Accidents and compensation claims?

A snowHead

As some of you may have read, I had a nasty incident recently in Austria resulting in both acls and mcls completely ruptured + other minor damage. Now back in the UK, nicely repatriated by the insurance co, and looking (unhappily but with acceptance and some hope) forward to a rather different future than I had planned, one way and another, + costs & hassles, lots of potential pain, long reconstruction & rehab or maybe permanent problems &, for me, especially at a maturing age, significant life activity changes/limitations. Early days, I know.
I'm not normally one for this kind of thing, but in this case, like a car 'accident', surely there ought to be a case for claiming reasonable compensation. I consider the other party, an EU (non Austrian) holidaymaking adult, to be totally at fault under several FIS rules, and I think that I have their details & insurance ( though they didn't per se stop at or after the collision). I did report it to Austrian Police, no witnesses came forward, only person who saw it properly was Mr G who was a still setting off uphill behind me.
So, anyone done it, is it worth trying, recommend anyone to assist me legally? My insurance has cover for legal costs, so could do it by paying, not just no win no fee?
Or is it just not worth any more stress?

A snowHead

@Grizzler, I have some advice, which I hope is relevant. In 2006 whilst cycling through a junction I was hit by a motorcyclist who came through a red light. Broke my back and my right shoulder. I thought it was watertight, since I had three witnesses. The police regretted that there was no case, since one witness saw the motorcyclist run the red light, but did not see the motorcyclist hit me. The other two witnesses saw the motorcyclist hit me but did not see him running the red light. Luckily, a barrister came forward two weeks later having seen both parts of the incident. This clinched it, and my insurance took everything forward. If you have a witness who genuinely saw the whole thing and can give a statement promptly, you may have a case.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Grizzler, no witnesses, foreign national, foreign country, no admission of liability. I think it would be hard work. Speak to your insurance co. If they think they can get a rusty penny back from the person who hit you they will go for it. If they say no....don't bother stressing yourself.

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@Thornyhill, Sound advice.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I used my insurance legal cover for an employment matter a few years ago. The help lines and ultimately the the law firm instructed were very helpful. They assess the claim on its chance of being upheld and would only take it on if the chance was over 50%.

In my case they were unable to take the claim forward but the solicitor's advice was invaluable in me knowing where I stood and strategies in dealing with my employer. I would at least talk to them, you have bought the cover for situations like this, they may not take it on but you may get other ideas to go forward with.

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@Grizzler, sorry to hear about your accident and I wish you a speedy recovery. I had a similar experience to@valais2, back in 2009 when I was hit by a car while cycling to work. The injury was discussed on this forum. If you are an employee check your contract. Mine stated that I had a duty to claim damages on their behalf for the substantial time that I was away from work, nearly 6 months. This is called subrogated liability I believe. I was lucky because my neighbour is a senior partner in one of the UKs largest personal injury solicitors, who also just happen to specialise in spinal injury. A good firm will relieve you of most of the hassle involved in the claim but it takes several years. The main reason being to establish the degree of loss of function you may or may not suffer.
One final thing is that you will become defined by your injury, people just want to talk to you about it and in fairness you want to talk about it too. But there comes a point after a few years when you just want to move on and get on with life.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

In respect of valais2's post, the police work to the criminal burden of proof, which is not relevant in the civil courts. Also be wary of insurance companies, they work to their own agenda. You need to speak to a specialist firm of lawyers who specialise in foreign accident claims. Although I hate recommending the big boys, you can't go far wrong with Irwin Mitchell. Speak to them first, they will engage with your insurer if they think fit.

After all it is free

@Val Desire, irwin mitchell weren't great for me. Simple car accident claim worth about £3k on the sliding scale. Claims handker kept changing, constant errors that i kept noticing and correcting and took months loger than it should have. That said I would expect that from most companies....just keep your wurs about you

@Grizzler, is your insurance not linked to a law firm? You might also have legal cover through work or your household insurance where you could get some advice.

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First it isn't the end of the world. Skiers, sportspeople and active folk have knee surgery everyday and return to their activities. It'll take time, commitment to rehab and is definitely a short term bummer bit I'd say falls short of a spinal injury, head injury etc when it comes to life changing.

Second you have a few barriers to the normal "had an accident that wasn't your fault" claims. The perp isn't easy pickings like a local council or an employer or a public premises with its own PLI. This will reduce the appetite to help you considerably. You would need to bring action in a second country against a resident of a third country. And do know if you've actually got reliable details? The woman apparently did a hit and run so unless your husband saw proper ID she could easily have given false info. Then of course the witness situation won't help you, your OH can hardly be considered independent and if prepared to lie the woman can easily say you pulled out on her without looking etc.

