Case Studies

Case Study 1 - £1,400 for 3-4 Month Injury

McKeowns recovered £1,400 for Mr D following a car accident where the car he was driving was struck from behind in October 2004.

On the evening 10th of October 2004, our client, a 36 year old painter was driving his girlfriend's Vauxhall Corsa in central London when he was struck from behind by a Ford Mondeo driven by Mr L.

He suffered whiplash injuries to his neck, together with mild shock and wasn't able to return to for two days.

Later that month he contacted McKeowns to claim for compensation on his behalf.

First we secured an admission of liability from the other driver's insurers', and we recovered the cost of repairing the accident damage to the Vauxhall Corsa (£908.90) in early December 2004. We ensured that her policy would not be affected negatively as a result of the accident.

By early February this year, Mr D's injuries were much improved and we arranged for him to be examined by a specialist doctor so he could prepare a special report to support his claim for personal injury. In June 2005, the doctor delivered his report. He confirmed Mr D had suffered a "whiplash injury to his neck, which had caused him pain and suffering with stiffness and aching". The report also detailed that he'd made a full recovery within a three/four months of the accident and that he did not anticipate any long term after effects.

Mr D agreed the report was accurate and as a follow up, McKeowns presented it to the opposing insurers.

An initial offer of £1,100 was received from the other side on the 7th July 2005. We advised our client that we felt it was not in his best interest to accept. We believed the offer was adequate for an injury lasting 1-2 months, and not appropriate for Mr D whose injuries were healing after 3-4 months. McKeowns made a counter-proposal of xxxx and after some argument, the case was settled with Mr D's approval at a compromise figure of £1,400.

Mr D received his damages cheque in full, with no deductions, as McKeowns legal costs were recovered separately from the opposing insurers.

Case Study 2 - £1,350 for exacerbation to current injury

McKeowns recovered £1,350 on behalf of Mrs C who experienced back problems following an accident where she was a passenger travelling in her sisters car.

Our client, Mrs C had been suffering from a pre-existing back condition, and was undergoing physiotherapy, when she was involved in a road traffic accident at Bromley By Bow in London on the 4th October 2004. She was travelling as a passenger in her sister's Renault Megane, when it was struck from the rear by another vehicle.

She contacted McKeowns shortly after the accident and we were able to assist her on the basis of a 'no win, no fee' Conditional Fee Agreement, supported by a policy of 'after the event' legal costs insurance.

We made contact with the responsible motorist's insurers in early December 2004 and the other driver admitted they were at fault. We also arranged for Mrs C to be examined by a medico-legal expert.

Because Mrs C, a 30 year old housewife, had suffered from neck and lower back since 1996, we advised her that a claim would be possible against the third party motorist on the basis that his negligence in causing the accident had exacerbated, or worsened, her pre-existing problems.

McKeowns had to make a distinction between Mrs C's pre-accident condition and her current problems. She felt that she was more or less 'symptom free' at the time of the accident as she'd recently undergone a period of physiotherapy to resolve the problem.

The independent medical expert delivered a report in April 2005, indicated that: "Mrs C's back problem would resolve by no later than eight months from the date of the accident."

Mrs C viewed the report and agreed it was accurate so McKeowns proceeded to present it to the negligent driver's insurers at the end of April 2005.

As anticipated, the opposing insurers raised a number of questions in relation to the extent of the pre-existing problem. McKeowns argued the case on behalf of our client and the insurers put forward an offer of £1,350. We felt that this was on the conservative side and advised Mrs C of this.

She chose to accept the offer based on the fact that she had previous back problems. Shortly afterwards she received a cheque for £1,350, and her legal costs were recovered from the third parties insurer together with the 'after the event' insurance premium.

Case Study 3 - £1,225,000

McKeowns' acted for a 14-year-old girl, who received £1,225,000 for the multiple fractures and severe head injury she sustained in a road traffic accident in June 2001.

On 16 June 2001, our client (child A) was with a group of friends after a trip to McDonalds. It began raining while she waited to cross a dual carriageway at a traffic light controlled pedestrian crossing. The lights were green for oncoming traffic, when two of her friends ran across the road. She ran after them and unfortunately running into the path of a Vauxhall Astra, which was travelling in the offside lane at just over the speed limit of 40 mph.

This was a difficult case on liability as the child had obviously contributed to the accident. The driver had little chance to avoid child A because a van travelling in the nearside lane obscured his view of the child as she started to cross the road. The risk of the claim failing was high, but we felt the child had suffered life-changing injuries, and so we decided to take the case on.

After a period of difficult negotiations, and action through the court, it was finally accepted by the driver that there was a risk the court could find that - having seen two children run out in front of him - he should have exercised more caution. Liability for the accident was agreed on a 75%/25% split in favour of the driver.

The child was physically traumatised by the accident and suffered numerous fractures. She had a substantial injury to the left side of her chest and, most significantly, a very severe head injury. She was admitted to hospital, where she remained for 23 months. As a result of the accident, she was left with no real speech, she could not walk or stand and was reliant on a wheelchair. Her condition was permanent and she required significant future care.

Using a skilled process of damage assessment, it was estimated that the claim was valued at some £4,900,000 if it had it been based on 100 per cent liability to the defendant. As liability had been agreed at 75/25 per cent, damages were assessed at 25 per cent and the award to our client was accepted at £1,225,000.