Laura Vincent-Evans recently settled a case taken over from another firm of solicitors, achieving a settlement of approximately £100,000 over their initial valuation.
Our client was seriously injured in a road traffic accident in 2022, sustaining significant ophthalmic injuries, soft tissue injuries to his cervical spine, right shoulder, right elbow and chest wall, and a laceration to his head.
Despite the complexity of his injuries, his original solicitors — appointed by his insurer — submitted the claim through the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal, designed for lower-value claims under £10,000, referencing only the soft tissue injuries. The ophthalmic injuries, which were the more significant of his injuries, were omitted entirely. Liability was admitted by the defendant’s insurer in 2022 on that limited basis.
The claim was later moved to the MOJ portal (a route for claims valued between £10,000 and £25,000),but was again submitted without reference to the ophthalmic issues, despite having noted on their file that these needed to be included. In February 2024, the defendant’s insurer admitted liability in the MOJ portal but immediately queried the appropriateness of the claim being in this portal since it was submitted as a claim for soft tissue injuries only.
By this point, our client had endured almost three years of what he felt was inadequate representation and had made a large number of complaints to his solicitors. In August 2025, he therefore made the decision to seek alternative legal representation and instructed Kingsley Napley to take over the file.
Upon receipt of the original firms file, Laura undertook a thorough and methodical review of everything that had gone before to identify what had been missed. This review quickly identified several critical failings including the failure to properly incorporate the ophthalmic injuries into the claim and a previously noted psychological impact had not been investigated at all. Despite being almost 3 years post-accident, no witness statement had been prepared and no proper investigation of the impact on the client’s career had been considered. The case had not been progressed as a Multi-Track (high value) claim as was clearly warranted despite the original firm appearing to have eventually recognised this internally.
A psychological report was commissioned, which confirmed our client had developed an Anxiety Disorder and moderate travel anxiety as a result of the accident, with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy recommended for recovery. Laura also worked to quickly bring the previously obtained medical evidence to a position where our client’s injuries could be quantified. Additionally, careful consideration was given to the loss of earnings position as our client was the sole fee earner a company he ran with his wife, receiving PAYE income and dividends.
Court proceedings were issue and served, shortly after which settlement of £110,000 was achieved in March 2026 – more than 11 times the value the previous solicitors had initially put on the claim.
This case illustrates what can go wrong when a claim is not properly investigated from the outset, and once again highlights the dangers of not using specialist legal representation to bring a complex case.
If you feel that your claim is not being handled as it should be, it is never too late to seek a second opinion and transfer your claim to new solicitors.
