JMW's specialist cycling collisions team, has successfully secured £1,500 in compensation for a cyclist after he suffered injuries after being knocked off his bike by a car.

The case

Mr B was a cyclist proceeding correctly down a street when the driver of a car pulled out of a side road, colliding with Mr B and knocking him to the ground. Mr B was severely bruised, sustained a cut above the left eye, the left eyebrow and a cut to the right shin, which healed but left a scar. He decided to make a claim and got in touch with JMW Solicitors.

The claim

Police attended the scene of the accident and so we requested the police report, which gave us the details of the driver of the car that hit Mr B, the defendant, so that we could contact his insurance company on Mr B’s behalf.

We submitted notification of Mr B’s intent to claim to the defendant’s insurer, along with information about Mr B’s damaged bike, so that he could claim compensation to get it fixed. The defendant’s insurer responded, accepting liability for Mr B’s claim.

Securing a settlement

We arranged for Mr B to attend an appointment with an independent medical expert, so that he could put together an independent report on Mr B’s injuries that were caused by the accident. At the same time, the defendant’s insurer made an offer to settle Mr B’s case. We advised Mr B against accepting this offer, as the evidence to support his claim was not complete without a medical report, and he could risk undersettling his claim.

Mr B agreed with us, and rejected the offer, continuing on to attend the medical appointment. After attending the appointment, we received a copy of the independent medical expert’s report. It supported Mr B’s description of his injuries, advising that if Mr B’s scars hadn’t healed a year after his accident date, then he could consider consulting a plastic surgeon.

We discussed the matter with Mr B, and advised him to wait and see how his scars settled. However, Mr B felt his injuries had healed to a satisfactory level, and that he would like to try and settle the case without further medical evidence. We sent Mr B’s medical report on to the defendant’s insurers, to encourage negotiation of a reasonable settlement on Mr B’s behalf. In response, the defendant’s insurer made a higher offer to settle the claim.

After full consideration of the offer, Mr B decided he felt the offer was reasonable and was happy to accept the claim without additional advice from a plastic surgeon. Mr B thanked us for the hard work we’d put into his case and was happy that the level of compensation awarded would enable him to fix his bike, as well as compensate him for his injuries.

The Claims Process