Personal injury news roundup: 7 days ended 27 May 2014:
If there’s one thing you can rely on in this world it’s that the amount of time between your accident claim and getting your compensation award can be forever.
If you don’t believe me, take a look at the news this week: that horrific Clutha helicopter crash – which was six months ago nearly to the day – has of course resulted in an absolute shedload of horrifying personal tragedies, and many of those injured by the crash or the families of those who paid the ultimate price have of course sought legal advice from personal injury solicitors and have made accident claims as a result. However, not even one of the injured claimants or their surviving families have even seen a single penny of compensation yet.
This is, sadly, highly typical of the way the compensation landscape works, even though it makes it incredibly difficult for anyone left suffering in the face of life-changing injuries that precludes them from earning a living or even living their lives without round the clock care. Meanwhile the injury lawyers for the defendants argue and argue, trying to weasel out of being held responsible; it could easily be more than a full year before any of the most serious claims are actually paid out.
Then again, if you as a claimant can hold on long enough eventually you could finally get what’s coming to you. There was a fantastic example of this very concept recently as well, where US injury compensation court finally awarded a bloody fantastic $15 million to a young mother and her four year old daughter after an accident involving public transport. The 20 year old mother was riding a bus with her daughter when she was thrown violently from her seat as the driver went over a particularly nasty bump, and as she landed she did such extensive damage to her spine that not only did she need to undergo an operation to repair the damage to her spinal column but she was left in constant pain – for three long years!
So that $15 million doesn’t erase the pain and suffering the poor woman went through for three years. Nothing will. But, well let’s be honest – $15 million is a nice consolation prize.