Substantial sum recovered for psychiatric injuries sustained in motorway collision | Fieldfisher
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Case Study

Substantial sum recovered for psychiatric injuries sustained in motorway collision

Claire Glasgow
In August 2014, AB was travelling by car along the motorway with her husband and young children. AB was travelling in the front passenger seat, her husband was driving and their children were in the back. Their journey was halted by a traffic hold-up on the motorway. While their car was stationary, it was struck from behind by an HGV whose driver failed to brake in time to avoid a serious collision.

The aftermath of the accident was extremely traumatic for AB. She was extracted from the wreckage of the car and saw that one of her children, YZ, was very seriously injured and required transfer to hospital by air ambulance. AB herself had sustained physical injuries that required hospital treatment. However, she was transferred by ambulance to a different hospital some distance away from YZ. AB had to wait for investigations to be completed on her own injuries before she was able to travel to be at the bedside of YZ, whose injuries were significant and who required an extensive period of hospital inpatient treatment. She has since been released home.

Following the accident, AB suffered from psychiatric symptoms including travel anxiety, flashbacks, insomnia, nightmares, poor concentration and continuing worry. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from which she had not yet recovered some five years post-accident. Her condition had a significant impact on her socially and on her work as an estate manager, meaning that she suffered a loss of income.

Fieldfisher pursued a claim on AB's behalf for the injuries she had sustained, her increased travel expenses, medical expenses and loss of earnings. In November 2019, Claire Glasgow recovered a six-figure sum from the HGV driver's insurers to compensate AB for her losses. The children's claims are ongoing.

AB said:

"Claire Glasgow and the Fieldfisher team were with us every step of the way. We always felt that they were acting in our best interests and we were consistently impressed how they brought a huge depth of practical, relevant experience to bare alongside a genuine understanding and compassion for what we were going through."

Contact us

For further information about road traffic accident claims and personal injury claims, please call Claire Glasgow on 03304606747 or email claire.glasgow@fieldfisher.com.

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