A woman left with life-changing brain injuries in a road traffic collision in the West Country has been awarded what is believed to be a record personal injury settlement of £27.4 million.
The woman, who has not been named, was represented by a Bristol-based law firm, who said she was hit by a car and now needs lifetime care and rehabilitation.
Information about the legal settlement has only now emerged after the law firm representing the woman, the Temple Meads-based Enable Law, revealed the total sum the case has been settled with the insurance company of the car’s driver.
During a series of court hearings, a number of orders were made by the judge restricting information about the woman in the case, or details of the crash itself, from being made public, to protect the anonymity of the woman.
The settlement figure was arrived at after she and her lawyers initially rejected settlement offers of £1.5 million and £10 million from the defendant’s insurers, and takes into account the amount of care and rehabilitation she will require for the rest of her life.
“This feels like a bitter-sweet victory,” said Enable Law partner Huw Ponting, who heads the firm’s personal injury team, and led the compensation claim with Sue Stoll, a senior solicitor who specialises in brain injuries.
“Our hearts go out to our client because her life has been shattered and that is incredibly sad but her desperately sad plight has also motivated our team to fight her corner. It is pleasing that the trust placed in Enable Law to ensure she wants for nothing for the rest of her life has been vindicated by our painstaking drive to do the right thing.
“For Enable Law securing a settlement of this magnitude for a client with no catastrophic physical injuries but life-changing cognitive ones is unprecedented but most importantly it will ensure a framework is put in place for our client to live as well as she possibly can for the rest of her life,” he added.
Sue Stoll said the woman was the subject of a strict anonymity order to ‘protect her identity and future welfare’. “Through no fault of her own, our client’s life has been devastated by the catastrophic brain injury she suffered due to a motorist’s carelessness,” she said.
“No amount of money will ever make up for the impact of the accident on our client. However, this settlement ensures that she has financial security for her lifetime care and rehabilitation needs so she can maximise her independence and quality of life,” she added.
Huw Ponting said the law firm assembled a team of experts to show the extent of the long-lasting effects of the incident.
“Our clients’ welfare is at the heart of absolutely everything we do at Enable Law,” he said. “Our brain injury team is well placed to support clients with very complex needs and being supported by specialist in-house mental capacity and education lawyers mean we are able to support our clients at all stages of their life.
“We have done our client proud since we took over the case from the family’s previous legal representatives and secured Enable Law’s highest ever personal injury settlement.
“After the defendant’s insurers admitted liability, we rejected settlement offers of £1.5 million and £10 million because we have always been determined to make sure all of our client’s future needs were met and the £27.4 million settlement vindicates our approach.
“We thought outside the box for our client, assembling a multi-disciplinary team who produced innovative and groundbreaking legal work,” he added.
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