finally agreed to the application for interim payment days before the hearing.
A Costs Case Management Conference (CCMC) was listed and a Case Manager appointed to Mr. Henderson, to organise and manage the various therapies needed by our client and to ensure continuous communication between all stakeholders, ensuring Mr. Henderson received the best joined-up care package that could be provided.
THE CMC team found during the following months that:
Despite our opponent's Insurer’s changing their firm of solicitors halfway through the claims process, and despite attempts to reach a joint settlement being thwarted time and again, negotiations continued for some time until a final settlement of £250,000 net of liability, interim payments, and CRU (gross settlement being just over £320k) was reached.
The compensation settlement has allowed Mr. Henderson and the extended family to get their lives back on track. While Mr. Henderson will never be as he once was, the hard-fought settlement has enabled the family to take big decisions on steps that can help keep the family unit closely connected while giving Mr. Henderson as much freedom and independence as is possible.
Mr. Henderson and his wife decided their interests would be best served, if they purchased a new property together with their son and his family, enabling them all to live together but still independently.
Having more of the family around is also of great help and support to Mrs. Henderson as much as her husband, as the family is around and on-hand to help care for Mr. Henderson.
Mr. Henderson is also able to fund ongoing care in the form of a support worker employed on a part-time basis.
This is by far one of the cases I have most enjoyed working on in the last 10 years or so. I can remember so clearly the first time I met David and Anne in their home and how happy they were to have someone they could talk to face to face.
David and Anne are an inspirational couple and have been a pleasure to work with. My only regret in that concluding this case just before the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown restrictions meant I never got to enjoy the celebratory beer in their garden I was promised. However, it has only been postponed.
- Victoria Martin
Our personal injury solicitors regularly act for clients following serious and catastrophic injury claims. Unfortunately, many pedestrian accidents involve injuries of a very serious nature.
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David and I and all our family would like to thank you for your continued support, patience, and hard work. The past 5 years have been an extremely difficult time for us, and your advice and empathy has really helped us along the way. Many Thanks.
