Young boy struck by car outside school gates

In September 2021, 11-year-old Owen was involved in a road traffic incident outside his primary school.
 
He had just got off his school bus and started to cross the road when a car passing the school bus failed to slow down and collided with him. As a result of the collision, Owen sustained significant fractures to his right foot and leg.
 
Given the extensive Case Law available and most notably the Supreme Court decision in the case of Jackson v Murray 2015, we believed that liability would be straightforward and that the case would be dealt with promptly.
 
Frustratingly, the third-party insurer chose to dispute liability and stated that Owen had run into the side of their policyholder’s vehicle. Therefore, we had to gather evidence to show that his injuries were indicative of being run over by the car rather than colliding with the side of it. There was CCTV footage from outside the primary school, but unfortunately it did not show the impact clearly.
 
Due to his age, Owen’s recovery was not entirely straightforward either. We consulted with an Orthopaedic expert to understand what the implications might be for Owen in the future and just how serious his fractures were. This allowed us to be better equipped when valuing his case and, in due course, when entering settlement negotiations with the Defenders.
 
Whilst liability was never admitted, the Defenders did seek to resolve matters early on within the Court process.
 
Several offers were made by the Defenders. We had taken time to understand fully who Owen was as an individual and what his hobbies and interests were. We discovered that he was an extremely keen footballer and therefore a key priority for him was to return to playing. This is something we discussed in detail with our Orthopaedic expert. By carrying out these investigations, we were able to negotiate a much higher settlement for Owen.
 
The final settlement was an increase of over 60% on the original offer made by the Defenders. Owen and his mother were delighted with the outcome and felt reassured by the process in understanding the implications for Owen’s future.