After being struck by an learner driver who was motoring without accompaniment and seriously injured, one cyclist has recently received a personal injury compensation settlement of £2.45 million.
Hamish McCullough, who was a twenty four year old Oxford Brookes University student when the accident originally occurred, had been left in a coma after the collision ultimately resulted in brain damage after he suffered a ruptured artery caused by a skull fracture. In hospital for twelve months following the traffic accident, Mr. McCullough is now in need of around the clock medical care, twenty four hours a day, according to his car accident claim.
Lambourne native Gordon Mitchell, who was driving the car at the time of the accident, neglected to stop after he struck Mr McCullough. As a result of this he received a sentence of two years in prison. The court of appeal would later reduce the sentence to just one year.
In order to cost of his current and ongoing needs for medical care, Mr. McCullough received an award of £2.45 million in s lump sum. Mr McCullough will also receive yearly payments of £120,000 for the rest of his life. The yearly payments are both index linked in addition to being tax free as well.
Peter McCullough, the father of the injured cyclist and former university student, filed the successful personal injury claim on behalf of his son. The elder McCullough argued his claim against the Motor Insurers Bureau; as Mr Mitchell was an uninsured driver, the MIB is the official body from the motor insurance industry that issues compensation to victims of drivers like Mr Mitchell.
Because Hamish McCullough should have been wearing a helmet at the time of the injury, the MIB did claim that accident liability was a point for disputation; as a result, the High Court agreed to a settlement only after reducing the valuation of the accident claim by 25 per cent.