Case study: £30,000 for e-scooter rider injured after hitting pothole 

Our personal injury solicitors helped a client claim compensation for injuries he sustained falling from an electric scooter after hitting a pothole.

Accident circumstances: loss of control after hitting pothole

Our client, Mr E, was travelling on an electric scooter when he hit a pothole in the road, causing him to lose control and fall to the ground.

As a result of the fall, Mr E sustained the following injuries:

• An ACL injury (a sprain/tear) to his right knee
• Bruising to his abdomen

Local council denies liability

Mr E approached our personal injury solicitors to help him claim compensation for his injuries.

Our team submitted a claim to the Defendant’s (the local council) insurer who denied liability for the accident. They provided a large amount of disclosure, including inspection documents. Our solicitors reviewed these and confirmed:

• The Defendant inspected the accident site about two weeks before the accident and at the time of the inspection, the Defendant did not record a defect, i.e. a pothole.
• The Defendant stated that the pothole was not detected until three months after the accident, but failed to provide any inspection records evidencing their detection of it.

Using images provided by our client and using historic Google Maps street view, we were able to show the Defendant that the defect was visible in images in the six-month period prior to the accident and disputed their denial.

The Defendant provided us with further disclosure, which demonstrated that the accident site was inspected shortly after the accident with no defects noted; however, our client’s accident had already happened by this time and he had photographs to show that the defect was clearly visible.  

We challenged the Defendant further, alleging that their inspection was inadequate, and pressed on with the claim.

Medical reports obtained

In support of our client’s claim, we obtained medical evidence and a report by an Orthopaedic Surgeon.

The report confirmed Mr E had sustained:

• An ACL injury to his right knee, which required surgery
• Bruising to his abdominal wall

The surgeon recommended we obtain further reports from a psychologist and general surgeon due to the psychological impact of the accident and given the nature of the ongoing symptoms Mr E was experiencing in his abdomen.

These revealed:

• The Consultant Psychologist diagnosed Mr E with PTSD and suggested that his experience of pain was interacting with his psychological symptoms and recommended 8-12 sessions of trauma-focussed therapy in the form of either Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR).
• The Consultant Surgeon confirmed Mr E sustained abdominal bruising which largely settled within four weeks of the accident. However, some discomfort persisted so the surgeon requested further investigations, specifically an MRI scan take place in order to provide their final opinion.

Our solicitors arranged the MRI scan (which did not show anything concerning), and CBT treatment for Mr E on a deferred payment basis, allowing him to undergo the recommended investigations and treatment but with no upfront costs.

Settlement offer

The Defendant made an offer of £25,000, which our solicitors advised Mr E not to accept, as medical evidence had not been finalised, which posed a risk of an undervalued settlement.

We proposed a three-month stay (delay) in proceedings to allow for a potential settlement and for Mr E to understand whether he may need additional surgery. Fortunately, Mr E’s symptoms settled with time and no further intervention was required. The claim settled for £30,000.

Contact our road traffic accident solicitors

If you or someone you know has been injured in an e-scooter accident, you may be able to claim compensation for your injuries.

To arrange an initial, no-obligation consultation with one of our personal injury solicitors, call us on 0117 325 2929 or fill out our online enquiry form.