Not all disabilities are obvious to the casual observer but their impact on day-to-day lives can nevertheless be devastating. In a case on point, a woman who suffered damage to the frontal lobe of her brain in a road traffic accident received seven-figure damages.
The woman suffered a closed head injury when a speeding driver collided with her vehicle. After action was taken on her behalf, the driver was ruled 50 per cent responsible for the accident. She has since endured classic symptoms of frontal lobe damage, including acute fatigue, lack of initiative, disinhibited behaviour and adherence to rigid routines.
Following mediation, a settlement of her claim was negotiated whereby the driver's insurers agreed to pay a lump sum of £1,089,738. In approving the compromise, the High Court observed that frontal lobe damage cases are often particularly hard to quantify. Victims' underlying difficulties are often masked, and they appear to function normally on first acquaintance.
Ruling that the settlement was in the woman's best interests, the Court noted that there was a considerable risk that she would have received a lesser award of damages had the case proceeded to a contested trial.