Our accident abroad solicitors helped a man from Birmingham claim compensation after a coach accident left him with serious injuries.
Steve was a ski instructor and enjoyed teaching people how to ski in Reims, France. One afternoon, he was on a coach back to the UK on a motorway. A group of school children and a teacher from Alvechurch Middle School were with him on the coach.
While they were driving, the coach driver suddenly lost control and the coach flipped on its side and crashed. Twenty five people were seriously injured and the school teacher died.
Steve suffered a number of serious injuries including a head injury, a burst lumbar fracture, and tendon damage to both shoulders. He had to have surgery because of his fracture and this involved having metalwork fused to his spine.
After his surgery, Steve was in a significant amount of pain and he was suffering from emotional trauma from the accident. He also couldn’t work as a ski instructor anymore and this put a huge financial strain on him and his family.
How We Helped
Steve contacted our personal injury solicitors to find out if we could help him make a claim. Steve was really stressed about his injuries and his financial situation so he thought any compensation would really help him in future.
Our team, led by expert Cheryl Palmer-Hughes, worked with Steve to find out what had happened. We collected evidence and witness statements and found that the driver of the coach fell asleep while he was driving. This is how he lose control of the coach.
With this information, we made a claim against Interschool Travel Limited (Interski) and the coach company, Solus Coaches Limited. The travel company and the coach company both had a responsibility to make sure everyone was safe and they failed to do this.
At first, neither of the companies would accept responsibility. But our team kept going with Steve’s claim and after four years Cheryl negotiated a six-figure settlement for Steve.
Steve’s settlement included Steve’s past and future loss of earnings so he could now concentrate on his recovery without any financial stress. The compensation would also be enough for him to pay for specialist therapies in future.
Steve said:
“For more than four years, I have been waiting for Interski or the coach company to admit responsibility for my life-changing injuries. Now that I finally have that admission and an agreement to settle, I have peace of mind that I will be able to fund any therapies and support I might need in the future.
My injuries have left me unable to work so the fact that my lawyers have also secured a settlement including loss of earnings for me is a great relief. I can finally get on with my life.”
Cheryl also added that, “we are very pleased that Interski and Solus have finally accepted responsibility for Steve’s injuries and agreed the terms of a financial settlement, even though it is very disappointing that they have only done so after four years.”
If you or a loved one have suffered in an accident abroad contact our expert team to discuss your situation. Call us on 0370 1500 100 or send us an email and we’ll call you back.
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