Motorist suffers unnecessary emotional trauma during ‘straightforward’ personal injury claim

Defendant’s continued denial of liability significantly prolongs case

When Mrs Probets was involved in a minor road traffic accident, her personal injury claim should have been straightforward and relatively quick to settle. However, complications during the course of her claim, including the other driver denying any responsibility, caused significant and unnecessary delays in the process and undue emotional trauma to her and her family.

Fifty-two-year-old Mrs Probets was a passenger in her husband’s car when they were hit in the rear by another vehicle. The accident was relatively low impact and she suffered minor injuries including neck, shoulder and back pain as well as some aggravation to a pre-existing injury. Although both parties swapped insurance details at the scene of the accident, the defendant later went on to deny all involvement when Mrs Probets decided to pursue a personal injury claim.

Making a personal injury claim is a relatively simple process for most people and, for minor accidents, a claim could take as little as a few months to settle. However, claims can’t run smoothly if liability is an ongoing battle and in Mrs Probets’ case, the defendant’s refusal to admit responsibility raised questions around the reliability of her evidence. This significantly prolonged the claim and added undue emotional stress when she should have been focussing on recovery.

“Mrs Probets could have been investigated for fraud”

With the help of Minster Law, Mrs Probets and her legal team were eventually able to prove that the defendant was at the scene of the accident and had caused the collision. However, the claim took more than two years to settle, which is significantly longer than a case of this nature should have taken to conclude.

Minster Law’s Karen Loomes, who led Mrs Probets’ case said: “The length of time a case takes to settle is difficult to estimate, but the most frequent and recurring reason for delays is the admittance of liability. Although there was no doubt for us that Mrs Probets was telling the truth about her accident, we had a long road ahead in proving this to the court.

“As the defendant continually denied that he was at the scene of the accident, Mrs Probets could have been investigated for fraud and, if found guilty, she would have been liable for thousands of pounds of costs. Although it took a long time to bring to a conclusion, we’re pleased Mrs Probets finally got the settlement she was entitled to as well as the justice she deserved.”

“I’m really grateful to Karen and the rest of the team at Minster Law”

Mrs Probets added: “My road accident was fairly minor so I thought my claim would be quick to settle. I couldn’t believe it when the defendant said he wasn’t even involved in the accident – I worried that people wouldn’t believe me, despite having all the relevant evidence in place.

“I’m really grateful to Karen and the rest of the team at Minster Law for supporting me through this really difficult and emotional period. It has been such as stressful time for me, but I’m pleased I can finally get on with my life.”