Bartletts recover £3,250 from foreign lorry insurer

Several thousand road accidents are caused by foreign lorries each year in the UK, with the most common accidents occurring when a left-hand-drive heavy goods vehicle pulls out to overtake and hits a vehicle travelling in the lorry’s ‘blind spot’ as it pulls out.

On some occasions, with particularly large juggernauts, the foreign driver does not even feel the impact with the other vehicle and drives on unawares.

For anyone involved in an accident with a foreign vehicle, it is imperative that you make a note of their full vehicle registration number. Without this it can be extremely difficult to obtain details of the vehicle’s insurer and then pursue any compensation.

In a recent case, a client of Bartletts solicitors was injured when their vehicle was side-swiped by a Polish lorry, which pulled out into their lane on a motorway.

Fortunately, the lorry driver was made to stop and pull over and the police were called to the scene of the accident. The attendance of the police ensured that a full and accurate report was available, with details of the company, the driver, the vehicle and the particular journey they were undertaking. This meant that Bartletts were able to track down the foreign insurers and their British underwriters.

Consequently, we were able to obtain compensation of £3,250 on behalf of our client who had suffered pain in the neck and back over a twelve month period following this accident on the road.