Case study: motorcycle courier clipped by van claims for his injuries

A thirty-nine-year-old father of two from Chelmsford contacted us to make a whiplash claim after he was involved in a motorcycle accident.

While working as a motorcycle courier for a large national company he was travelling along the M11 on an autumn afternoon when the accident occurred.

He was travelling in the inside lane when the driver of a white van moved over from the outside lane right in front of him. He did not see the motorcyclist and clipped the side of the bike as he moved across in front of him.

This sent the motorcycle spinning towards a grass verge. Miraculously, the motorcyclist did not lose his balance and the bike did not overturn but the vehicle finally came to a sudden stand-still when it hit the side of the verge and the motorcyclist's body was thrown violently back and forth.

The driver of the van sped off as it was believed he had acknowledged neither the driver nor the accident. However, the driver of a car behind called the emergency services and assisted the motorcyclist to a safe part of the road where they could await their arrival.

By the time the ambulance arrived the motorcyclist was complaining of severe neck and back pain. He also said that he was suffering from a blinding headache, that he felt dizzy and that his vision was blurred.

He was taken to hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a whiplash injury. As there was concern that the force of the road accident and the weight of the motorcycle helmet may have caused him more damage, the patient underwent further tests, including an X-ray.

Doctors requested the man to stay in hospital under observation for two nights.

He was then sent home but remained off work for around three months as his damaged neck muscles could not take the strain of his motorcycle helmet. He also suffered ongoing neck pain and headaches which made it far too dangerous to ride.

Money was tight and while researching on the internet about applying for a loan so that he could support his wife and children until he could return to work, he typed 'whiplash compensation' into a search engine to see if he would be eligible to make a claim.

He came across our site and on realising that we have an excellent whiplash claim success rate and that we work on a no win, no fee basis, he decided that it would be foolish not to give us a call and find out more.

Our claim team took down the details of the type of accident he was involved in, when the accident occurred, what happened during the accident and the type of personal injury that he had sustained.

They then told him that they could take his case on under the win no fee agreement, meaning that he wouldn't have to pay his personal injury solicitor's fees if his claim was unsuccessful.

After the van driver's insurance company heard that witness accounts had been taken and that the motorist had been placed at the scene of the accident, liability was admitted. The motorcyclist was awarded £6,800 by way of compensation for the pain and distress he underwent and earnings that he lost as a result of his whiplash injury.

Read more about our whiplash injury claims services