Crawford mpany : Significant saving on pedestrian claim

Key facts of the case:

• Our client's insured collided with a pedestrian crossing a road.
• Crawford Legal Services (CLS) was instructed to defend the claim.
• We were instructed in relation to quantum and liability.

Background:

On a relatively busy London road, our client's policyholder approached a traffic-light controlled pelican crossing. At the time of the incident, the crossing was not active and was still in the process of being built.

The road was two lanes in each direction and even though the accident occurred in the evening at 8 pm, the road was still reasonably busy.

The claimant, a pedestrian, had sought to cross the road from the opposite side of the road to the direction our policyholder was travelling in. Having crossed two lanes of traffic, they reached the middle of the road which had the benefit of an island for pedestrians to wait for the next pelican crossing for the remaining two lanes of traffic.

Upon seeking to cross the road, a collision occurred between our client's policyholder and the pedestrian.

With the pedestrian suffering significant life-changing injuries and being unable to return to her non-sedentary employment, the claim value exceeded £1 million.

Commentary:

Primary liability was not admitted in this matter.

There were no independent witnesses forthcoming, despite the road being busy and there was no CCTV or dashcam footage available. Therefore, essentially the only evidence available to the parties was the testimony of the policyholder and the pedestrian.