Panel Solicitor did nothing to help me
On the 27th September 2020, Phil was riding his Triumph Tiger motorcycle south on the A82 when a driver pulled out from The Three Sisters car park onto the road in front of him. He couldn’t do anything and had no time to even attempt evasive action or brake. He collided with the car and was thrown approximately 150ft further down the road landing heavily on his left side.
Phil was rushed to hospital in Fortwilliam, but due to the severity of the injuries, he was transported to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness where he remained for one week. His left femur had been badly fractured and the surgeons had to pin it back into place. He was then transferred to Lancaster Hospital nearer his home.
Through his insurer Bennetts, legal representation was outsourced to their panel solicitor. Phil thought he had no choice in the matter and assumed he had to accept the panel solicitor’s appointment. Within a matter of weeks, Phil was utterly disillusioned with the panel solicitor's performance.
Communication was slow. He was told that the third party insurance company had offered rehabilitation but his solicitor did not know what that meant. Feeling concerned, Phil approached MLS advising that his immediate priority was to get some rehabilitation in place in order to help him recover. He was unhappy with the lack of initiative of the panel solicitor and nothing seemed to be happening.
We got to work immediately securing an interim payment for Phil. By that time, Phil was on an NHS pathway and his recovery initially seemed to be going to plan. However, within a short period of time, it became clear that the NHS was struggling with the Covid 19 situation. Our client was on a waiting list for surgery for bone graft to his left wrist, a fracture that hadn’t been diagnosed at the time of the injury.
We asked the insurers to engage in joint instruction of a rehabilitation Case Manager and treatment costs were agreed for private consultations with medical experts.
Phil suffered considerably in the initial stages as he had fractured his left wrist, left femur mid-shaft and a fracture of the neck of the femur near the hip which had gone into non-union. These are serious injuries and unfortunately common injuries for motorcyclists. If left on waiting lists for medical intervention, the outcome is usually poor.
Thanks to our quick response and knowing exactly the benefits of rehabilitation we secured funding from the third party insurance company to pay for treatments recommended by the Case manager. This included: private physiotherapy treatment to improve pain and function, orthopaedic consultations and re-imbursement of treatment costs to assist with non-union of his leg fracture. Without the intervention and rehabilitation, Phil would not have received timely managed treatment through the NHS provision and his recovery would have halted. On completion of rehabilitation, we instructed specialist medical experts to provide reports. We then valued the claim and secured a considerable offer for Phil from the third party insurer.
This demonstrates the difference in the service we offer from that of a panel solicitor. We have our clients best interests at heart and those best interests have to be addressed by way of rehabilitation at the early stages to improve outcome. Insurers know of our reputation of putting the client first and identifying their needs. We have the requisite experience and specialist knowledge and that’s not something Phil felt confident his panel solicitor had.
Phil had this to say after his case had settled:
"I was recommended by my insurer to use a law firm in Glasgow to handle case, big mistake. They were panel appointed solicitors with no real specialities in this type of case, just personal injury claims.
The appointed solicitor did absolutely nothing to help me. I had to always be calling them to get things done. Very poor service.
I then decided to see who else might be able to handle the case and came across Motorcycle Law Scotland. I called their office and spoke to Brenda, a senior partner who agreed to take on my case after discussing the situation. I sacked the panel solicitor (they were not happy as they lost a cut and dried case, but it was their own fault).
Firstly Brenda organised a rehabilitation company to contact me and set up a home visit to discuss my issues. I needed a lot of massage to free up my left femur muscles which were very damaged, so this was arranged with a local clinic and agreed plus other treatment for non union fractures (PEMF Therapy with Pemfit Lancaster) amongst other things.
Anyway, Motorcycle Law did everything they could to assist me right through the next two years until I was able to settle the case and bring it to a satisfactory conclusion.
I am very grateful to all at Motorcycle Law Scotland, especially Brenda. They did a great job.
The moral of the story really is don’t take your own insurer’s recommendation for a solicitor to act for your injuries, do some research as it could cost you a poor outcome long term."