Why having Digby Brown on your side really matters

Mr M was involved in a road traffic accident in Shetland when a driver drove out of a junction, directly in front of him.

Unable to avoid a collision, he collided head on into the side of the other vehicle. Fortunately, both parties were able to walk away from the accident.

It wasn’t until later that he found himself unable to work as a result of his injuries from the crash. In his profession, he was responsible for driving heavy agricultural machinery and farming but due to his ongoing back pain, he had to stop working altogether.

Mr M got in touch with his car insurance who passed his case along to a firm of solicitors who valued his case at only £2,000.

Due to three-year timebar issues, he only had a couple of months left to legally make a claim for personal injury compensation so the case was passed to Digby Brown’s office in Inverness where Solicitor Joanna Corrance handled the case.

“My car insurance company passed me to a law firm to deal with my case. They didn’t seem to be getting anywhere but as soon as Joanna at Digby Brown got involved, everything seemed to move so quickly.”

Three years had passed since the date of the accident and he was still unable to work.

On that basis, we carried out further medical investigations and concluded that he had developed a chronic pain syndrome as a result of the car accident.

The case was complicated by pre-existing medical conditions which would have stopped Mr M from working until a normal retirement age. However, his injuries from the accident had accelerated this, causing him to stop working earlier.

The defending solicitors acting on behalf of the other drivers insurers argued that there had been no acceleration and that Mr M had stopped working as a result of his pre-existing conditions, not the injuries from the accident.

They made an offer to settle the case at £30,000 but this was too low and was rejected.

Following a period of negotiation between our Inverness office and the defender, the case eventually settled at £155,000.

Having Digby Brown by your side can make a real difference. In this case, we were able to carry out extensive medical investigations which ultimately resulted in a settlement of more than 77 times what the other firm valued the case.

“I couldn’t think any higher of Digby Brown and everything they did for me, it was a tremendous service and I couldn’t be happier. My solicitor Joanna was first class to deal with and I don’t think I would have received as much of a pay out if it hadn’t been for Digby Brown.”