On the 29 October 2019, our client, Mr Gary Thomson, was involved in a cycling accident in which he suffered personal injury.

Mr Thomson had been cycling on the HM Naval Base Clyde where he worked as a police constable. His union, the Defence Police Federation, referred him to Thompsons Solicitors in Scotland so we could pursue a cycling accident claim for personal injury compensation on his behalf.

The background

On the naval base, Mr Thomson worked within the Marine unit. On the date of the cycling accident, he had entered the base via the main gate 45 minutes before his shift was due to start at 6.30am. As he cycled from towards his workstation, Mr Thomson hit a large piece of debris in the road.

The impact caused Mr Thomson to come off his bike, landing on the road on his left-hand side. Despite realising he had suffered an injury to his elbow, Mr Thomson stood up and dragged his bike to the side of the road. He was in significant pain at this point.

Eventually, some colleagues came to assist him and he managed to walk to his office.

The consequences

Mr Thomson began to feel faint, but he was able to take off his jacket to look at the elbow injury. It was obvious that the elbow was very misshapen.

A colleague took Mr Thomson home and his wife took him to the accident and emergency department at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. X-rays revealed a fractured elbow that would require surgery.

The surgery was carried out the following day and Mr Thomson was fitted with K wires to assist in the healing of the bones in his elbow. He required several follow up appointments after the surgery and underwent physiotherapy.

At 18 months post-accident, Mr Thomson's injuries had healed but he was still experiencing pain as a result of the pins in his elbow. He underwent further surgery to remove the metalwork. Some residual symptoms remained.

The settlement

Because the incident had occurred on land owned and operated by his employers, Thompsons intimated a cycling accident claim with the Ministry of Defence Police. Liability was admitted.

We instructed a consultant orthopaedic surgeon to compile an expert report. He confirmed that as a result of the cycling accident, Mr Thomson suffered a minor head injury, bruising to his hip, and a closed displaced fracture to his elbow. Following the removal of the K-wires, the surgeon noted that Mr Thomson's residual symptoms would be permanent.

We sent the medical evidence to the defender's insurer and an initial compensation settlement offer of £10,500 was tendered. Mr Thomson rejected this offer.

Three further offers were made and, following discussions between ourselves and Mr Thomson, each was rejected.

A fifth offer of £15,000 was put forward and Mr Thomson was pleased to accept.

The cycling accident compensation settlement was agreed on 29 April 2022.