You are in: Home Page | About Thompsons | Publications | Law Bulletins | October 2007

Law Bulletin - October 2007

Low Speed Settlements

A lot of insurers still deny that low speed collisions can lead to an accident. They often put inordinate expense and effort into defending claims , often implying the Claimant is inventing an injury.

In this case the claimant was a bus driver. He was stationary in a bus station when another bus reversed into the rear of his vehicle at low speed. The defendant obtained leave from the court for forensic engineering evidence and their own medical evidence. However, their medical expert accepted there was some injury to our client’s shoulder while denying there was whiplash injury.

The forensic engineers both said they were unable to give evidence whether an injury had been sustained and passed the buck back to the medical experts. After almost two years of this work and a huge amount of costs, the defendant settled the claim at £1,500.

Preventing publicity

If you want to prevent publicity or access to court documents, you have to apply under Part 5.4 of the Civil Procedure Rules for an order that documents and statements should not be inspected by the public without the permission of the relevant Judge. Without this, relatives have sometimes learned via the press of injuries or awards and a Judge could not prevent that.