Our serious injury solicitors have secured significant compensation for a man left with a serious brain injury after a hit-and-run incident while walking home from the pub.
The Accident
Alan* was walking home from the pub with his wife from their local pub, where they had celebrated his sister-in-law’s birthday. Suddenly, the driver of an off-road motorbike deliberately ‘pulled a wheelie’ into Alan’s head.
The impact knocked Alan to the floor. The driver drove over him and fled from the scene. Alan suffered a traumatic brain injury and has since had difficulties with memory, planning, understanding, fatigue, mood regulation and balance.
Alan got in touch with our serious injury claims team to see if we could help. David King, an Associate Solicitor from our Leeds office, agreed to take on his case.
The Case
The police never traced the motorcyclist, so David contacted the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), which compensates victims of uninsured and untraced drivers.
The MIB disputed liability, claiming that the motorbike didn’t count as a ‘motor vehicle’ under the relevant legislation. We defeated this argument using the team’s expertise, experience of similar cases, and knowledge of the relevant case law.
The MIB then argued that Alan was partly responsible for the accident and should get reduced compensation. They claimed this was because he had consumed alcohol and because he was in the road at the time of impact (the pavement was too narrow to walk two abreast).
We argued that Alan’s alcohol consumption didn’t make him negligent and that his position in the road didn’t cause the collision. The accident wouldn’t have happened if the driver hadn’t deliberately ‘pulled a wheelie’ in his direction. The MIB then agreed to pay Alan’s damages in full.
How We’ve Helped
Alan received privately-funded neuropsychology, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and vestibular therapy through his claim. This has helped him to make impressive progress, but he’s still not fully recovered.
The MIB only pays a limited contribution towards legal costs and we had to agree certain costs with the MIB in advance. To limit the costs for Alan, we persuaded the MIB to pay for independent expert evidence in the fields of neuropsychology and speech and language therapy. Alan was a director of his own company, so we also obtained expert forensic accounting evidence to calculate his past and future loss of earnings.
We prepared a detailed account of the past and future financial losses that Alan had suffered as a result of his injury. We also claimed for past care provide by his wife and expenses and various future therapy, equipment and medical treatment.
We negotiated very healthy awards for the cost of Alan’s future care and loss of earnings, which were vulnerable. It’s an excellent result for Alan, which will provide for his needs and those of his family for the rest of his life.
Alan was very satisfied with how we managed his case and the outcome we achieved. He left a 5* Trustpilot review, saying “I can’t thank David King enough for his help and assistance in handling my claim. He contacted me on a regular basis to keep in informed with everything and his professionalism is next to none, highly recommend.”
If you’ve been injured by a hit-and-run driver, we may be able to help you claim compensation. See our Road Traffic Accident Claims section for more information, or contact us online today.
*Not client’s real name
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