S v W (Loss of earnings dispute arising from road traffic accident)

The Claimant suffered serious orthopaedic injuries in a road traffic accident. Primary liability was admitted but there were allegations of contributory negligence arising from an alleged failure to wear a seat belt.

The Claimant was an accomplished horsewoman who worked at a racehorse stable yard. She claimed that she was unable to continue to exercise racehorses due to ongoing orthopaedic issues and pain. This was disputed by the Defendants on the basis of the expert evidence. There were also issues as to potential career progression and residual earning capacity. The key issue between the parties related to the earnings related claims.

The Schedule of Loss claimed in excess of £1.2m and the Counter-Schedule totalled just over £100,000.

The parties had been unable to resolve the case at a joint settlement meeting and the case was proceeding to trial with considerable cost risks to both sides. The parties agreed to one final attempt to resolve the case with an independent evaluation.

The Evaluator read all of the case papers before the evaluation save for additional evidence which was due to be the subject of an application prior to trial and in respect of which permission had not yet been given to rely upon it. The Evaluator was not told of the position reached at the previous JSM or of Part 36 offers which had been made subsequently before giving her evaluation.

During the course of the evaluation, the Evaluator was able to test the strength of the expert evidence with each party and meet the Claimant and gain a better understanding of her ongoing problems and perspective.

The Evaluator was able to give a reasoned valuation of the case and explain the conclusion she had reached to the parties, in particular how the views given by the medical experts in their joint statements would impact on the likely award for the earnings related claims. This paved the way for a resolution of the claim by negotiation and avoided the costs and very significant risks of proceeding to trial given the offers which had previously been made.