Our serious injury lawyers helped a Northumberland family to claim compensation on behalf of a 53-year-old woman who suffered a brain injury in a quad bike accident.
What Happened To Sallie
Our client, 53 year old Sallie* from Northumberland , was on the holiday in Zante in 2017. She was riding as a passenger on a quad bike when it suddenly flipped over. Sallie suffered very serious injuries to her brain, pelvis and chest and was left in a coma. Her family were warned she might never wake up. Fortunately, Sallie did come out of her coma but she now needs full-time care.
Sallie’s family had to pay thousands of pounds worth of medical bills when the insurance company wouldn’t pay out, stating that quad bike accidents were not covered under their insurance. The extremely expensive medical costs meant that Sallie’s family faced a very difficult period financially.
How We Helped
Sallie’s family contacted Nina Harrison, a solicitor in our specialist serious injury abroad team, to help them make a serious injury claim on Sallie’s behalf. Nina got to work straight away investigating Sallie’s claim, gathering evidence against the driver of the quad bike and the insurance company.
As Sallie didn’t have the mental capacity to instruct our team due to her brain injury, her daughter worked with us as Litigation Friend to help her claim compensation. Sallie’s family worked with our client liaison managers to help them make sure Sallie got the support and medical treatment she needed.
Our client liaison managers also provided support to Sallie’s family, giving advice about medical treatments as well as their debt from the accident. Our team wrote to the debt collectors and asked that they waited until Sallie’s case had finished to collect the debt. This support allowed Sallie’s family a grace period until the settlement could help them cover their debts.
Getting Sallie The Compensation She Needed
Nina negotiated a compensation settlement of €1.2 million to fund and support Sallie as she moved forward from her life-changing injuries. Sallie’s compensation not only helped cover the costs of her on-going treatments and therapies, but also covered the debt her family had gotten into because of her accident.
Sallie’s mum said, "It was awful to see how the crash affected Sallie and two years on she is still working hard to recover from what happened. We faced a very tough time financially due to Sallie not being covered by her travel insurance and holidaymakers need to know where they stand.”
"Quad bikes causing serious injuries like Sallie’s seems to be happening more frequently these days. I’m so happy we were able to help Sallie and her family get the help and support they needed after their insurance wouldn’t cover the accident. That being said, it’s so important to check the small print of your insurance policy, being covered could go a long way if things go wrong."
If you’ve suffered a serious injury abroad, our specialist serious injury abroad solicitors could get you the compensation you need. Call us on 0370 1500 100 or get in touch online.
*Not actual names used
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