Boyes Turner’s specialist injury lawyers secured a £550,000 settlement for a man who suffered a proximal tibial plateau fracture (above/into the knee) and developed complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) when he slipped in some vomit which had been left on a pub floor. We helped our client make a claim against the pub for his injuries and financial losses. The pub’s insurers admitted liability for the accident but disputed that the accident caused our client’s CRPS or resulted in the financial losses claimed. CRPS is an extremely painful and debilitating condition which can develop after even relatively minor traumatic injury, causing the sufferer years of disability. Our client claimed substantial compensation on the basis that his injury had caused him to develop CRPS in his leg. This has restricted his mobility and independence. He has been left dependent on family care and needs to move to single storey accommodation. He is unable to drive without an automatic car. His ability to find a job and work is now limited, and he has been unable to pursue the garden maintenance business that he had been planning before the injury. In addition, he has a future risk of amputation. The pub’s insurers challenged our client’s claim for substantial compensation, arguing that, in time, his pre-existing arthritis in the knee and post-accident accelerated development of type 2 diabetes would increase his need for care, reduce his lifespan and reduce his earning capacity in any event. They disputed that the injury had caused CRPS, arguing that the arthritis in the knee provided an alternative explanation for the pain, rendering the necessary CRPS ‘Budapest criteria’ unmet. They also argued that our client had delayed his own recovery and contributed to his own losses by resting the leg for an extended time instead of getting back up on his feet and mobilising after his injury. We overcame these arguments and entered into settlement negotiations, resulting in a £550,000 out-of-court settlement. The settlement provides our client with compensation for his injury and losses, and will help pay for an automatic car, a move to more suitable accommodation and other necessary expenses. Our client’s compensation is protected by a personal injury trust, which also preserves his entitlement to benefits. If you have been severely injured in an accident as a result of negligence and would like to find out more about making a claim, you can talk to one of our experienced solicitors, free and confidentially, by contacting us here.
