G worked as an assistant manager of William Hill betting shop and was injured when a chair she was sitting on at work collapsed in December 2008. She hit her coccyx on the metal stem of the chair as she fell and sustained injury to her lower back and coccyx.

The defendant’s insurers admitted liability early and made an initial offer to settle the claim for £750 which we advised the client to reject. In view of their admission of liability, we requested that the defendant’s insurers provided physiotherapy for G.

We then arranged for G to be seen by a medical expert. The report prepared by the expert confirmed that G sustained a sprain to her lower back and injured her coccyx, resulting in a condition known as coccydynia. The medical evidence demonstrated that G would have suffered from difficulties with her back in time, even if the accident had not taken place. In the expert’s opinion, the accident brought forward the clinical symptoms in G’s back by four to five years.

In the expert’s opinion, the severity of G’s pain could not be fully attributed to the physical injuries she sustained. G appeared to be suffering from chronic pain and we arranged for G to be seen by a pain management expert for the purposes of her claim.

G had been unable to work since the accident and was in severe financial difficulty. G had been in receipt of employment support allowance but this ceased in May 2010. As she was still technically employed by William Hill, she was not entitled to apply for job seekers allowance.

To alleviate G’s financial difficulty, we requested an interim payment from the defendant’s insurers and presented the medical evidence we had to date. They returned with an offer to settle the whole claim for £50,000.

Following intensive negotiations, G accepted £65,000 for her injuries. The benefits which G had received whilst off work were repaid from this amount to the relevant government department and G received £63,043.44 in full and final settlement of her claim. 


Katherine Anderson who acted for the claimant is a Solicitor in Anthony Gold's Personal Injury Department.