Personal injury claim advice needed

goodnamwasgone

Hi everyone, firstly I'd like to say that Il try and get what I'm trying to say as best as I can but I sometimes struggle so please bare with me .

I was hit by a drunk driver whilst I was outside of my car on the m25 in August 2016 ,  I had got out as I had broken down.

The driver was rest of the same due to being 4 times over the legal limit and due to this full liability has been accepted and never disputed.

I was taken to hospital with a broken ankle and subsequently had to have an operation which required me to have 3 plates and 9 screws. Subscribe leaving me with two  four inch scars down both sides of my ankle joint.

Anyway most of the points, I had previously been working as a classic car vehicle restorer something that I had done since I had left school, I left school with barely any GCSEs and the ones I did not of any use to me .

I work for two older gentleman who are now in their 70's ,due to my injury and me subsequently having immediate time off work out of the blue ,they took the decision to take early retirement as they were generally unable to do lots of the heavy side of the work.

I had my ankle in a cast for 4 months and was unable to walk unaided for a further three 3-months, 

After I was able to go back to some kind of work they have long closed their doors which was very sad for me as I had hoped as they had for me to one day take over the business, I went back to work just doing general labourer on a building site with a friend of mine but due to having to wear steel toe cap boots I was never able to complete more than a2 days in a row work without having a further two days off due to swelling and pain in my ankle.

I have a solicitor who is taking care of the case and so far I'm happy apart from the fact that it is taking a long time for me to get anywhere with it but that is life I suppose. I have had countless physiotherapy and x-rays along with ultrasound and MRI scans I have had my last ultrasound and MRI a few weeks ago and they are going to be sent to an ankle specialist the same one I have used throughout the entire claim, he will be able to give me a complete prognosis as to what my future is going to hold.

a bit of work they are for nearly two-and-a-half years receiving universal credit but it covers my rent just about I was earning over £42,000 a year ear when I was restoring classic vehicles

third party insurance came back to me yesterday with an offer of £50,000 to which my solicitor told me that I would be advised to decline 

I would just like to know from somebody else what's I could expect as this is obviously their first offer would I be looking at double that or more perhaps? Obviously I have lost that three years nearly of of wages which brings me to about £120000 there or thereabouts plus the fact that I will never be able to earn that much again moving forward in my life.

If anybody is able to offer any advice to me I would really appreciate it because I could really use the money now to get myself back into work and and enlisted in college or university of some kind so I can can start earning a decent wage once again and not be a burden on the state

Thanks in advance

[Deleted User]

It's always impossible to know what you will end up with, and your lawyer should be able to give you an indication of what you are likely to be entitled to. It does sound like you have a reasonable case for lost earnings not just for the past 3 years but going forward too since as a direct result you have lost a good job and are now unable to get a similar one.

In the mean time keep track of all the treatment you get and any costs you have. Bus fares, taxi fares, equipment, anything you had to pay out as a result of the accident, so you can add it to the claim.

I'm not a lawyer but your lawyer's advice sounds quite reasonable, 50k is very low for what you have lost. Can you contact the gentlemen who owned the business? It might be a good idea to get a statement from them (a letter) explaining that with you unable to work they felt they had no choice but to shut down, and that had you not been injured they would have liked to sell the business to you as an on-going concern. They may also be able to claim compensation for loss of a key worker and their business which they could have sold to you.