Month: May 2010

Following a court ruling last month, a British man has been awarded the highest ever compensation settlement for personal injury in the UK.

Wasim Mohammed, a 22 year old man from Walsall, West Midlands was granted the out of court settlement totalling a staggering £11.15 million. This personal injury compensation package will help aide his future care for the disastrous injuries suffered in 2006 as the passenger in a road traffic accident.

The claimant’s injuries occurred when the driver of the car he was travelling in, tried to overtake at a junction, but instead hit another vehicle which was turning right. As a result of the accident, Mr Mohammed suffered a broken neck and damaged spinal cord which has tragically meant that he can no longer walk and has very little movement in his arms.

The overwhelming total of the personal injury compensation package had taken into account not only the injuries sustained and the care the claimant would ultimately require, but also Mr Mohammed’s future requirements regarding his responsibilities as part of a traditional Pakistani family. As the eldest son, it is customary belief in Pakistani family life that the eldest child undertakes a duty of care to look after his parents during their old age.

Due to the extensive nature of Mr Mohammed’s injuries however, these customary duties can no longer be fulfilled and so the record personal injury award will now be used to construct a purpose-built house for Mr Mohammed besides his parent’s home, from which he can see them daily and ultimately receive the care he now needs.

+Richard Meggitt

After several months of legal challenge, UK buggy manufacturer Maclaren have finally agreed personal injury compensation packages for over 40 children who had their fingers, allegedly, seriously injured in the hinges of the company’s folding pushchairs.

The compensation agreement concludes a long running claims saga which initially began in late 2009. Personal injury claims were brought against Maclaren following the recall of one million of their products after a string of injuries suffered by children in the USA.

Despite the compensation agreement, Maclaren stated that this did not equate to an admission of liability and had merely agreed to make full compensation damages awards in relation to personal injury, with the aid of its insurers. In their defence, Maclaren also pointed out that having sold over one million buggies in the UK over the past decade, they had only ever received around 100 complaints.

Individual amounts have been calculated depending on the severity of the personal injury suffered by each child with a majority of the payouts ranging from £2500 to £10,000.

Some of the personal injury claims made against the company dated back to 2003 and included a range of injuries such as partial amputation of fingers, deep lacerations and fractured bones.

+Richard Meggitt