David Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 When my son was 16 he was asked to be on the stage crew for the local am dram group which use the local professional, council run building. During the tech, the am drams stage manager asked my son to pull out the tabs (which he had never done before) In the black out at he top of the first act, he was given the Q, he pulled the back rope down, and wallop, his wrist was smashed between the end stop and the cradle. (I still go cold when I think about it) You guessed it no risk assessment, and an under age crew member in hospital. So 16 years old, trashed wrist and 2 weeks away from his A levels. Guess what, he failed. He has been in constant pain for the last 6 years, had two major operations, and cannot hold down a job because of the pain. He has been asked by his solicitor to find out the following. If he had got his A levels, gone to drama school, got a job has a lighting technician (which is what he wanted to do) what salary would he likely to be on at the age of 22 say he was promoted to deputy in a no 1 touring house with overtime and getouts?? I know it’s a how long is a piece of string question, but it would help with his insurance claim, which the am drams insurers have admitted liability. The insurers have made a out of court offer, but the solicitor thinks they have not offered enough. The venue however has denied responsibility, but that’s a whole different ball game. Any help would help greatly Thanks David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grum Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 I am currently going through an insurance claim myself (lost my left leg in a RTA and my career has been severley affected). I am also using a very good solicitor who has delt with a VERY similar case to mine before with very positive results. The best bet is to try and get in touch with people already in that position to get actual whitness statements. I've found the people I contacted to be very understanding and willing to help. It's not just a case of knowing how much your son could be on but how much he could have gone on to earn in the future. The best people to answer this are the people actually doing the job, but you need whitness statements for individuals so that if you go to court you have actual evidence. What your solicitor should be doing is contacting an employment expert with experience in the entertainment industry who will be able to complie a report that gives this information along with your sons current prospects. Don't make the mistake of hiring a lawyer who is unsuitable for the case, I almost did and it would have been the biggest mistake I'd ever make. I can't help with figures of a resident venue tech but at the age of 22 (and before my accident) I was working freelance with an anual turnover of £30,000. Hope this helps. Slightly off topic but......... Not only did I lose a leg, I also bashed up my right hand pretty badly (and yes you guessed it I'm right handed) for a long while I was in a lot of pain anjd then after this improved I found it difficult to get a job. But now I work full time as a resident tech in a venue. The money might not be great, but that's what the claim is supposed to sort out. I guess what I'm trying to say is it doesn't have to be an end to your sons career he just needs the determination to keep trying and the deep down belief that thngs will get better. SORRY BLUE ROOM, LIFE COACHING SESSION OVER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted September 12, 2006 Author Share Posted September 12, 2006 Thanks Grum My son has had a solicitor for the past 5 years, the other party have made several out of court offers, and paid for the operations, and we are currently setting up a third operation at the other party's expense. they have just made an offer 50K which may sound a lot but it wont last long. I have already given several statements, as I am in the industry. The solicitor want an unbiased view on what my son could be earning. I will suggest that they obtain the services of an expert witness, ( they do this for the medical side of the proceedings) Thanks David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grum Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 David, £50k is nothing! I've already gone through over double that in the last 2 years alone. Think what your son could have earnt less what he currently earns over his entire working life add on to that career progression etc then there's the cost of future medical treatment (all of which should be paid for by the other side regardless of weather it was from the NHS or a private doctor). I would guess that this offer wouldn't even cover your sons loss of earnings for the last few years let alone the rest of his working life. Don't get me wrong I'm dead against the current "compo culture" of claiming for tripping over your own shadow because someone didn't dim the sun down a bit, but I do believe that if someone has a genuine injury that genuinely affects the way they live thier life then they should be compensated accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 This sounds to me as if the solicitor either hasn't done this kind of thing before, or there are some mitigating circumstances that may get in the way. The facts are the key - are they in dispute, or have the other party accepted liability and you're talking purely fair compensation. Grums case has taken years, and still not there, even though in his case you can't exactly argue about a limb he no longer has - your son presumably has a disability caused by the incident - I guess putting a figure on it is dodgy. If the solicitor is a bit