You have my enormous sympathy it's one of my nightmare scenarios when skiing, while I'm able to take self inflicted damage with only moderate grumpiness.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

This is just my opinion! I'm completely ignorant to the law , but I would find it a bitter pill to swallow if my life was turned upside down for 10 to 12 months because of someone's compleat disregard and carelessness for others , surely they have to be accountable for their actions?

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You absolutely have a claim. The defendant is insured so is absolutely worth pursuing. If your insurance company has legal expenses cover you could ask them to put you in touch with their panel solicitor. Even if you are claiming the benefit of legal expenses insurance you are however entitled to instruct a solicitor of your choice. If you don't have legal expenses insurance on your ski insurance, you almost certainly have it on your car insurance, home insurance, credit card, or life insurance. It doesn't matter what policy the legal expenses cover is on - it will cover you for this.

Even if you don't have legal expenses you may well find a firm of solicitors willing to take it on on a no win no fee basis (i'm assuming you are based in England - different parts of the UK have different rules on this). Irwin Mitchell were mentioned above and have a good reputation in the sector. They would be well worth a phone call in the first instance. Of course there are dozens of other firms who could handle the case as well. The only tricky part of the case is jurisdiction (i.e. you may have to bring the case through the jurisdiction where the accident happened, or where the defendant lives).

Holiday Lover, I mentioned IW as they have specialist knowledge. Very different from a run-of-the-mill RTA.

OP, DO NOT approach your insurer (or insurer linked solicitor) in the first instance. They will be selected purely upon the rate they offer the insurer or (more likely) the kick back percentage - their level of skill will not be a factor.

Choose your own, they will not charge to assess your case.

You know it makes sense.

@Grizzler, I too would proceed as per @Val Desire's advice (with Irwin Mitchell). If you have cover for legal costs, which you almost certainly have, one way or another, as @monkey says, there is nothing lost by giving it a whirl.

Awful thing to happen, but I hope your recovery is complete and reasonably swift.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I too would consider looking at a claim but it seems you are not entirely sure about the perpetrators identity, status or insurance cover. If they were insured then it is well worth considering pursuing this. If they were not you could get involved in a lengthy, time consuming and very exhausting process which even if you were successful could see you with nothing. Contact your insurers (as someone else has said you may well be covered under several different types of insurance so check your various covers but start with your travel insurers if they provide legal expenses cover and be very firm about which solicitor will be appointed to manage the claim. IM are aryingly good, for some people they are wonderful for others not so hot.

At some point you may have to choose between pursuing this with all the personal costs (not monetary) against whether you put your energies and passion into the best recovery possible.

Good luck in whatever you choose.

A snowHead

A snowHead

I would talk to these guys: http://www.m-j-p.co.uk/ - more specialised than IM and you talk to the actual lawyer rather than a lowly case handler.

However, no independent witnesses, no police accident report (vital), and sounds like not sure if the other person was insured. And was that person positively ID'd? It doesn't look too hopeful to me. That said, I have been involved in a foreign compensation claim for a relative and it was years of time, energy, frustration only to lose at the end on technicalities. This despite, of course, everyone agreeing it was an absolutely nailed-on case. So not pursuing a hopeless case could save a lot of time and energy that would otherwise be better spent on getting back to normal. I think its possible a good injury lawyer would say something similar. They can only recover fees from the other side (either the person or their insurer) so they won't engage unless there is a realistic chance of success. Talk to a few but be prepared to put the whole episode down to experience.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thank you all. Without giving individual replies, you have all varyingly touched on the thoughts which I've had, pro and con.
I do have some legal expenses cover on the travel insurance and will check household policy plus my professional Institute's membership benefits etc. I will also call IM and maybe a few other legal firms.
Yes, it could have been an awful lot worse... I will get back to doing something, I hope everything, eventually.
Changing username to Hobbler Smile

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Some interesting points there. My experience is cycle based not ski, and all UK.

With civil stuff I'd not remotely go there unless you have a bang-to-rights case, and you should think about precisely what those courts are for, and what you are trying to achieve.

In my unqualified opinion but based on some practical experience, without witnesses I don't think you have a lot of hope.

You can generally get free legal advice from CAB centres (check when they have the proper lawyers present), or paid advice is easy to find.
I would be very picky over the specific lawyer: you can't go by their company, it's down to the individual and they are in my experience a very mixed bag. Personal recommendation would be the best approach.

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Accidents and compensation claims?

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