Last updated on June 29th, 2016 at 01:13 pm

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Nottinghamshire resident, Dominic Taylor, was close to junction 24 of the M1 southbound at around 8.30am on the day of the road traffic accident in February 2013.  Traffic was virtually stationary, and the car in front of him had stopped, so he had slowed down. Dominic could see a BMW coming up quickly behind him and, fearing the worst, braced himself.  The BMW couldn’t stop and ran into the back of Dominic’s car, which was badly damaged – as was the BMW.  He got out of his car but within minutes was aware of severe neck pain.

Physiotherapy needed after road traffic accident

After a few days, Dominic’s pain had not gone away.  Having had an accident a couple of years earlier, from which he was just about recovered, he knew what the pain was like and what painkillers to take and exercises to do.  This time his neck hurt a lot more and any exercise hurt too, so he visited his GP, and then again about a week later when the pain was still persistent.  He was told he would need physiotherapy, and he received confirmation that the other person’s insurers would pay for it.

Unable to drive for around 10 days, and unable to carry out many of his normal tasks, Dominic’s sleep suffered too. He says he now has good days and bad days and doesn’t think he will ever recover fully as he has what appears to be a tapped nerve from his neck to his left shoulder.  He contacted Graysons to see what could be done and Belinda took up his case.

Belinda takes road traffic accident case to court

Whilst the defendant accepted liability, the insurers would not agree to pay for the physiotherapy – despite previous confirmation.  They valued the claim at £1,500 but wanted to deduct £700 for physiotherapy, so Dominic would only have received £800.  Belinda decided to issue court proceedings and Dominic was award the full amount plus costs.

No legal help if Government imposes changes

In its autumn statement last year, the Government announced proposed changes to claiming personal injury compensation. The planned changes are to:

• Raise the small claims limit for personal injury claims from £1,000 to £5,000, which means that claims of less than £5,000 will be transferred to the small claims court and solicitor fees will not be recoverable – leaving some injured people with no legal help or support, and
• Remove the right to compensation for ‘minor’ soft tissue injuries (includes whiplash).

If these changes go ahead as planned, Graysons’ experts would not be able to help people like Dominic with his claim and he would have to make the claim in the Small Claims Court himself, with no legal knowledge or expertise, which he says he would not have done and would not have been able to afford the up-front costs. He also says that he thinks that the government’s plans are “sad” and a “sign of the times” with “people’s health appearing less important than money”.

Furthermore, David says “I would have been worse off physically and emotionally without the additional private and deep tissue treatment that I have received.  It was far superior to the NHS treatment I received, which was mainly observational checks and advice on self-help, and not hands on.”

We think that these changes are unfair and will restrict people’s right to proper redress if they have an accident or injury that is not their fault.

Graysons will continue to help victims of personal injury claims wherever possible so please do contact our specialist team now if you need help.

Belinda Lancaster

Belinda inspires total confidence

Dominic was delighted with the service he received from Belinda, who, he says “was very thorough and professional, and I would have no hesitation in recommending her to future clients.  She has a friendly, polite, no nonsense approach which inspires total confidence.”

You can find out more about making a road traffic accident claim on our web pages.