green, I'd suggest he takes additional advice - I'm not sure we can give it. It's a simple matter to say maybe a fully functioning, qualified (whatever that means sin this context) technical staff member might earn X thousand at age 22 - but the snag (and this is just me) is that even with the job, there are things he won't be able to do - this will always limit his employability for the next maybe 40 years - this is what the compensation should cover. If his hand is permanently damaged then 50K is a bit of an insult really. Manual dexterity, or his lack of it might be considered a serious emplyment handicap. He surely should get someting for pain and suffering caused, the loss of potential educational qualifications (that impact his career), and reduced job market chances. Ask grum to share his legal teams details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumbles Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 To echo the previous few posts, 50K seems like not that much. When my mum had an accident a few years back, she was a civil servant. Nowadays, she can only works part time helping in a school. Even considering she was more than halfway through her working life, and without wanting to say too much, her settlement ran to multiples of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw1981 Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 The problem is that when you are at the stage of not having a career yet, there is the defence case that you have had the opportunity to change career since your qualifications at that point would allow a greater range of career options that it would if you were say aged 30. Thus the compensation comes down to loss of function and the compensation for this is much lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grum Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 The problem is that when you are at the stage of not having a career yet, there is the defence case that you have had the opportunity to change career since your qualifications at that point would allow a greater range of career options that it would if you were say aged 30. Thus the compensation comes down to loss of function and the compensation for this is much lower. This is not strictly true (at least not in English law, not so sure about Scottish) the fact is that the claimant wanted to be a lighting technician and this lifestyle / career choice has been taken away from them. Its not just about earnings (let's face it anyone who's in this game for the money is either at the very top or bonkers) it's about job satisfaction and how your injury has limited you choices. Admittedly having an established career can help because there is evidence to show where you were heading. ie If you said you wanted to be a pilot for NASA you'd have a bit of a fight on your hands proving that you would ever have achieved that goal had you not been injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokm Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 David, so sorry to hear that something so sh!t happened to your son! A friend of mine has had a similar style of accident (very bad accident caused him to not be able to do the career he wanted to do) In the end he did win, but the main thing raised by the defence at each appeal was how could he prove that he would have done the job he wanted to do. His planned career also required specialist higher educational training (like you son needing to go to drama school to become a LX tech) and when the case came to court he had to research into how much someone at his current age would be earning. Each time the defence lawyer said, well prove that he would have got to that level of pay.. prove that you would have been accepted to an engineering university if you had the chance. Why should they have to pay out the kind of money you would be on at the top end of career prospects when the chances of it happening was by no means 100% So they offered a reduced compensation package which was more of an average but quite low to be honest. And the thing is, I suspect the defence might try to argue with similar comments should an acceptable out of court settlement not be reached between him and the insurance company and they start to dig their heels in! Really sucks when anyone has their life plans/dreams ruined by others incompetence or short sightedness! Hope my comments help your son in making a successful claim Good luck! Tom *Edit - noticed I'd left a few words out here and there, dam tiredness!* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 This may seem like echoing previous statements but from the sounds of things the insurance company is still trying its luck. Considering the approximate legal costs that they will have I suspect that the £50k is approximately the legal costs and managing to solve the hassle right now. (This assumes a quick case and yes lawyers and court costs are that expensive) The question I would be asking yourself is that what job could he be in if he passed his a-levels and changed his mind about what he wanted to do as potentially this could be somewhat higher. Additionally if the injury is persisting what sort of job can he now undertake and compare the wage to the age of 68 (or whatever retirement is). Now viably if this averaged at about 10k a year you are approaching £500k. Just my 2p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzette Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 David, as you are "in the industry" are you a member of BECTU? If so have you contacted them for advice and legal assistance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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