One of the main components in any personal injury claim is to recover compensation for the injury suffered, but it is also important to ensure that there is a provision for the cost of any recommended treatment to aid ongoing recovery.
To put this into context, I recently acted for a 31-year-old male, who had an accident whilst in active service. His claim was against the Ministry of Defence (“MoD”).
The claimant’s main motivation for pursuing a personal injury claim arose out of fact that he could not secure cosmetic dental treatment through the MoD, despite being left with ongoing dental problems which gave him cause for concern and social embarrassment.
Brief facts of the claim
The claimant was taking part in a late-night location move. He was part of a convoy of eight jackal vehicles. A jackal is an open and armoured weapons vehicle able to rapidly move across varying terrain. Our client was stood in the top cover, and there was no seatbelt or safety restraint.
The convoy was in night-time driving mode. This meant that the vehicles did not have head lights or brake lights on display.
The driver of the lead jackal braked sharply which led to a chain reaction of sudden braking down the line. The driver of the vehicle in which the claimant was passenger also braked sharply and this sudden and unexpected manoeuvre resulted in his accident.
The claimant’s face hit the vehicle roll bar and the force of the impact resulted in a serious facial injury. He suffered a full thickness laceration to the upper lip up to a few millimetres below the top of his nose. His front tooth impaled his lip and three of his teeth were fractured. In addition, he suffered general bruising and a soft tissue injury to his face which caused significant social embarrassment. He made a very good recovery but was left with a scar which was camouflaged with facial hair.
How we helped
The claimant instructed Roythornes to deal with his personal injury claim. I was able to secure an early admission of liability from the MoD and allegations of contributory negligence were later dropped by the defendant.
In order to prove the value of the claimant’s claim, medical evidence was obtained from a Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon. The expert prepared a report and recommended referral to an Orthodontist to discuss and consider orthodontic treatment. This was arranged for the claimant on a private basis.
The expert evidence of the Maxillofacial Surgeon and Orthodontist assisted in valuing the claim and in addition to recovery compensation for the injury, the claimant also secured an amount to cover the cost of future dental work and orthodontic treatment on a private basis. Had the claimant not pursued a personal injury claim, it is likely he would have been out-of-pocket for treatment on a private basis.