Another case settled by our expert injury claims team.
In this case, our client was injured by a large gate that shut on their arm. The gate was defective, meaning our client was exposed to a clearly foreseeable risk of injury that sadly materialised when they were injured.
As we often say, it could have been worse. A large gate closing on someone’s hand could have caused irreversible nerve damage from a crushing injury, or could have permanently debilitated the hand.
Our client was taken to hospital where an x-ray confirmed the wrist was broken, and a cast was put on to protect the injury from further damage. With the arm in a cast, the claimant endured understandable difficulty in carrying out daily activities and relied on their spouse to take over charge of household chores and personal care. As is common with any injury where a limb is incapacitated, bathing, dressing, laundry, meal preparation, shopping and the gardening also fell on the responsibilities of the spouse.
When this happens – often referred to as gratuitous care and assistance – we can factor in an hourly rate for any care provided, even when it’s provided by a family member at no charge. We often take for granted being able to use both hands for even small tasks like opening a jar of sauce; imagine if you couldn’t do things like that for a while. It’s a lot more life-altering than many may think.
The claimant needed physiotherapy to regain normal function of the wrist and hand, as well as further medical examinations for check-ups. Claimants often don’t realise that we can help them recover the costs for travelling to their hospital appointments as an incurred cost stemming from the injury. If the claimant’s employer had not been negligent in the first place, the claimant wouldn’t have sustained this injury and would therefore have not had to pay for transport to medical appointments.
We use this ‘but for’ test in cases to determine what can be reasonably claimable as part of a compensation case.
The employer rectified the defect with the gate and admitted breaching the duty of care they had for our client. We obtained medical evidence from a privately instructed expert to determine the extent of the injuries and losses and used this vital evidence to help us settle the claim for the highest possible pay-out that was fair and reflective of the injuries suffered.
We were able to negotiate settlement of the claim without the need to go to court, and our client was happy to accept just over £5,200.00 in damages to settle the case.
