Brain injuries can result in life-changing and permanent issues. They can affect a person’s ability to manage their personal and financial affairs, their ability to work now and in the future and their enjoyment of their home and social life. This also has a huge impact on family members who might end up having to take time off work to care for the injured person.
We act for many clients who have suffered such serious injuries. We travel to see our clients nationwide, often at hospital, where they are still receiving treatment.
We understand that it is an extremely difficult time for clients and their families and we are there to offer advice and support as quickly and effectively as we can. Importantly, this also enables us to address a number of matters early, including contacting the party at fault in the accident and their insurers.
Taking urgent action in this respect is crucial – we can seek immediate interim payments to assist our clients financially and/or secure payments for the cost of rehabilitation privately. With injuries such as these, it is essential that there is forward planning for when a client is discharged from hospital.
By securing substantial interim payments, we can ensure that we have a team of experts on hand to assist our clients . Those experts can work in conjunction with any ongoing NHS care, ensuring that our clients receive the best possible treatment and as quickly as possible.
We can identify early what a client’s needs might be and the types of experts that we need to involve, for example, in the fields of orthopaedics, neurology, psychiatry, neuropsychology, plastic surgery, vocational rehabilitation and care. Interim payments can be used to fund gym membership to aid a client’s recovery, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, counselling and other treatment needs.
With our expertise in the field, we are quickly able to determine what steps needed to be taken, including consideration of housing needs and whether our client would require adaptations to their home-this could be, for example, where our client requires the use of a wheelchair or whether a client might need aids/equipment to assist at home.
We leave no stone unturned in our investigations, including matters such as:
- Any risks in the future on account of the injuries eg epilepsy and what can be done to help;
- Whether there will be future care needs;
- Whether our client will ever be able to work or return to work;
- Whether there will be a need for future surgery/treatment;
- Whether there is technology available to make our client’s life easier and to help a client get a bit more independence again-for example, mobile apps or electronic equipment that can be used on a daily basis to reduce the amount of reliance that a client might have on family members;
- Educational needs in conjunction with the local council/local authority. We look at how we can assist a client, for example, return to college after an accident. If that is not possible, we can identify different educational providers by way of stepping stones back into mainstream education.
- Return to work training, identifying employment ability, the types of roles that might be suitable and working towards getting a client back into work if it is possible;
- Even things like increased heating costs because a client is at home all the time.
If we consider that a claim will succeed on liability, we will not delay. If insurers refuse to make interim payments, we will consider taking court action and securing a court order for interim payments.
We know that it isn’t just about the here and now. It is also about the future. We will explore all issues to ensure that any advice we give as to the value of a claim properly takes into account the injuries, any future loss of earnings, any future care costs, treatment and equipment costs, etc.
