Farm try to blame delivery driver for his injuries

Mr X was making a delivery to a farm when he slipped down some internal concrete stairs and badly dislocated his shoulder.

“I lost my footing on the way down the stairs, they were so slippy. I knew I’d done something really bad to my shoulder as I was in agony.

“I was almost on my knees with the pain. The nurses in the hospital thought I was having a heart attack because of the pain I was in.”

As he wasn’t able to drive after the accident, he was unable to work.

“I knew straight away that my arm was going to be out of use for a while and that was going to be a problem. It was my right arm that was injured and I’m right handed.”

Mr X decided to investigate his options for making an injury claim, contacting solicitors to find out where he stood.

“As soon as I spoke to Digby Brown I was put completely at ease. I’d spoken to other lawyers and they didn’t make me feel the same.”

When Damian White, Partner and Head of our Ayr office, contacted the farm they were adamant that railings had been in place and that Mr X had been wearing inappropriate footwear for being on the farm. They denied all liability for the accident.

“It was a kick in the teeth when I found out that the farm were saying that there were railings there and that I’d changed my boots before going to hospital. If the railings had been there I’d have been able to stop myself.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to go down the route of using a lawyer because I knew that it would cause an impact with my work and the farm, but as soon as I found out they were lying I didn’t care anymore.”

Our Ayr solicitors had to investigate the claims made by the farm and took a number of witness statements, including some from Mr X’s colleagues who had also made deliveries to the same farm. It became apparent very quickly that the railings had not been in place prior to Mr X’s accident and that the railings, which were now in place, were installed after his accident happened.

The owner of the farm still denied liability and our solicitors were forced to raise the case in court.

“I felt nervous even though I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. If they had lied about the railings, I was worried about what else they might try to lie about. Once the witness statements were taken I felt so much more at ease because I knew that the truth was out and that was all that mattered.”

Once court proceedings had been raised, an offer was made to Mr X to settle his case which our solicitors felt this was not enough to fairly compensate him. His injuries had not improved leaving him unable to return to the job he was doing before. His work had tried to accommodate him as much as possible but due to the impact his injuries had had on what he was able to do, they had to let him go.

“I was a mess, I didn’t know what the future held anymore. Damian really helped  put me back on track and arranged support for me.”

After he lost his job, we had to take into account the loss of earnings that were now faced by Mr X because of the injuries that he had suffered. We arranged for Mr X to meet with employment and pension experts who submitted reports to the other side. Before the case was due to appear in court the  other side made an increased six figure offer almost five times the original offer.

“I was very happy with the outcome. I wasn’t jumping for joy because I realised that I was going to be living with my damaged shoulder forever, but it really meant that I would be able to get on with my life now.

“I don’t know where I would have been without Damian and his team, I am so grateful for all their help. When the offers were coming in, I was really considered just accepting the lower offer to end the whole thing but I’m so glad I listened to Damian’s advice.

“To anyone who ever finds themselves in this position, don’t give up and listen to your solicitor.”

At Digby Brown, our solicitors are specialists in personal injury law. This means we have the expert knowledge and funding to secure the compensation our clients are legally entitled to.

Read more about clients we have helped in Ayr.