Author: Romilly Houghton

Romilly Houghton

Director

Ian Kyle

Director

Nick Swales

Director

Sinead Woods

Senior Associate

Irvings Law Recover One Million Pounds In Damages

Background

Irvings law recover one million pounds in damages despite the claimant facing allegations of fundamental dishonesty.

The Claimant was a young boy when he was struck and knocked down by a motor vehicle as a result of which he sustained serious personal injuries.  The Claimant sustained a severe brain injury which was denied by the Defendant’s legal representatives.  In the years after the accident, the Claimant demonstrated verbal and physical aggression and developed OCD tendencies.  His behaviour was ridgid and impulsive.  The Claimant ran into difficulties in education and was repeatedly excluded from school.  The Claimant developed problems with sleep and fatigue issues and also lost his sense of smell and had a reduced sense of taste.  The Claimant was unable to plan or organise his time and developed social anxiety and paranoia.  After leaving school, the Claimant was able to work but each job was short lived after the Claimant walked out of his  job or was sacked.

Representation

An experienced traumatic brain injury case manager was appointed to represent the interests of the Claimant and co-ordinate a package of rehabilitation and care.  The Claimant struggled to accept the need for rehabilitation or professional care and preferred to receive care from his extensive family.

Resolution

The parties agreed to meet for a joint statement meeting to negotiate settlement of the Claimant’s case.  However, before the joint settlement meeting the Defendant served the Claimant’s legal representatives with a significant dump of covert surveillance video footage covering a period of 6 years spanning 370 hours of footage.

The Defendant maintained that the video surveillance footage demonstrated that the Claimant did not have a severe brain injury but rather lived a normal independent life and therefore had no need for care, case management or therapeutic input.  The Defendant maintained that the Claimant was able to work and denied the Claimant’s entitlement to future loss of earnings, care and case management fees, treatment and therapeutic fees or deputyship and Court of Protection fees.

Fundamental Dishonesty

As fundamental dishonesty had been pleaded against the Claimant, Irvings Law spent a very considerable amount of time going through the 370 hours of covert video surveillance footage served by the Defendant and the witness statements prepared by the surveillance operative instructed by the Defendant. Irvings Law were able to obtain evidence that the covert surveillance footage was significantly edited by the surveillance operative in order to seek to portray the Claimant as independent and living a normal life.

Irvings Law requested full unedited footage and prepared a detailed summary of the video surveillance footage served highlighting many issues with the integrity of the footage.  After obtaining the unedited footage it was clear that the video surveillance footage did not demonstrate the Claimant living a normal independent life as the Defendant had suggested but rather, the Claimant lived a life surrounded by his immediately family with many restrictions on his day-to-day life as a result of his traumatic brain injury.  A reply to the Defence in which fundamental dishonesty was alleged, was prepared on behalf of the Claimant highlighting the many inaccuracies, inconsistencies and factual errors which littered the Defence and the covert video surveillance footage served.

Resolution

The parties met for a joint settlement meeting and settlement was agreed in the sum of £1,000,000.00 plus payment of the Claimant’s reasonable legal costs.  The Claimant did recover damages for pain, suffering, loss of amenity, case management costs, therapeutic interventions, past loss of earnings and future loss of earnings.

The Claimant subsequently regained his capacity pursuant to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and was able to secure employment and did not need paid professional care.

Contact Irvings

Irvings Law are specialists in handling serious injury claims and are committed to fighting and securing financial compensation for accident victims.

How much will it cost me?

We act on a “no win-no fee” basis. If your claim is successful, the costs are paid by the Defendants. If a claim is not successful, you do not pay our costs.

Have an Enquiry?

You can contact Irvings for a no obligation confidential chat by telephone on 0151 475 1999 or use our freephone number 0800 954 0243 and talk to our specialist serious injury team. Alternatively, you can submit your enquiry to us by email to info@irvingslaw.com.

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