Winns Settle Europe-Wide Claim

Winn Solicitors were able to recover a four-figure sum after a claim which spanned Europe.

The claimant had gone to unload a delivery from a lorry but the driver of said vehicle had propped a metal pole against the door. As the claimant opened it, they were struck on the head, causing lacerations which have left a permanent scar.

“The pole hit me and split my head open,” said the claimant.

“I expected to get nothing to be honest. As far as I’m concerned, I was doing my job and I thought once the wagon entered our yard it was covered by our insurance. But our insurance wouldn’t cover it.”

As George Edwards from the Winn Solicitors team dug into the case, he found the lorry had come from Spain but the claimant’s employer had contracted a company in Austria to arrange the transport of the goods. Upon pursuing the Austrian company, they said they had sourced the lorry and the driver from a Bulgarian company.

After many months of carrying out complex investigations into the correct defendants and receiving no response from them to provide details of the UK insurance details, our team had no option but to issue court proceedings and send them to the Bulgarian company which meant they had to get the relevant documents translated into Bulgarian. This prompted a response from a Bulgarian law firm and the claim was settled promptly without the need for a trial.

“George told me at the end that it could go the opposite way, so he advised me to take the offer,” added the claimant.

George’s head of department, Paul Morpeth explains; “This was a peculiar case given the number of potential defendants from several different countries. However, despite encountering numerous difficulties and dead ends we were eventually able to track down the correct company. 

“Even then we could not get any response from them so we had no option but to issue court proceedings and serve on their Bulgarian address, without knowing if this would prompt them to deal with the client’s case.

“However, soon after sending the court papers we were contacted by a Bulgarian law firm and the claim could be settled directly with them.

“George put a lot of time and effort into this claim and I am pleased with the successful result in the end. I was also delighted for the client who had remained patient throughout this difficult process.”

If you have had an accident at work that wasn't your fault, contact our specialist team today. 

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