Motorcyclist back on the road thanks to Minster Law

Minster Law helps a client to get back on his bike following a motorcycle and a two-year claim journey, all because a driver didn’t look before making his manoeuvre.

Our client was filtering through stationary traffic when a car pulled out from the line of vehicles, to make a right turn into a no entry junction and knocked him from his bike.

He sustained a range of soft tissue injuries to his neck, shoulders, and lumbar spine as well as psychological injuries.

He was forced to take time off from his work, as a painter decorator, and when he did return was restricted in the duties he could perform.

Alongside the mental and financial impact of not being able to work to his full ability, our client’s bike was deemed to be a total loss.

Due to a dispute in liability, the other side were not willing to release any payment for our client’s bike.

However, we helped persuade them to release a payment on a without prejudice basis while the remainder of the claim proceeded.

At the same time, we arranged for him to have a course of physiotherapy, to immediately begin his recovery and he received a total of 9 sessions of treatment, which he said were beneficial.

The biggest hurdle to the case was the other side firmly disputing liability.

To get any form of settlement we , issuing court proceedings to expedite the case.

As the claim progressed the other side filed a defence which, although it disputed liability, wasn’t filed as it should have been and didn’t explain what the accident circumstances were in the client’s words.

File handler Philip Watson’s pro-active approach allowed our client to get access to justice.

“I made an application to the court to force the other side to make a properly filed defence, which was then forthcoming, but put them on the back foot.

“I was passionately behind my client, and while frustrated by the defendant solicitors inefficiency and opposition, I would not allow them to brow beat the client into submission.”

Despite continued attempts to persuade the defendant solicitors to settle by evidencing the road their client was attempting to enter was a no entry, they remained defiant.

“I complied meticulously with all the court orders in good time which further put the defendants on the back foot, to the extent that they then breached a court order and failed to provide a witness statement on their client’s behalf,” Philip said.

“They attempted to file this out of time, which I opposed, but they remained defiant and made inadequate offers to settle.”

In response to the continued inefficiency of the defendant we made an offer which we believed was reasonable, with the full agreement of our client.

This was one which we felt was a likely outcome at trial, based on liability being found fully in the client’s favour.

“Throughout the claims journey I regularly kept in contact with the client, so he was fully aware of what actions were being taken and he was reassured his his case continued to enjoy every prospect of success, despite the challenges posed by the other side, which gave him the confidence in the action I had taken,” Philip said.

“The trial was listed to be in January, and eventually, through persistence, the defendant’s eventually succumbed to the pressure we had put them under, and accepted our offer, just before Christmas.”

While the case took longer to settle than was initially anticipated, this was “solely down to the misguided opposition, likely hoping the client or Minster Law would fold”.

“It made the ultimate result and the Defendant’s eventual, and what I considered inevitable, capitulation, all the more satisfying for me professionally, and for my client personally,” Philip said

The client was delighted with the outcome as he could relax and enjoy his Christmas in the knowledge justice had been served and that his case had been brought to a 100% successful conclusion.

“Philip Watson was the best for two years,” he said.