Compensation broken leg

LNieuwhof

Sorry if this is in the wrong place - I'm hoping someone will be able to provide more info on an existing compensation claim..

My husband broke his leg at work in February, at the hospital (he no longer works for them - unrelated to injury).

Basically he was trying to exit the building along a usual route, but the exit was closed due to building work. He went through the main hospital, outside, and crossed some grass to get to the place he was trying to go.
He slipped, twisted (he thinks his foot got stuck in some matting on the grass), and broke both the bones in his leg - tib and fib.

He had an operation - metal plate and 3 pins, which he still has now.

Basically, after 7 months of lodging an initial claim (2 months after the accident), the hospital has not responded. We are using a solicitor, rather than a claims company, but they say we are waiting. We basically want the compensation in order to pay for future treatment (op) on his leg privately, as he is getting pain and I'm agonising over the winter now - slippery,cold etc

The grass area had become a well-known route, and the path had become nothing more than a muddy line. We took pictures on the day, and of the blocked exits, showing no alternative route. The receptionist has given information that she had received numerous compaints about the grass from the public - she had informed managers who did nothing about it. She was also the person who found him.

The day after the accident the hospital put up metal barriers around the area and brought in more builders with diggers to work on it. Luckily we had the pics. There were a group of "suits" checking it out.

He is expecting another operation early in the year via the NHS, because they have not inserted the plates correctly. He is in pain now its winter, has gained weight as he can't walk for longer than 20 minutes. Previous to this he played rugby, went to the gym, ran and all sorts. He will have another "broken" leg after the next op - so he'll have to heal all over again, plus another 10 inch scar down his leg.

What happens if the hospital don't respond? Have they partially admitted liability by trying to pass the buck to the contractors?
Does the compensation take into account future problems, more ops etc?
How long will all of this take?

I just want to get his leg fixed now, so the money would be useful. It seems his sporty interests will be a no-go, which is quite depressing really.

mattymoo

Sorry to hear of the accident but well done for having the nouse to take some photos. Dealing with your points in no particular order:-

1) Claims like this generally take 2-3 yrs. This is largely because it is impossible to say at this stage what the long term prognosis will be and if it will affect his employment prospects.

2) The hospital owed a duty of care to visitors and employees upon the land. They knew the works were going on, thereby blocking one exit. They should have made provision for this with temporary non-slip walkways.

3) The fact that changes were made post accident is a good indication they knew they had got things wrong and will work in your favour.

4) Loss of enjoyment of sports is always worth pursuing. It will make a difference to the pain and suffering award - sometimes several thousand pounds difference. More so if he played to a good standard, e.g. town or county level.

5) NHS do not necessarily have insurance. Along with local councils, the Primary Care Trusts often self insure or carry a large excess (sometime £250k) whereby they deal with claims under that amount and insurers deal with the large stuff. Your solicitor should be phoning up the relevant department to make sure they have received details of the claim.

6) They are required under the Woolfe reforms to investigate the claim and make a decision on liability (fault) within a period of 3 months or thereabouts. I work for an efficient commercial insurer who always complete investigations within a month tops. As a result I don't know what happens if they fall foul of the time limits imposed. Will try and do some checking.

7) At the end of the day, the solicitor can bring matters to a head by issuing procedings to protect your position. This has to be done within 3 years of the accident.

EDIT
http://www.mike.everley.freeuk.com/manage/woolf/proto.html
Has some useful info on the Woolf reforms and the protocol that has to be followed. The claim should have been acknowledged within 21 days so they are in default there. Investigation within 3 months. Unfortunately it does not say what happens when they default.
Will keep trying.

EDIT AGAIN
http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/contents/protocols/prot_pic.htm#prot-3
Even better link for info. Providing your solicitors initial letter met the requirements for a letter of claim, it seems that there failure to respond is grounds for moving the claim onto the next stage.
As an example, Orange fell foul of the protocol here.
http://www.workplacelaw.net/news/display/id/5401

LNieuwhof

:T
I OWE you a BIG drink!!!! THanks for that - you're a star!

:beer:

LNieuwhof

Just an add on I am so surprised that they deal with these smaller claims themselves! I always thought that the insurers are automatically the people that deal with the claim).

Initially they passed the buck to the contractors, who passed it right back again! They have had from the end of July until now to respond, so are already over the 3 month threashold for any admission/denial of liability.

The solicitor has said that he is taking the next steps with the case, but I obviously think the more time he spends teaching me the law the less work he gets done! (Am studying law at the moment, but haven't needed to go more indepth yet...so its a big thumbs up from me for the info you have provided).

The links were helpful thanks.

LNieuwhof

Oh yes, they did send a letter, not admitting liability, but asking if the claim was going to be over £15,000 - why is this figure relevant?

mattymoo

£15,000 is the cut off point to decide what track it follows in the court. Claims below £15k are dealt with on a fast track basis (in theory).

As for hospital / councils insurance. Insurers will expect to receive more in premium over 3-5 yrs than they pay out for what are called attritional claims. These claims cover the slips, trips, broken arms, bumped heads etc - claims generally up to £50k value. Plus the insurers want an element of profit as well to cover overheads etc.

The other type of claims are large loss where we are talking para / quadraplegia, brain damage etc. These claims cost £500k upwards but their frequency is low so insurers regard them as a one off (unless a claims history shows otherwise).

Many PCT's and local authorities already have legal departments so they said to the insurers "you deal with the big claims while we deal with the attritional losses". They do this by setting their excess between £20k and £250k depending on their size / size of financial reserves.

At the end of the day it shouldn't make a difference to the claimant because they always sue the person or corporate body responsible and not the insurer.

Mr_Bear_2

pretty good advice there - NHS do not have insurance at all. NHSLA deal with claims up to litigation then they may get one of their outside solicitors involved.

If there is no decision within the protocol period your sol can ask the court to compel the nhs to disclose certain docs however there is no guarantee that you will suceed on this point.

best asking your sol about where the claim proceeds from here - good luck!

Trojan1965

Mr Bear,

NHS/PCTs do carry insurance and can actually be ground-up. However as mattymoo states, many if not all do carry a large deductible i.e. £250k and losses and can be aggregated to a "stop" where claims within the policy year hit a certain level i.e. £10m.
I am involved with the broking of insurance risks for NHS Trusts.

Matty - Sound advice, couldn't have put it better.

Mr_Bear_2

thats as maybe but they are effectively self insured - even on big cases their insurers are not involved

Do you broker PL coverage for them?

sarahx_4

Just wanted to post as what I read wasn't all that clear.

The NHS do have insurance cover as you would expect them to. They deal with accident claims inhouse using NHSLA or something and would very rarely send a file off to a firm of solicitors.

They have a period of 3 months from the letter of claim to look into the accident and admit. Then your solicitor can issue for Pre-Action disclosure (Finds out that they have been up to in 3 months before a judge and gives them a chance to admit before seeing the judge, it also costs the other side)

Then your solicitor would be ready to decide what they want to do with the case. They could just get medical evidence in and issue it later on if they still haven't admitted for the accident. Once thats in the case could be issued and a small wait for directions and possible hearing.

Its very unlikely it would take over 2 years. No one would say that though :rotfl:.

It sounds fairly straight forward if they knew the grass was a problem before the accident and its the only route to take -no path. If they had already asked a contractor to fix it that could delay it as they would need to be brought in to the claim.

The compensation would recover all costs incurred so long as you have mitigated the losses ie could go back to work after a month and do so and not take 6 months off as you felt like it.
:T

tomstickland

Isn't this the sort of thing that encourages endless pointless "health and safety" rubbish though? Surely noone made him walk over the grass?