how to claim personal injury in a work vehicle

sammy70

Hi, hoping for some advice. the scenario in a nutshell.. my son was driving a company van, he is a mobile mechanic. Whilst proceeding through a green traffic light, an hgv on cruise control ran into the side of him, at approx 52mph,  pushing him round a roundabout, crushed two sets of traffic lights, and drove on leaving my son in a wrote off van, £9000 of toolboxes and tools destroyed inside. the tools are the property of my son.
The police arrived as this crash closed a motorway slip road and major roundabout.
The driver arrived on foot after the truck came to an halt further down the road. The driver was oblivious to what happened. The company owner of the hgv arrived on site, and downloaded cctv from the cab, which showed the driver hit the van without braking, and continue on, it was said the driver had suffered a medical issue.. the company owner, on seeing the footage, said they took sole responsibility for the crash.
 My son has been told they will claim for his tools through his work insurance, but how can he claim for his personal injury? he suffered concussion, and pain in his body all over, but thankfully no serious injuries, and after a few days resting at home is planning to return to work next week..

We are so thankful he survived this horrendous crash in onece piece, he is severely shook up, in pain, and two days after the accident couldnt remember how to get home, so im concerned of the long term consequences he may suffer mentally and phsically.

400ixl

Is he being paid for his current time off? If so what losses is he looking to claim?

He should be using his companies insurance to lodge the incident so that it is recorded that he has suffered injuries. Then if there is no current loss to claim he is still able to later if something does change.

Hope he recovers well and doesn't need to claim.

mgfvvc

I think he needs a good lawyer.There are plenty of no win, no fee lawyers out there,. Actually choosing a good one is the tricky part. It might be that the case is sufficiently open and shut that you can have confidence a regular lawyer will be bale to get you compensation and reclaim his fees without having to down the no win, no fee route.

My concern, as a non lawyer, is that your son may have to prove negligence and a medical issue would not be negligence.

turnitround

Did your son have hospital treatment and have everything documented?  If not its highly unlikely he has a claim. Unless  he has symptoms are going to be an issue long term (which he may not know yet)  the fact that he is going back to work in a few days suggests he is not badly injured and therefore I'm not sure there is any personal injury claim to be made.

Aretnap

400ixl said:

Is he being paid for his current time off? If so what losses is he looking to claim?

He will be entitled to claim for pain and suffering, regardless of whether he has suffered any financial loss. Though if he was able to go back to work after a few days that his injuries were not too serious and therefore that any sum would be fairly small. It depends on the nature of the injuries though.

DullGreyGuy

mgfvvc said:

I think he needs a good lawyer.There are plenty of no win, no fee lawyers out there,. Actually choosing a good one is the tricky part. It might be that the case is sufficiently open and shut that you can have confidence a regular lawyer will be bale to get you compensation and reclaim his fees without having to down the no win, no fee route.

My concern, as a non lawyer, is that your son may have to prove negligence and a medical issue would not be negligence.

Wow, where to start...

OP says no major injuries and so likely to fall within the remit of the Whiplash Reforms which means it's a Small Claims court. All lawyers fees are barred from the Small Claims court so following your advice the OP would likely payout more to their solicitor than they receive in compensation. 

No Win/ No Fee (aka conditional funding) lawyers are normal lawyers who just buy ATE insurance. They get to claim exactly the same fees (or not) from the third party but may also take a proportion of your award. You have to remember that only once your claim is over £25k can you actually claim your full legal costs and even then they have to be deemed reasonable by the court

turnitround said:

Did your son have hospital treatment and have everything documented?  If not it's highly unlikely he has a claim. 

around 80% of claims from motor accidents are for whiplash and the vast majority don't attend hospital for a stiff neck a few days after an accident. A whiplash/soft tissue injury that last less than 3 months is now fixed at £240... how many hours of lawyers time do you think an insurer will invest to try and avoid paying £240?

sammy70 said:
how can he claim for his personal injury?

He has several potential choices:

Does he have Legal Expenses insurance anywhere? Could be his own Motor, Home or from being in a union or his employers policy? This option may be slightly limited because of him being the driver.

He can deal with the company in the same way he is intending to for his tools

He could look at appointing his own solicitor, no win no fee may be the better option, but may struggle getting interest if it is a low value claim

There is a portal for individuals making small injury claims created by the government in light of the whiplash reforms, it guides unrepresented people through the process https://www.officialinjuryclaim.org.uk/ 

sammy70

Thank you for all your replies, very helpful.. My son is back at work, though still suffering aches and pains/headaches.. He did attend hospital, also police and ambulance were at the scene of the accident, where the company owner of the truck that hit him  took full liability after watching the hgv cameras facing road, and driver.
My son was diagnosed with concussion at hospital, and told this could take up to 10 days to rectify and not to drive until he felt able.
Work havent said if he is getting paid for the time off, considering the severity of the accident im shocked as his employer they havent even checked how he is feeling..

DullGreyGuy

sammy70 said:

Work havent said if he is getting paid for the time off, considering the severity of the accident im shocked as his employer they havent even checked how he is feeling..

His contract of employment will say if he gets paid sick leave or not.

There is almost an argument its fairer if he doesn't as he can claim his loss of earnings from the third party whereas if he is paid by his employer then he's not lost earnings so has no claim and courts have ruled employers too remote to be able to recover sick pay from at fault drivers.