A Personal Injury Claim was handled by Nelsons for Mrs B who had fallen In a restaurant.
Mrs B had attended a restaurant one evening in a group. To get from the bar area to the restaurant, the group were led down a short flight of irregular steps. There was no handrail and no working light, and Mrs B fell.
As a result of her fall Mrs B sustained multiple injuries including a fracture to her right clavicle, torn ligaments to her right ankle and a blow to her head. She was taken to the local casualty department. Unfortunately, the fracture did not unite, and further surgery was required. Initially, she was immobile for 6 weeks. This caused significant problems with her domestic life as she lived alone and required care and assistance around the home and garden.
Nearly 2 years after the accident itself, Mrs B was continuing to suffer ongoing problems and required further radiological investigations to determine the extent of the ongoing problems with her shoulder.
Insurers Denied Full Liability
At first, the insurers for the hotel firmly denied liability. Subsequently, the insurers admitted primary liability, but were insistent upon a substantial level of contributory negligence.
Chris Stansfield, the Director at Nelsons who handled the case, comments that this was an example of a case where the evidence from the outset supported the Claimant’s allegations of negligence, yet the insurers for the proposed Defendants approached the case firmly denying liability, then gradually made concessions. This approach by the insurers simply added to the distress of the elderly Claimant who was having to cope in any event with complications in respect of the injuries sustained in the accident.
Negotiations Led to the Insurers Accepting Responsibility
Following further negotiations by Nelsons, the insurers finally accepted responsibility on the basis of the Claimant agreeing to a 10% deduction for contributory negligence.
Having agreed the apportionment of liability, further medical evidence was obtained in order to support the claims for losses and expenses made by Mrs B As well as compensation for her injuries, Nelsons were seeking to recover all the ancillary losses and expenses covering her various attendances at hospital, physiotherapy and to obtain payment to recompense those who had provided gratuitous care and assistance during her periods of immobility. The insurers paid a net sum of £5,100 in compensation to Mrs B together with payment of her costs.
Read more about the personal injury cases that Nelsons have handled by visiting our Personal Injury case studies page.
For advice on pursuing a claim for compensation please contact a member of ourPersonal Injury team.
