Our client worked as a shearer for over 25 years before suffering from a lower back injury and changing jobs to a home care worker. His job entailed going to client’s homes for personal care, social support, transporting clients to and from appointments or to social outings as well as domestic cleaning.
He was in his early 50s and in a relationship, had three grown children and loved music and spending time outdoors with friends and family. Our client enjoyed maintaining his home, doing outside maintenance, and gardening and shared the inside duties of the home with his family.
On the day of the accident, our client had started his workday at approximately 8am, doing personal care jobs and transporting clients in the morning. He was driving a work vehicle and going to a client’s home for another personal care job that afternoon.
The weather was fine and sunny, and the roads were dry. While driving over a small crest in the road, he noticed a motorcycle coming towards him from the opposite direction. Our client did not have time to react to the oncoming vehicle and he was hit head on. The motorcyclist’s injuries were quite severe, and though there were no physical injuries to our client, he suffered from shock and trauma and was taken to the hospital for treatment. The following day, upon attending the police station for a statement, our client was informed the accident was due to a police chase with the motorcycle.
Our client lodged a Workers Compensation claim after the accident and took a few weeks off to recover. He struggled to return to work due to the trauma experienced and found it difficult to drive even short distances. Our client attempted to continue working but the stress and trauma he experienced eventually caused him to stop working approximately a year later. His symptoms progressed in intensity, even affecting his home life tremendously, and his treating doctors diagnosed him with Chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Over time his symptoms became worse, and he was admitted into hospital for extended treatments.
Our client was unable to resume work as a personal care worker and it was deemed unlikely he would ever return to full-time work employment due to his psychiatric injuries.
Our client sought the assistance of LawAdvice with respect to his CTP claim. Expert opinion reports on liability, investigator’s statements, medical evidence, and income loss documents were obtained by our firm in support of the claim. Witness statements were also obtained and we sought advice from Counsel (barrister) with respect to the claim.
A Medical Assessment Service Certificate was requested to determine the degree of permanent impairment of our client. A State Insurance Regulatory Authority Medical Assessment Service Certificate was granted confirming our client’s permanent impairment was greater than 10%.
We engaged in settlement negotiations with the defendants, and we came to a sum that was eventually accepted by all parties. The agreed settlement was more than $500,000.00 and our client was thankful for the advice and the outcome.