A recent case concerning a cyclist reported in the Guardian highlights the advantages to settling a case rather than battling on to trial and facing the risk of crippling legal costs. The advantage of using ProMediate as a mediator in personal injury claims is that we have mediators who act as advocates in such cases and so know the legal position inside and out.
A cyclist knocked a woman over in 2015 as she crossed the road looking at her phone. He was held to be 50% liable and therefore would have had to pay her compensation even though like many cyclists he was not insured.
The pedestrian claimed legal costs of £112,000 and he managed to raise £59,000 through crowdfunding and finally agreed to settle the case for £30,000 on top of damages of £4,300 and his own costs of more than £25,000. The final settlement still left him £2,979 out of pocket. It is not clear how he resolved the claim but mediation would have been ideal.
As it was a personal injury claim the pedestrian did not have to pay any costs even if she lost and so the cyclist could not have recovered his own costs.
If you have a personal injury claim and want to mediate, ProMediate is the winner of the 2019 Personal Injury Mediation Achiever Award.