Romanian couple hit by speeding driver gets settlement they deserve with Digby Brown

“Our car insurer tried to pressure us into using their personal injury solicitor and when I said no, they tried all sort of threats to force me into it. 

“Dealing with Digby Brown was easy. They responded quickly, took the time to explain the next steps and it was all very straightforward.

“I can’t say the same thing about the solicitor my insurer passed us to. It was all very rushed and they didn’t seem to have any interest in their customers – instead it was all about getting it settled as quickly as possible, rather than get the best outcome for us.”

Ioan Clonta and his wife, both from Romania, were on holiday in Scotland and were visiting their final destination in Edinburgh before going home. 

But two speeding young drivers – travelling at 70 mph on a 30 mph road - have meant they will never look back on their time in Scotland with any joy. Instead, the first thing they think about is the accident.

“The impact was inevitable.

“A BMW overtook me on the left side at high speed and it seemed he was racing with another driver.  The second car, a VW5, then tried to overtake me on the left but there were two parked cars so he then tried to overtake me on the right.  

“I was somewhere behind the parked cars at the moment of impact.  As soon as it happened we started spinning. We must have spun about two or three times before the car finally stopped. 

“My car is a total write off.  We are lucky that we have no broken bones, just pains."

After contacting their insurance company, they were given a hire car and went straight home to England. 

However, Ioan worked as a private hire taxi driver at the time and his injuries meant he couldn’t work as many hours as usual and lost income as a result.

“It was only later that we found out it was better to go through another company for your personal injury claim.”

“But our insurers tried to force me to continue with their recommended solicitor. I told them no. They threatened to make me pay for the car hire costs – which were double that of any other hire company -- and meant I would be working every day just to cover the daily car hire costs.”

This was all while he was still not fully back to work and continuing to lose money. They continued to threaten him and ask him to respond urgently until we at Digby Brown got in touch with the other solicitors and told them that they had no right to do what they were doing. 

Constantin Bedrule, Romanian Solicitor within Digby Brown’s specialist Foreign and Travel team, was then able to draw up an agreement in which the insurers dealt with the damage to the car while we dealt with the physical damage to Ioan and his wife. 

“It was even better being able to speak to a solicitor in our mother tongue. We are confident English speakers but it meant we could explain everything more clearly and nothing was lost in translation.

“Constantin was prompt and responsive and reassured us every step of the way. We were confident that he would sort everything for us and do his very best. And he did.”