Case study: £7,822 for cyclist injured in car dooring accident

Our personal injury team helped a cyclist claim compensation for injuries sustained in a car dooring accident.

Accident circumstances and injuries

Miss T was cycling along a road in a bus lane when the passenger door of the Defendant’s car was opened into her path, causing Miss T to impact with the vehicle door.

This is a ‘dooring’ accident, which occurs when a passenger or driver of a car opens their door without looking properly and causes a cyclist to swerve or crash as a result.

As a result of the collision, Miss T sustained the following injuries:

• Soft tissue injuries and cuts to the right shoulder and right shin
• Bruising to right hand and left calf
• Pain to right hip, back, neck and palms of hands
• Whiplash injury
• Psychological injury

Claim for personal injury pursued

Miss T instructed us to support her in claiming compensation from the Defendant driver for her dooring injuries.

Unfortunately, the Police had noted down the Defendant’s registration number incorrectly, so when Miss T’s claim was submitted, the Defendant’s insurers denied any involvement in the collision.

We wrote to the Defendant driver directly to obtain the correct details and resubmitted the Claim Notification Form (CNF). They promptly admitted full liability for the accident.

Treatment for injuries

Miss T experienced ongoing physical injuries, so we arranged for her to be seen by a Physiotherapist that we have a relationship with, to avoid a delay in our client’s treatment due to a long NHS waiting list.

The Physiotherapist deferred their charges so that Miss T had no upfront costs.

Medical records and evidence obtained

After Miss T had completed her treatment, we arranged a medical examination for her and obtained a report detailing her injuries.

The Consultant in Emergency Medicine confirmed that our client’s physical symptoms should resolve within the following six months, with the aid of further physiotherapy, which we arranged for her.

We recommended that Miss T would benefit from a Psychologist’s report in relation to her ongoing anxiety and psychological trauma.

Whilst we awaited this medical evidence, we obtained an interim payment of £1,000 to assist our client financially whilst the claim progressed.

During this period, the Defendant made an offer of settlement in the sum of £4,000. We offered Miss T our advice and she decided to wait until we had obtained the complete medical evidence before considering settlement.

We then received the Psychologist’s report. This showed that, whilst Miss T did not fulfill the criteria for PTSD, the report reflected that the accident had psychologically affected her. The Psychologist commended our client’s effort and commitment in taking steps to return to cycling after a couple months, but suggested she also receive Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to aid the recovery of her ongoing symptoms.

Attempt to settle the medical negligence claim

A copy of the Psychologist’s report was disclosed to the Defendant’s insurers, who increased their offer to £5,000.

We guided Miss T through her options and after further deliberation, our client rejected this offer. We proceeded to arrange the recommended CBT for our client with a local treatment provider, who also deferred their charges so there was no upfront cost to our client.

Our client informed us that, although she had largely recovered from the dooring injuries, she still experienced ongoing symptoms. We returned to the original Consultant in Emergency Medicine for a re-examination. He suggested that, given her ongoing symptoms, it would be more appropriate for Miss T to see an Orthopaedic Consultant.

The Orthopaedic Consultant was of the view that our client suffered from a pain disorder as a result of the accident and that, without treatment, the pain would continue. He recommended an MRI, followed by an intensive course of physiotherapy. We arranged this for Miss T, on a deferred payment basis.

Court proceedings

As the three-year limitation period was approaching, Court proceedings were issued and we requested that the Court grant a ‘stay’ of proceedings. This was to ensure that the proceedings would be placed on hold whilst we finalised the evidence and negotiated settlement.

We collated the details of Miss T’s financial losses, including the cost of the treatment arranged. We valued our client’s claim and recommended that she make the first offer. After negotiation, the claim settled for the sum of £7,822.33

More information

If you or someone you know was injured as a result of a dooring accident, our specialist personal injury solicitors may be able to help.

Get in touch by calling us on 0117 325 2929 or complete our online enquiry form.