bike acceident compensation

adamheffer

hey guys,

so 4 months ago i was knocked off my bike on the way to work, suffered a broken ankle, bruised back (both of which are are still affecting me) and a broken bike.

set a "no-win, no-fee" on the case and i've just been offered £3250 to cover the broken bike, pain of the broken ankle and aching back and inconvenience of being in plaster for 6 weeks and still having a to take the weight off my ankle at the end of the day. The broken ankle could potentially affect me or a total of 12 months according to an independent doctor.

The total of the compensation seemed a little low to me...loss of earnings will be added to that, but for the pain and stuff and how it'll affect me for the rest of the year (have only just got back in the saddle to ride to work). I have told the lawyer (who's suggested this is a good offer and I should accept it - yes I know they're no win no fee and they want their money) that I would like to think about the offer and let her know.

So is £3250 fair compensation for my troubles :?:

hoathy

Hold out for more!

Mr_Cellophane

The first offer is never enough. Why would they offer the maximum first time ?

attica

I got two grand compensation +bike costs for little more than heavy bruising when I was knocked off 15 years ago.
I'd say definitely hold out for more!

ChrisLS

...no where near enough. Never except the first offer. The CTC fought a claim for me. It is worth joining them for the legal cover alone. Their solicitor was first class.

spen666

ChrisLS wrote:

...no where near enough. Never except the first offer. The CTC fought a claim for me. It is worth joining them for the legal cover alone. Their solicitor was first class.

The CTC do NOT employ solicitors to pursue PI claims.

You can instruct the same solicitors firm they use whether or not you are a member. All the CTC do with claims is refer them to their nominated solicitors ( usually Russell Jones & Walker) who decide if they are prepared to run the case on a no win no fee basis.

The benefits of the CTC membership are not this. The major benefit for most people is the 3rd party insurance. This covers you if someone claims AGAINST YOU. This is totally different from you making a claim against someone else.

ChrisLS

...spen666, I stand corrected...

tyskie

adamheffer wrote:

The broken ankle could potentially affect me or a total of 12 months according to an independent doctor.

If you took the money now, I guess it would in full and final settlement of your claim for all injuries. Wouldn't it be better to wait until pretty much the final outcome for your ankle is determined because it is only then that you know how long it took to heal, what the long term prognosis is etc. I would, at the least, put this point to the solicitor and see what they say.

I'm currently pusuing compensation using the CTC's nominated solicitor and this is the position they are taking (although my injuries were more extensive and the possibility of long term issues are higher).

cee

Spen....

agreed. I told the CTC about my accident in December (2 broken ribs, cuts bruises, broken bike bits), and a really nice chappy from RJW emailed me.

As it turns out, RJW think I have a claim against the Motor Insurers Bureau's untraced drivers scheme, and I was able to start that process myself using an online form on the MIB website.

In my case, there is probably not that much that the lawyers would have done differently (although, I may ask them for more assistance depending on the outcome of that claim) to get the ball rolling, especially as the MIB only pay out £500 legal fees under the untraced drivers scheme and the chap from RJW said that their fees (although no win no fee) MAY or MAY NOT be more than that, and I would have to top it up from the rest of any award.

redvee

One thing I was told when I had a no-win-no-fee win a few years back. You can settle quickly and hope the injuries sustained don't give you any future issues, luckily enough for me I didn't suffer any long term problems with my injuries. I received £1500 for injuries, broken sinus, cuts and bruises and ligament(?) damage on my side, plus £500 for damage to frame, chainset and front wheel.

wastelander

I'm still awaiting the injuries part of a claim (they offered £1k, solicitor says case law is £1500) on top of the £2k to replace my bike after a shunt which left me with heavy bruising and a written off CAAD5 - sounds like a pitiful amount for a broken limb

hoathy

I got about £500 because the council didn't maintain the roads and when I was a young lad I was racing along in the rain on a roady bike and a hole (that was filled with water) destroyed my wheels. I went to hospital (they guy following me was a paramedic (co-insidence!) but I was just in shock. You should get like £5000 for a broken limb! insidentally, which bone did you fracture?

adamheffer

Hoathy wrote:

You should get like £5000 for a broken limb! insidentally, which bone did you fracture?

