Importance of medical evidence in a personal injury claim

Our Glasgow personal injury solicitors helped a woman after she was injured when she tripped over a raised kerb stone at a supermarket car park.

After the accident, she attended A & E at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, they carried out an x-ray which confirmed torn ligaments in her shoulder. She was advised to take time off work but she felt she couldn’t as she had just begun a new job.

Personal injury claim against supermarket

After contacting Digby Brown, our solicitors raised a personal injury claim on her behalf against the supermarket. They had failed in their common law duty to maintain the car park to a reasonable state of repair and adhere to the Occupiers' Liability (Scotland) Act 1960.

The insurers admitted liability for the accident which meant they were willing to compensate our client for her injuries that resulted from the accident.

Compensation offer without medical evidence

The insurers made an offer of £1,600 in full and final settlement of the injury claim. However, this offer was a pre-medical offer as no medical evidence had been collected yet.

At Digby Brown, we consider pre-medical offers to be no more than a cynical attempt by insurance companies to try and settle a personal injury claim, for less than it is worth, without any consideration as to the true nature and extent of the injuries someone has suffered and the likely recovery time.

In this case, our client agreed to reject the pre-medical offer and obtain medical evidence.

Medical evidence results in 8 times more compensation

Upon collecting medical evidence, it was confirmed that our client had a more serious injury which required surgery. An updated medical report was obtained and a full recovery was expected by 3 years.

After disclosing the updated medical evidence, negotiations were reached in the sum of £13,000 in respect of solatium, loss of earnings, services and inconvenience. This was over eight times the pre-medical offer.

In any personal injury claim, it is critical to obtain expert medical evidence to determine the extent of the injuries from the accident, if someone can make a full recovery and how long that will take. Without this, it is impossible to know the true value of compensation that someone is entitled to, and can result in fraudulent claims being compensated.

At Digby Brown, we always collect medical evidence from well regarded experts in the field to ensure our clients receive the compensation they are entitled to.