Whiplash payouts more forthcoming than serious injuries
A man who was seriously injured in a hit and run accident has launched a case of appeal against the house of lords as he feels that his compensation was pitiful in relation to the injuries and damage to his life which he received.
He says that car crash victims with more minor injuries such as whiplash are treated much more fairly by the Motor Insurance Bureau, who deal with compensation when drivers are uninsured or cannot be traced.
Mr Moore was knocked of his motorbike in 1995 and was left in a coma for around a week after the accident. He suffered five brain haemorrhages, spinal injuries which mean he is in constant pain and a damaged pituitary gland which has left him with diabetes.
As the driver who hit him could not be traced, Mr Moore looked for compensation from the Motor Insurance Bureau. He received £376,000 which was then raised to £585,000 in the year 2000 after he complained that it was not enough.
Despite the increase in his payout, Mr Moore says that this is not enough to compensate for his injuries as he was expecting a figure exceeding £1 million. In order to set things straight he is taking his case to the house of lords as he claims that the government have repeatedly contravened an EU law which states that victims of hit and run accidents should receive the same amount of compensation as those involved in accidents where the driver can be traced.
"In the name of justice, this has to be done," he declared. "I will have to find a way of going to the Lords somehow for the sake of the 20,000 people a year in hit and run crashes. It must be done. They are not being treated the same as everyone else involved in accidents."
Mr Moore then said: "The MIB is very quick to pay out when it is a minor injury involved – £5,000 for whiplash and £2,000 for a broken hand – but they become adversial as soon as they get a big claim.
"They have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds of money fighting some of the most vulnerable victims of society."
Updated on 29/07/2008