Back injury client awarded £3,500 personal injury compensation due to faulty hospital bench.

When a bench in the X-ray department of his local hospital collapsed, our client who was there accompanying his son, found himself in A&E with a serious back injury.

In January 2009, a father had taken his son to hospital following an injury. He was waiting for his son in the X-ray department, when the bench that he was sitting on collapsed suddenly.

The father fell to the floor, instantly sustaining an immediate injury to his lower back. He then found himself booked in for treatment at the Accident & Emergency department in the same hospital.

Following a recommendation from a friend who had successfully obtained compensation for a personal injury, the father consulted Trevor Morris, partner with Bartletts Solicitors in Chester. We submitted a claim for compensation to the NHS Trust and commissioned an independent medical report which confirmed that our client had sustained an to his lower back. It was anticipated that it would resolve following a course of physiotherapy within approximately 12 to 14 months of the date of the accident.

The NHS Trust subsequently admitted liability for the accident, but their initial settlement offer was lower than our valuation and therefore we commenced Court Proceedings on behalf of our client. Court Proceedings frequently have to be commenced in order to put pressure on insurance companies to deal with claims more quickly and efficiently if they are not making reasonable offers of settlement.

Eventually, the insurers accepted our valuation in early February 2010, approximately 12 and a half months following the accident and an appropriate settlement of £3,500 personal injury compensation was agreed.