£51,500 compensation for shoulder injury following accident at work.

Our client had been working as a delivery driver in Stoke on Trent for over 10 years. His job involved delivering all manner of goods to customers. On the day of his accident, he was asked to deliver a very heavy package to a customer. He was asked to do the delivery by himself. He had raised complaints about this with his employers in the past, but they had ignored his concerns. His van wasn’t fitted with any lifting gear, and he would struggle trying to lift heavy packages. When unloading the item on the day of the injury, he felt a pop followed by sharp and excruciating pain in his shoulder. He headed to A&E and was diagnosed with a tear to the tendons in his shoulder.

As a result of the injury our client was unable to continue working as a delivery driver and contacted us for help. One of our expert solicitors discussed his case with him over the phone and offered him a ‘no-win, no-fee’ agreement. This meant we could represent him without the need for any upfront cost or financial risk. We held his employer responsible for the claim as they had failed to meet basic standards of manual handing and health and safety. They had not created a system of work that was safe for their employees.

We presented the case to our client’s employer’s insurance company and then obtained expert medical evidence detailing the injury and the impact it had had on his life. His employers accepted responsibility for the accident and offered £3,000 to conclude the case. We advised the client to reject the offer and continue with the claim.

Unfortunately, the insurance company was not willing to engage in productive negotiations. We commenced court proceedings and prepared for trial. In the days before the trial the insurance company’s solicitors increased their offer from £3,000 to £21,000. This is a significant amount of money, but we believed our client was entitled to more. We proceeded to trial. At court the Judge agreed with all of our submissions and the client was awarded £51,500.00.

Senior solicitor Lee Jones said:

This demonstrates the importance of choosing the right solicitor with the experience to challenge defendant insurance companies. We work hard to achieve negotiated settlements and more often than not we are able to settle claims without the need to go to court. That said, we never shy away from a fight and on this occasion the defendant was so unreasonable that we needed to take this all the way. Our client was delighted with the outcome, and I’m pleased we were able to assist him to get his life back on track.”

If you have suffered a shoulder injury following an accident at work, or have another legal problem you need help with, please contact our specialist solicitors today for a free no obligation discussion.

You can call us on 0161 989 9400 or complete our contact us form.

LLB Solicitors 16/01/2023