Plumber Lodges Injury Claim After Being Run Over While Drunk
For Carl Heaven, the end of his night out on 20th June 2007 was anything but his namesake.
Mr Heaven, a plumber from Croydon, had been out drinking in Abingdon, Oxfordshire with friends that Tuesday night and was making his way up the high street with one other man when Brian Williams turned his lorry off Bridge Street and noticed the two men 'larking around' as he puts it, in the middle of the road.
Mr Heaven and his friend apparently waved at Mr Williams, although whether was the archetypal drunken friendliness that we all feel from time to time making an appearance, or whether it was a signal to the lorry driver that they were retreating to the kerb and his route was now uninhibited, we cannot be sure.
What is certain is that Mr Williams took this to mean that he was now free to perform a reverse manoeuvre as needed. What he didn't realise is that Mr Heaven was still standing behind his lorry.
The plumber, 29 at the time, was dragged for some considerable distance by the lorry's back wheels and sustained some pretty nasty injuries: his left leg and both arms all sustained breaks.
Now Mr Heaven has filed a personal injury claim against Mr Williams and his employer, Containerlift Movement Solutions, alleging that, given the time of night that Mr Williams spotted the pair, and their outward appearance, it was obvious that they were intoxicated.
He argues that Mr Williams should have employed much greater caution that he did, and perhaps stopped altogether until he was positive that there was nobody behind the lorry. The distance that Mr Heaven was dragged was unnecessarily great, says his counsel, and implies that Mr Williams was not using his mirrors, being sufficiently careful, or even aware that there was any problem.
The injury claim is for an as-yet unspecified amount, but legal experts agree that it is likely to be quite substantial. Mr Heaven has been unable to work for seven months due to the extent of his injuries, and given the average income of a plumber in the London area, his losses in that time are likely to be considerable.
"A considerable payout could be made if loss of earnings are taken into account, plumbers are usually very well paid. A lot depends on how bad the injuries were," says lawyer Simon O'Loughlin.
Mr Heaven lodged his injury claim on June 18th 2010 - two years short of exactly three years since his accident. Given the extent of his injuries and the fact that he was unable to work for seven months, it is surprising that he didn't claim earlier. Perhaps, as with around 70 per cent of injury victims in the UK who qualify as claimants, he didn't realise he could.
We can't be sure why only a third of eligible injury sufferers go ahead and lodge a suit, but it is probably due to naivety surrounding how the law works and their rights as accident victims. The Conditional Fee Arrangement or 'no win no fee' rules apply in the UK, so what should be remembered above all is that it is unnecessary to pay upfront to make an injury claim, unless of course the appellant wishes to instruct their own solicitor privately. The vast majority of lawyers won't charge.
The fact that he has been back at work since around January/February 2008 should not count against him: any accident victim who feels they have been injured through the negligence of others has three years from the date of the accident to make a claim, so Mr Heaven got his foot in the door -just- in time.
There are a couple of exceptions to this rule: some injury claims take the form of industrial disease lawsuits. The onset of conditions such as mesothelioma are difficult to pinpoint exactly since they are not caused by an 'accident' as such: they develop gradually after long-term exposure to adverse conditions, such as asbestos. It would be unfair in the extreme to apply normal rules to such cases.
The second exception concerns people who were injured when they were a child. They can make their claim at any time up until their 21st birthday, ie the three-year limitation applies from their 18th birthday.
Since neither of these limitations apply to Mr Heaven, it was lucky he lodged his claim by the skin of his teeth. Doubtless Mr Williams wishes he'd put it off til the following week.
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