Injured Motorcyclist Claims Compensation

James suffered personal injuries and financial losses as a result of a road traffic accident in March 2011. He was riding his motorcycle at the time when he was injured. Barratts Solicitors pursued a claim on his behalf and James received compensation.

James was travelling home from work in the rush hour on his motorcycle in March 2011. A G4 security van travelling in the opposite direction turned right across his path leaving him no opportunity to avoid a collision.  The accident happened when James was travelling in the bus lane. Unfortunately the driver of a vehicle in the car lane on his right left a gap to allow the G4 van through. The van driver was still obliged to make sure that the bus lane was clear before attempting his manoeuvre but he collided with James.

Establishing Liability: Motorcyclist or Van Driver?

The insurers decided to investigate the question of liability by searching Google Street View.  Street View showed that there was a sign only yards before the site of the accident. This sign showed that there was a bus lane in operation. This meant that buses, pedal cycles and taxis could not use it between Monday and Friday, 4 to 7 pm.  The accident itself took place after 5 pm.  The insurers argued that James was travelling illegally in the bus lane. They said that their insured driver could not expect James to be there.  The insurers denied liability and argued that James should have filtered into the correct lane according to traffic signs. They claimed that the incident would not have occurred if he had done this.

In fact, the Google Street view photograph was out of date and this misled the insurer.  We produced photographs that showed that the sign on display at the time of the accident did permit solo motorcycles. As a result, the insurer admitted liability.

Assessing compensation for the motorcycle and injuries

We had obtained a valuation of James’s motorcycle. The bike had been dismantled and used for parts months before the admission of liability. The insurers wished to inspect the motorcycle but, obviously, this was no longer possible.  Nonetheless, they sent a cheque for the valuation that we had obtained.

James had suffered a fracture to the navicular bone in his left foot. He also sprained his wrist which made it very difficult to use crutches during the period he was non-weight bearing. The medical evidence showed that he was expected to make maximum recovery from his foot fracture within 18 months. Experts said he would not be left with any disability beyond that point. Furthermore, they told James that he would recover fully from any problems with the injury to the wrist within 18 months.

We helped James to recover compensation for his injury, loss of earnings, motorcycle, motorcycle clothing and helmet. He also claimed for his physiotherapy. The compensation also covered his loss of enjoyment of a holiday that had been pre-booked. James’ wife looked after while he was suffering mobility difficulties and the payment also reflected the value of her care and assistance.

When James first had his accident his own insurers put him under some pressure to go to panel solicitors. Because he felt that the panel solicitors had provided an inadequate service after a previous accident, James wanted to choose his own solicitor. He therefore instructed Jill Barratt to pursue his claim.  We are very proud that James recommends Barratts for pursuing personal injury claims.