My lateral malleolus. That's the sticky out bit of your ankle on the outside of the leg.

Appears to have healed fine and I was discharged as soon as the cast came off so I guess the Doc was ok with it. The walking's getting better all the time, and I don't really need the money right now to be honest so maybe I'd be better off asking my solicitor to put the claim on hold until after the summer and see how I feel then.

my lawyers wrote:

In relation to the offer it is not true that the third party never offer their final offer first time. Practices have changed over the last few years and they recognise that they are only incurring more costs by making offers which they know that we will advise rejection off. As you may be aware if the matter goes to Court then they pay our costs. They have to pay for every telephone call made and letter sent. Therefore it does not make sense for them to make an unreasonable offer. If we felt that the offer was low then we would of course advise rejection. We have been advised by third party that this is their highest offer. If you wish to reject this then we would need to issue Court proceedings. As discussed in our correspondence, if the judge awards you the same amount or less, you would be personally responsible for their costs from 21 days after the offer was made

passout

I'd hold out for more but don't be too greedy - the second offer is a safe bet. It always helps if you can say exactly why the first offer isn't enough. Be specific and precise. At least that's my experience from a car crash. It took me a year to get my money for a broken rib & other expenses.

Juju_uk_68

Judicial Studies Guidelines suggest :-

A simple fracture which is expected to resolve fully would be classed as a "Modest Injury".

Where recovery is within a year, the award is unlikely to exceed £3250. If you got a 12 month prognosis for full recovery from the date of loss, this you'r claim isnt likely to achieve the maximum, unless say, you had extnesive time off work, extensive physiotherapy, and your lifestyle was curtailed more than the average person due to the injury. So, lets say £2750 for the injury. You also got some bruising, but the compensation is mainly for the most serious injury, and the valuation of any remaining injury might be at a discount of up to 75% for areas which overlap - ie a broken toe worth 3k would be valued at £750 on top. In your case a bruised back isn't worth much more than say £500 for a 12 month prognosis, again with the caveats abouve.

So really, your probably looking at about £3k for the injuries, and then add


Care - given by say a partner for the first few weeks of incapacitation, at say £4 ph for a spouse or partner - typically with meals housework, say an hour a day.

Loss of earnings.

Damaged items - bike, clothing, bicycle accessories.

Ask for out of pocket expenses such as travel to physio, hospital, alternative work travel, telephone and postage costs. Were your holiday plans interupted - claim for loss of enjoyment. - say 10% cost of holiday.

This is just a guide - dont hold me to it.

Vibe01

I am just going through the final area of the process of claiming. I put in for £90,000 and they offered £72,000. Then I need to minus £10,000 for what I have had in interim payments throughout the 2 years 6months.

I was knocked off and snapped my left femur in half (the whole hog on that bone) Still have a metal rod inside. This is there first counter offer, should I accept?

My Solicitor says its a good offer and I should but I keep thinking I was told to never accept the first offer >.<

mrchrispy

72k is a fair bit but still, snapping a femur must hurt like a b'stard.

tyskie

Vibe01 wrote:

I am just going through the final area of the process of claiming. I put in for £90,000 and they offered £72,000. Then I need to minus £10,000 for what I have had in interim payments throughout the 2 years 6months.

I was knocked off and snapped my left femur in half (the whole hog on that bone) Still have a metal rod inside. This is there first counter offer, should I accept?

