Matthew Claxson, partner in our Personal Injury team has obtained a six-figure settlement for a client following a fatal road traffic collision which devastatingly killed his mother.
We were instructed by our client’s father, who was also his litigation friend, after being introduced to the family.
Details of the incident
Our client’s mother was the front seat passenger in the defendant’s vehicle, while driving southbound, when the defendant undertook a third-party vehicle. This caused the two vehicles to collide, specifically with the rear of the car the client’s mother was in. From this initial collision, the defendant’s car was forced over the central reservation into oncoming traffic travelling northbound. This subsequently caused a head-on, second collision with a second third party vehicle. Unfortunately, our client’s mother sustained catastrophic injuries from the collisions and sadly died.
The defendant pled guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to a 28 month term of imprisonment.
The client’s background
Our client lived with his younger sister and mother up until a few weeks’ before the fatal crash. Both the client and his sister were primarily cared for by their mother who was a full-time single mother and they had separate fathers. His sister had a relationship with her father, while our client did not enjoy a relationship with his father before the road traffic collision took place, having not seen each other for the prior two years.
What Moore Barlow did
We brought forward on behalf of our client a dependency claim pursuant to the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (‘FAA’) for the past and future losses including the services that the client’s mother would have provided to him had she not died.
Our client’s sibling, given the separate fathers, was represented by another firm of solicitors, with whom we collaborated with throughout the claim to avoid any potential conflict of interest and to ensure the children’s needs were at the forefront of the claim’s purpose.
The defendant’s insurers admitted liability two years after the road crash causing unnecessary anguish to the families.
Settlement
After collaborating with a number of experts, we were able to calculate the weekly hours our client’s mother had spent caring for her children before her passing to correctly project the weekly hours that would have been spent caring for our client and his sister into the future, but for the accident. This was then collated to create a detailed schedule of loss which was included in our instructions to our counsel to develop. In this claim, we instructed specialist Counsel Mr David White of 12 Kings Bench Walk, London.
The schedule of loss contained a quantum schedule of any past and future losses which our client had, and will now continue to, suffer as a result of his mother’s premature passing. The losses claimed for represented the financial and services dependency our client had on his mother. The heads of terms within this covered things like childcare, household chores, gardening and DIY/decorating.
We also claimed for the Regan v Williamson award for the client due to the loss of his mother’s love, attention, affection and care.
Challenges faced
Upon serving our schedule of loss on the defendants, they responded with a counter schedule which did not admit our financial dependency claim and did not provide figures for the major heads of loss, including the past and future loss of services. The latter of which we totalled to be 87% of the total pleaded claim’s value.
When claiming for past and future financial dependency, we claimed for ‘pooled’ income at 50% of the mother’s income due to her single-parent profile. The defendant Insurers disputed the multiplicand here.
Another challenge we faced concerned the claimed dependency on the child benefits. The defendant insurers requested that this was disregarded as both children had continued to benefit from these post-accident.
The defendant insurer’s argued that the part claimed on the housing benefits, which was assumed in the schedule to have paid for the rent in full, in fact could have been that less as the client’s mother was being paid in arrears that week. The exact amount, however was unknown.
Case progression & outcome
After formal legal proceedings were issued in the High Court we persuaded the Insurer to attend a joint settlement meeting to explore a resolution of the claim subject to court approval of any settlement. Mr White represented our client at a the joint settlement meeting which lasted six hours. Following a collaborative negotiation, our client’s case was settled for a high six figure sum that was subsequently approved by a Judge sitting in the High Court on account the law requires such approval where a case involves a child.
Following on from the road crash, the client has now fostered a strong relationship with his father as his, now, primary care-giver.
‘Mathew Claxson looked after us during our claim and got a great settlement for me and my son. Matthew was easily reachable via email and phone throughout the prolonged period during our claim and gave clear advice throughout which we are extremely happy with. We are also very grateful for Matthew and the wider team for all the hard work they have put into our claim.’
– Client’s father & Litigation Friend.
Claim reflection
This case is an excellent example of how collaboration and communication between all parties can achieve open and successful discussions. By understanding the client’s needs, we were able to accomplish an exceptional financial outcome for them whilst not overlooking the tragic circumstances.
If you have suffered a serious injury and/or bereavement as a result of a road crash, then please contact our solicitors on 0800 157 7611 or send an email to matthew.claxson@moorebarlow.com.
Moore Barlow is a legal panel member for RoadPeace who are the national charity for road crash victims. RoadPeace operate a pastoral care helpline 0845 4500 355.
