We represented Mrs G who was involved in a motor vehicle accident in 2015. Mrs G was a pedestrian standing on the footpath next to a busy Sydney road with her husband, when a motor vehicle driving past our client, drove too close to the kerb with the side mirror of the vehicle hitting our client’s wrist, causing injuries to her neck, shoulder, hand, wrist and back, as well as psychological injury.
Action Taken:
Mrs G contacted our Personal Injury Specialists for advice. After an initial consultation, a personal injury claim was lodged with the CTP insurer, Zurich Insurance. Zurich Insurance denied liability, stating that their insured was not at fault in this accident, but rather the accident was caused by the claimant’s failure to stay on the footpath and being too close to the roadway.
As a consequence of the accident and injuries suffered, Mrs G was unable to continue undertaking her studies and unable to complete the household duties in her normal capacity. The impact of her injuries also resulted in an ongoing need for medication and treatment and affected her future ability to enter the workforce.
As liability was denied, an application was made to have the matter exempt from the Claims Assessment and Resolution Service (CARS) process through the lodgement of a CARS 1A form and this was approved and a Certificate of Exemption was issued.
While liability was an issue that needed to be determined, we obtained on behalf of our client both liability and medical evidence. The liability evidence showed that the accident was in fact caused by the motor vehicle at fault, however it could not be ruled out that Mrs G was standing to close to the roadway, subsequently making the conclusion that she contributed to the accident. Further, the medical evidence obtained showed that the injuries Mrs G suffered would continue to impact her capacity to earn income. Mrs G was referred to various medico-legal doctors including an orthopaedic surgeon, occupational physician, occupational therapist, rehabilitation consultant and psychiatrist.
We served the medical and liability evidence onto the insurer who did not agree with the evidence. The insurer therefore obtained their own evidence which suggested the accident was caused by our client. Understanding that there was a real issue on liability and that our wanted the claim to be settled before the court hearing date, we invited the insurer to attend an Informal Settlement Conference to commence discussions. After extensive and lengthy negotiations, the matter resolved with Mrs G being awarded compensation in the sum of $140,000.00.
Conclusion:
Mrs G was pleased with the result as she did not think it was possible for her to achieve such a significant amount of compensation due to the liability issues in the case.
If you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident as either a driver, passenger or pedestrian and suffered injuries affecting your ability to earn income or complete household duties, you may be entitled to compensation. If you would like some advice from our experienced Compensation lawyers, please do not hesitate to contact us on our toll free number 1800 004 878 and arrange a no obligation consultation with one of our Personal Injury Accredited Specialists.
