€15,000 compensation for woman who ‘should have recovered’ after 18 months

In a recent case, Judge Raymond Groarke, the President of the Circuit Court, awarded a woman €15,525 whom he had assessed as being largely recovered from her injuries within eighteen months of a car accident.

The woman claimed that in September 2012 that the car she was driving was rear-ended by another car while she was waiting to turn left at a traffic junction. As a result of the accident, she suffered soft tissue injuries to her back and shoulder for which she required medical treatment and physiotherapy. While she complained at the hearing some two years after her road traffic accident that she had ongoing back pain, Judge Groarke having reviewed the medical evidence, felt that she should have recovered within eighteen months.

COMPENSATION IS NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE

One of our jobs as solicitors is to advise clients as to what compensation they can reasonably expect to obtain from a court or the Injuries Board by way of compensation for their personal injury. This is not an exact science and indeed, it is only from years of experience that we are in a position to advise but even then the parameters applicable can be very wide.

I often give my clients examples of somebody who suffers from an eighteen month injury but is in excruciating pain for that time as opposed to somebody who suffers from an eighteen month injury but has only a niggling pain.

They are still both injured and they still both have pain for the same period of time but the person in excruciating pain may be entitled to a greater degree of damages than the person who only has a niggling pain. Similarly, the effect on lifestyle of the same injury can be different for two different people. If one person is active and as part of their daily routine is involved in physical exercise or indeed physical work while another leads a more sedentary lifestyle, then the effect of the injury on the active person may be awarded higher compensation than the person who is not quite so active. In assessing the appropriate compensation for any injury, we at Carmody Moran Solicitors, have many years of experience in advising clients in respect of the adequacy of Injuries Board’s assessments or offer of settlements which have been made by insurance companies. The Injuries Board do not give advice but it is this service that we give to clients and it is our experience in offering clear and concise advice, that puts us in a perfect position to help our clients.

If you have any queries contact our personal injury solicitors on 01 8272888 or fill in this quick contact form here.