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£1.5m Compensation Secured for Sheffield Man Following Amputation After Workplace Accident
Case Summary:
- Claim: Workplace accident
- Injury: Below-knee amputation
- Location: Sheffield
- Interim payments: £200,000
- Final settlement: £1.3 million
- Total compensation: £1.5 million
What happened?
A 48-year-old man was working at a recycling centre in Sheffield, where he was sorting through recycling materials as part of his job. A colleague was working close by operating a large 360 degree excavator. He failed to notice our client and reversed into him, pushed him to the ground and crushed his right ankle and foot.
What injuries did your client suffer?
Being crushed by a large industrial vehicle caused devastating injuries to our client. He suffered a fracture to the distal fibula; comminuted fracture through the cuboid; dislocation of the talonavicular joint, fractures of the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th metatarsals; degloving of the right foot and ankle, and soft tissue injury to the right shoulder. He went on to suffer psychological problems and endured many years of painful rehabilitation and repeated surgeries to save his lower leg. Sadly, his medical team eventually concluded that his lower leg could not be saved and three years after the accident, he underwent a transtibial amputation of his lower right leg.
What was the impact of the accident?
The accident had a profound impact on our client’s life. His mobility was seriously affected to the extent that he needed to move house into more suitable accommodation. He lost his job and was unable to work. He required care and support of family and friends with basic tasks. Having lost the lower part of his leg he needed prosthetics to regain his independence.
What did you do?
We were approached three weeks after the accident. The case was handled by our serious injury team, who have extensive experience dealing with complex workplace accident claims involving life-changing injuries. The case was led by Nigel Barrowcliff, our Managing Partner and a Law Society Personal Injury Specialist. Nigel visited the client at home to ensure we understood the full extent of our client’s injuries, financial situation and care needs. We then immediately set about preparing the case, preserving CCTV evidence, and presenting our client’s claim to his employer’s insurance company. Our client’s financial needs were urgent. His income had stopped entirely but his bills still needed to be paid. We obtained interim payments (advance payment of compensation) to help relieve his immediate financial issues. We also appointed leading medical experts to assess his injuries and care managers to coordinate his ongoing care needs. When it became apparent that his accommodation was not suitable for his recovery, we instructed experts to source him a new single storey home, adapted for his needs. After the amputation, we helped arrange his prosthetic treatment. Meanwhile, we assessed the lifelong impact the accident would have on his future, taking account of future care needs, replacement prosthetics and his lost earnings.
What was the outcome?
Following extensive negotiations, the employer’s insurance company accepted partial responsibility for the accident, but they alleged our client shared some of the blame. We rejected that outright. The employer was prosecuted by the Health & Safety Executive the insurance company after which the insurance company finally accepted full liability. We secured interim payments throughout the case totalling £200,000 and an additional final settlement of £1,300,000. The total compensation recovered was therefore £1.5 million. Our client was delighted with the outcome which meant he was able to rebuild his life, knowing that his future was secure. Following the case, his employer put in place safer systems of work to protect their employees from any repetition.
What did we charge?
We recovered most of our legal fees along with the costs incurred by medical experts, barristers, accommodation experts, prosthetic experts, care managers and court fees from the employer’s insurance company. Our client made a contribution to fees via our success fee, which equated to just 3% of his compensation. Our funding model means that the larger the compensation award, the smaller the percentage we deduct for legal fees. If he had lost his case, he wouldn’t have paid a penny in legal fees.
Get in touch
If you’ve suffered an injury and need a solicitor you can trust, LLB Solicitors is ready to help. Our team combines expertise, experience, and compassion to ensure your claim is handled efficiently and successfully.
Call: 0161 989 9400 or 0800 880 7855, Email: info@llbsolicitors.co.uk or complete our Contact Form and we’ll get back to you for a free, no obligation discussion about your case.