Legal and welfare advice for friend badly injured, please!

[Blu]

Three weeks ago, a friend / staff member at work was knocked down on a zebra crossing, and has been very badly hurt. She is still unconscious, in ICU, being ventilated, with multiple bone and internal injuries. She is the single mother of a 17 year-old boy, and lives in a HA house, and was in various p/t jobs - not actually working for my organisation, but about to start again.

Quite apart from the terrible upset, her family have no idea how to make a start on practicalities. There is a police reference number, and the police have told her grown-up daughter that the driver is insured. They have not said whether they intend to prosecute. I think we need to find the family a GOOD specialist claims lawyer - but will they have to pay upfront? They really do not have money. But know enough to avoid 'no win no fee'. I have said i will help with all practicalities - so am asking MN!

Where do they go to find out about the payment of her rent? Other bills which are coming in? Day-to-day money for the support of her son? (his aged and unemployed grandad has moved into the house to keep him company, but has no money). If it is a case of housing benefit, who can sign on her behalf?

Any help or observations on this situation would be gratefully received.
Thanks.

Sorry - to be clear, I mean should she be getting housing benefit or be having her rent paid by some mehanism while she is in hospital?

Her right to sick pay (SSP) will depend on her having paid NI contributions which I hope to hell she has done! Was she treated as an employee of your organisation, or as self employed? Do you know whether she paid NI?

Another issue I imagine is that her children do not have power of attorney over her affairs so cannot get access to the money in her account???

They can apply to court to get power of attorney but this does take time - in the circumstances though it is more than likely that they would award it to her children.

There is no point rushing to a lawyer in respect of the claim. She has a fair bit of time to make the claim and indeed no lawyer would advise settlement until well after the full extent of her injuries are known. However, it may just be possible to get some kind of interim payment from the driver's insurers.

Overall, I think a trip to CAB for her family is in order!

First thing - contact the HA and DSS and tell them what's happened. Your friend will be entitled to statutory sick pay, either through work or via DSS. I don't know the rules for HA but they will be able to advise you better.

Re claiming - Yellow pages is full of solicitors who do No Win No Fee claims, and these don't require payment upfront. Try to get one that gives you the full amount of compensation PLUS their fee, not one who takes a fee out of the compensation. Ask them over the phone - if they're reputable they'll be upfront.

You can ask the police whether they intend to prosecute. I had a car accident 10 years ago and rang the police station to ask what they planned to do. The desk sergeant made one phone call then told me what their course of action was. You, or rather your friend via her family, is entitled to know.
HTH.

hi there

as you know, i'm not an expert in this field, but i would have thought social services would be the place to go to get a centralised, co-ordinated view on what needs to be done now - at least one would hope so.

agree with your view that they need to find a good specialist lawyer - unless any lawyers come back, i recommend contacting the law society for local firms with a speciality in this field.

otherwise i can contact our solicitor and see if he can recommend someone.

hope you will get some subject matter expert responses soon.

sorry, but the other thing the family should consider is whether she has made a will

Thanks, Soapbox - yes, she was paying NI. She was employed by us every year from the autumn to spring, doing sessional shifts. I think she has been paying NI for her other p/t jobs, too.

I guess we should contact her HA and explain that she is unable to take care of the rent atm, and see if they know how to get housing benefit payments to cover it.

Her family have been to the CAB, I think I will go back with them, they are finding it hard to take in information.

is there anyhting else I should be finding out about to protect her interests?

Thanks badhair and BK.
I very much doubt that there is a will, and sadly, the hospital are saying 'we can't guarantee she is out of the woods'.

I will ask SS about co-ordinated help. If his mother is unable to be suporting him, would her son be entitled to benefits? He is at college.

all i know is mil has alzheimer's and ss is the place to go for advice on all the aspects - benefits, powers of attorney, help at home....

worth contacting them?

Oh Blu, I am so sorry she is still so gravely ill. I don't have any expert advice other than agreeing with others here - yourself included - that visiting the CAB, contacting the HA, and appointing a lawyer asap.
Given her son is still a minor, I wondered if Childline might have some ideas as to where and what he can claim to tide him over.
Poor, poor boy - I bet all he really wants is to hear his mum's voice again, and give her a hug. And his sister too. Wish there was more I could think of which might help.

the will would be an issue re guardianship of the son - rather than split of assets iyswim. worth getting legal advice on what the situation would be for him if she dies - i suspect at 17 he would be treated as an adult, but worth checking. no point in him going into care

The son's sister is his adult half-sister who lives close by with her DH and kids. I am sure she could assume legal guardianship.

A lot to think about.

I will try to find out some of these things discreetly (guardianship etc) rather than with her daughhter at the CAB.

Childline is a good idea, too. Another colleague (her very good frond) and I were saying that the son needs someone outside the family to talk to. He knows us, but seems to need a grown up male friend. I'll check if his college has a counselling service.

Soapbox - I understand the point of waiting until the full extent of injuries / effect on future life is known, but shouldn't someone be notifying thhe drivers insurance co that their has been an accident and there will be a claim in the pipeline? Do the police do that? Also, what if wirness statements are needed , or evidence from the vehicle? It could be months (or more) at this rate before it is known what the ultimate effects will be...

Blu - my friends have a PI law firm - i can recommend them if you like.

Yes please - if they are as described by Badhair below, iyswim! And may be best if they are London based?

Sorry to hear about this terrible accident. If your friend/son are London based, Pannones, Ann Alexander & Co and Leigh Day & Co all have very good reputations for personal injury work. I imagine that the police will have/be in the process of taking witness statements etc, in case the case is prosecuted.

also - no win/no fee isn't always that bad - the main problem is when people end up taking on expensive credit agreements to pay for an insurance policy to cover the risk of being ordered to pay the other party's legal costs. A very good firm will cover that risk themselves (self-insure) rather than requiring their client to cover that risk. A good solicitor will look into all options re:funding - whether client already has legal expense cover with credit card/household insurance etc, whether legal aid might be available etc.

Skinnycow - very many thanks. v useful.

MTS - Thank you!

I have been shocked at how overwhelmed and hopeless I have felt, not knowing where to start with all this - an eye-opener into how vulnerable people can be. I will see if her son or daughter can find her cc details and see if there is legal insurance - that's a good idea.

do they have house insurance ? they should checke to see if legal cover is included adn start there

I have suggested her daughter looks for a house insurance policy - no-one sure if she has one, yet.
ALSO CAB phoned the HA, and also the relevant Benefits dept - and someone from benefits has actually gone and looked at her in ICU to ascertain that she is incapacitated and unable to sign anything for herself, and will begin a claim by her daughter! Seems a bit undignified, but oddly efficient and straightforward of them!

The CAB are absolutely amazing.