£4,133 awarded following a nose injury | Case Study

A 24 year-old student was awarded £4,133.76 at County Court in Croydon following a motorcycle accident. The claimant required a rhinoplasty operation following injury to her nose.

See also:

Personal Injury Solicitors in Croydon

Rhinoplasty compensation claims

Motorcycle accident compensation claims

Circumstances

The claimant was riding as a passenger on a motorcycle. The rider of the motorcycle collided with another bike. Upon impact, the claimant was thrown from the motorcycle suffering injuries to her ankle and nose. Liability for the accident was not in dispute. The claimant was an art student at the time of the accident and initially her studies were affected.

Injuries and progression

The injury to the claimant's ankle settled within 2 weeks. Fortunately the claimant had not suffered a fracture or ligament damage, sustaining a minor sprain. The claimant's main injury was to her nose which x-rays confirmed was fractured. Rather than suffering a hairline fracture, the fracture was displaced. This in turn caused problems with breathing for the claimant.

After 16 weeks the claimant still had pain in the nose and sinus problems.

The claimant consulted medical experts in respect of her ongoing sinus problems and it was recommended that the claimant undergo an operation to try improve the situation. The claimant had septo-rhinoplasty 1 year 3 months following the accident. This was designed to try improve the alignment of the nose and the airway. Effectively the operation involved initially re-breaking the nose. This caused considerable initial significant pain and bruising around the nose and eyes and swelling. The claimant was hospitalised for 3 days whilst see began to recover from the surgery.

With the passage of time (approximately 2 weeks) the bruising and swelling subsided and the surgery was considered a success. The claimant's previous sinus problems were rectified.

Conclusion

The claimant's and defendant's solicitors entered into meaningful negotiations to try reach an amicable settlement but negotiations broke down. The claimant instructed her solicitors to issue county court proceedings.

The case reached a final hearing where the Judge awarded the claimant the sum of £4,133.76 for her pain suffering and loss of amenity.