What happened?
Cody*, a seasoned mechanic and HGV driver in his late fifties, had dedicated nearly three decades of his life to his employer. In 2018, while driving a tractor unit towing a massive 23-tonne load of steel beams, a catastrophic accident unfolded.
Cody was driving the loaded vehicle to take it to a brake test centre. The vehicle belonged to a third-party company who had hired Cody’s company to get it checked. Cody had received it already loaded; neither he nor his company had been involved with the loading itself.
As Cody navigated a roundabout, the weighty load shifted, causing the tractor-trailer to overturn. The impact of this harrowing incident left him with severe injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, multiple orthopaedic injuries and a chronic pain disorder.
The aftermath of the accident has been devastating. After spending 5 days in hospital to stabilise his condition, Cody returned home but was unable to return to work. Apart from his physical injuries, he suffered from cognitive impairment, PTSD, severe anxiety and depression which stopped him from being able to enjoy his daily life in the way he did before the accident. As time passed, Cody found himself unable to return to work and anxiety taking over his life and decided to seek legal advice for his injuries.
The claim
Cody initially went to another firm that took on his case. His solicitors approached both his employer – the company that he worked for and was driving the vehicle on behalf of – and the company that the vehicle belonged to and who were also responsible for loading it with the steel beams that it carried. Both companies could potentially be held liable for the accident, Cody’s employer for not having kept him safe and having asked him to drive an incorrectly loaded vehicle, and the vehicle owners for having loaded the vehicle in a dangerous way.
After sending a letter of claim to both and receiving a negative response in both cases, Cody’s previous solicitors decided to drop the case. That decision was partly made based on the testimony of an eye witness whose opinion was that Cody was driving too fast. Their letters of claim had been brief and their arguments in Cody’s favour quite weak so it was no wonder that bearing in mind the witness statement and the lack of a structured claim both possible defendants denied liability.
Thankfully Cody didn’t give up. He knew he was not driving too fast, and he decided to contact a second firm of solicitors which this time was Enable Law.
Taking over conduct – what difference have we made?
We took on Cody’s case around 18 months after the accident and left no stone unturned until we understood and proved what caused it. Interestingly, even though the vehicle he had driven was fitted with a dashcam camera, no footage had been submitted to his previous solicitors. Finding out about its existence, Katherine Moyse, the Enable Law Personal Injury Lawyer that now represented Cody managed to get hold of it despite significant challenges posed by the defendants. This footage showed that Cody was probably travelling at around 12mph when the vehicle rolled.
As a next step, Katherine and the team were able to track down independent witnesses who provided useful factual observations confirming our concern about the configuration and security of the load and the way our client negotiated the roundabout. These witnesses had come forward sooner but the First Defendant, the company that owned the vehicle, had advised them that their statements would not be required.
The team also obtained additional accident reconstruction evidence from an expert with a physics background to be able to understand and present the science behind how gravity and the way the load was configured and secured were causative of the accident.
Using all this information, a liability report was produced excluding all possible causes for the roll-over, including excessive speed, and opined that, on the balance of probabilities, the roll-over occurred because the load was inappropriately loaded and/or inadequately secured.
The next argument made by the Defendants was that our client was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident contributing to the severity of his injuries. Cody’s memory of the incident was foggy but one thing he was adamant about was that he had been wearing his seatbelt.
Outcomes
After significant back and forth between the legal teams representing the defendants and our team at Enable Law, and with liability still disputed, we reached a settlement of nearly £500K to enable Cody to access the rehabilitation package he needed to help his recovery. Having required very specialist support that was not available on the NHS, an as quick as possible resolution was very much needed to help him get the support he required. As part of the compensation, Cody has been able to also secure pain management and psychiatric support that we are positive will make a big difference to his recovery and overall state of wellbeing. He is now looking forward to his future, which previously he had been unable to.
After settling Cody’s case, we received some great feedback from his wife who acted as his litigation friend: “Katherine has been an absolute rock. Throughout the entirety of our case, she has been attentive, empathetic and patient. She has provided consistent and clear updates and guidance on all aspects of the claim process and maintained the highest level of determination and focus. Katherine’s dedication to and knowledge of our case has not faltered over the past four and a half years, and we would not have made it this far without her continual reassurance. The end result that Katherine has provided us with is far beyond our expectations. I would highly recommend Katherine to anybody in need of similar assistance.”
Can we help you?
If you or a loved one are facing challenges with your claim with other solicitors, a member of our legal team will be happy to have a free, confidential and no obligation discussion with you to help you understand if your representation is doing the right thing to meet your needs. To speak to a member of our team call us on 0800 044 8488 or fill in our contact form below.
*Please note: We have changed our client’s name to protect his privacy.
