Mrs J was awarded £3,900

JMW has helped a woman make a claim after she injured herself disembarking a plane and was not granted the assistance she requested. JMW managed to secure a £3,900 settlement for her.

The claim

Mrs J was returning from a foreign holiday and, as she had difficulty walking, had requested assistance when getting on and off the aeroplane. On arriving at the airport, she was not assisted disembarking from the plane. She stumbled part-way down the stairs, jarring her back and shoulder, and hurting her leg. She decided to make a claim and was put in touch with JMW Solicitors.

The case

We wrote a letter of claim to the company through which Mrs J had booked her holiday, the defendant, highlighting the circumstances causing Mrs J’s accident and indicating her intent to make a claim.

The defendant requested more information. We also wanted to ensure that we had clear evidence on what assistance she had booked for disembarking the plane, so we spoke to Mrs J to gather more information from her. We also requested that the defendant provide more information about what level of assistance they claimed Mrs J had received, as they had not yet provided any information about what was on their records, or the different types of disability assistance open to her.

Meanwhile, we also arranged for Mrs J to have a medical assessment from an independent orthopaedic surgeon, so that information could be gathered as to Mrs J’s injuries, and we could understand what Mrs J’s recovery period from her pain and suffering would reasonably be.

Mrs J also provided us with details of the monetary losses she had suffered as a result of the accident. We also asked her for a statement outlining the accident and how her injuries had affected her. This included details about how she had pulled a muscle and had suffered degenerative changes to her lower lumbar spine, as well as the issue that she had to take painkillers regularly to ease her symptoms, a year after the accident.

We also took statements from Mrs J’s relatives who travelled with her on the holiday, and witnessed the accident and its subsequent effect on Mrs J’s health.

Admission of responsibility

After repeated efforts by us to speak with the defendant’s representatives to discuss the case with them, we finally received correspondence from them agreeing that they would admit responsibility for Mrs J’s accident.

We also received a report from the independent orthopaedic surgeon, which estimated that the accident caused a pre-existing medical condition of Mrs J’s to accelerate.

Final settlement

As all of the appropriate evidence supporting Mrs J’s case had now been gathered, we made an offer to the defendant on Mrs J’s behalf to settle the case. This encouraged the defendant’s representatives to enter into negotiations. They made an offer of £3,900 to settle the case. Based on our assessments of case law and experience in dealing with similar sorts of injuries, we advised Mrs J that this was fair and reasonable, and Mrs J decided to accept the offer.