My Solicitor says its a good offer and I should but I keep thinking I was told to never accept the first offer >.<

Vibe01 - I suffered a similar break to my right femur and other injuries when a car hit me side on. I've just had the screws removed after 8 months as the bone around them was beginning to break down a bit but the rod stays in whilst the femur continues to heal. I would be interested to know of your healing experiences with respect to the femur and also how your compensation claim is broken down, so as to give me an idea of how much your solicitor is attributing to the injury, loss of enjoyment etc. If you wish to give me that information, please send me a Personal Message. That would be much appreciated.

psychle

Vibe01 wrote:

I am just going through the final area of the process of claiming. I put in for £90,000 and they offered £72,000. Then I need to minus £10,000 for what I have had in interim payments throughout the 2 years 6months.

I was knocked off and snapped my left femur in half (the whole hog on that bone) Still have a metal rod inside. This is there first counter offer, should I accept?

My Solicitor says its a good offer and I should but I keep thinking I was told to never accept the first offer >.<

I suffered a snapped femur along with multiple fractures to my elbow, wrist and forearm and some internal bleeding, when I was hit head-on by a drunk driver.

The femur healed up fine but I required several operations over a couple of years for the arm - far more complicated bone and joint structure there.
DO get the metal rod removed asap. Consider the consequences if you suffered a similar blow to an unyielding metal rod as opposed to a breakable bone - it would just tear through your flesh. :shock:

At the end of the day, after rejecting the first offer, my total settlement, including the value of a one-year old motorbike and gear was £8k! (not a typo).

Now obviously this wasn't just last year, but have we had inflation of around 1000% over the last 15 years?
It enabled me to buy my first flat, but when I sold that two years ago, it had only doubled in value!
And my salary has tripled in value over this time, though this includes some level of promotion.

Needless to say it sounds like a damn good offer to me, but obviously the compensation market has changed somewhat in the last decade or so.

More recently I was knocked off on my way to work. The bicycle was totalled, I was knocked out, spent a night in hospital, got some stitches in my ear and eyebrow and total payout was £4k.

Vibe01

tyskie wrote:

Vibe01 wrote:

I am just going through the final area of the process of claiming. I put in for £90,000 and they offered £72,000. Then I need to minus £10,000 for what I have had in interim payments throughout the 2 years 6months.

I was knocked off and snapped my left femur in half (the whole hog on that bone) Still have a metal rod inside. This is there first counter offer, should I accept?

My Solicitor says its a good offer and I should but I keep thinking I was told to never accept the first offer >.<

Vibe01 - I suffered a similar break to my right femur and other injuries when a car hit me side on. I've just had the screws removed after 8 months as the bone around them was beginning to break down a bit but the rod stays in whilst the femur continues to heal. I would be interested to know of your healing experiences with respect to the femur and also how your compensation claim is broken down, so as to give me an idea of how much your solicitor is attributing to the injury, loss of enjoyment etc. If you wish to give me that information, please send me a Personal Message. That would be much appreciated.

Smith v Manchester (disadvantage on the labour market) = £39,000 (solicitor put in for)

This on there offer was reduced to £13k from what we put in for at £39k.

Loss of earnings £30k

So this works out as just under £30 for my damages/suffering etc.

I still have some pain sometimes in my femur area. Specialist says it will heal to full but I have my doubts. My thigh on top is still numb cus of the nerve damage.

tyskie

Cheers for that Vibe01.

Juju_uk_68

JSB Suggests (8th edition)

Severe leg injuries - bracket (serious) £22650 - £32000.

Serious injuries to joints or ligaments resulting in instabiltity prolonged treatment, a lengthy period of non weight bearing, the near certainty that arthritis will ensue, injuries involving the hip requiring arthrodesis or hip replacement, extensive scarring. To justify an award within this bracket a number of features will be required.

Bracket Moderate £16300 - £22650

Includes seveer, complicated or multiple fractures. Level of award within this bracket will be influenced by period off work, presence or risk of degenerative changes, imperfect union of fractures, muscle wasting, limited joint movement, instability in the knee, insightly scarring or permanatly increased vunerability.

Less Srious leg injuries - from which incomplete recovery is maide - where left with implant, defective gait, impaired mobility sensory loss £10500 - £16300.