€1.5 million settlement for pedestrian hit by car in Belgium

We achieved an overall settlement figure of approximately €1.5 million plus costs for our client who was hit on a pedestrian crossing in Belgium by a driver who jumped a red light.

He was catapulted approximately 30 yards and sustained multiple injuries resulting in intensive care treatment. We instructed local agents in Belgium and the driver received a criminal conviction. The client was awarded an interim payment of €4,000 and the defendant’s insurance company subsequently agreed to pay a further sum of €12,400 following a request from our local agents.

As our client was unable to return to work and his wife gave up a promising career to look after him, we also instigated civil proceedings. Although he was insured through income protection insurance, we instructed a forensic accountant to prepare a report regarding the extent of his future loss of earnings as he had been on a high salary with a comprehensive package of benefits. Two additional interim payments were subsequently made by the insurance company.

We then obtained a final conclusion from the Medico legal expert, which indicated that our client’s permanent incapacity ranged between 95-100% and that he would never be able to return to work. This resulted in a further interim payment of €35,000.

By June 2012, we had secured interim payments totalling more than €800,000. The judge then concluded that the court should appoint its own forensic expert to assess the final sum to be awarded for loss of future earnings as the experts engaged by either party disagreed significantly regarding the relevant sums.

We eventually settled on a figure of €1.5 million plus costs.

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