Anne Spoor

A fun day out to the races turned into a nightmare lasting almost three years for Anne Spoor from Altrincham, who was injured on the outward bus journey to Nottingham Race Course.

It was May 2008 when Anne, her husband and two friends joined the Conservative Club on a day out to the races. The coach journey with Elite was relatively uneventful until the driver told his passengers they could help themselves to the onboard tea and coffee.

Anne explains: “My friend and I got up to get a drink when the emergency brakes were applied, either automatically as a safety precaution or by the driver. I was thrown backwards and sustained severe bruising after landing awkwardly in the aisle.”

The coach carried onto the races but Anne had to sit down for the whole day as she was in so much pain.

“The following morning I woke with bruising to my buttock and down the left hand side of my body. There was an imprint of an arm rest down one of my arms and I suffered from stiffness and pain to my neck, shoulders and chest. It transpired nothing was broken but my injuries were excruciating and rendered me immobile.

“The accident changed everything. I was in the process of going through early retirement and starting my own business. The doctor had said my condition would take nine months to settle down and I decided I could deal with this short setback.

“I remained positive and in the meantime joined an agency in a healthcare role, which required me to combine admin and treatment type work like administering injections. Yet the pain in my shoulder was getting worse and it became impossible to carry on, as I couldn’t raise my arm and carry out day-to-day tasks like injecting or keying information into a computer.”

A friendly recommendation

It was a friend that recommended Express Solicitors to Anne and she was assigned to associate Rachel Flannigan.

“What a relief I got a solicitor like Rachel,” said Anne. “The whole process was explained to me clearly and concisely she was superb.

“Rachel had a lot of empathy with me, which made the whole claim easier. I was fragile and it was what I needed. She sent me to see an A&E consultant who, again, was very professional and saw me at my own convenience.  I felt I was listened to by all parties at all times.

“Alongside work there were other areas of my life affected by my injury. I couldn’t go to the gym and swim like I once did, housework was difficult and my driving was very restricted, in fact I could only travel in the car for 10 to 15 minutes maximum. I couldn’t even go shopping on my own because I was unable to carry heavy bags.

Put simply, life had changed.

“It took a while but eventually a specialist at Wythenshawe Hospital found I had a slightly dislocated my shoulder and much to my relief, he said he could do something about it. It turned out that this was why I couldn’t lift, drive or move well at all. After some manipulation under anaesthetic, a cleanup of the joint and intensive physiotherapy it started to get better.”

Express Solicitors achieves double the sum on offer

Liablity was denied throughout the case at which evidence was put forward that Anne’s injury was an acceleration injury of two years. This meant it would have happened anyway, but the accident made it happen sooner.

Although the Defendant denied liability throughout the case claiming the driver acted reasonably and that Anne was the author of her own misfortune a low value offer was made to Anne and refused on the advice of Express Solicitors.

Negotiation at trial ensured that Anne got double that offer and with the £6,000 she received, Anne was able to pay off a chunk of her mortgage.

 “What impressed me most was that Rachel and her colleagues were so knowledgeable, the direction and empathy were first class. They also got me a great Barrister in Lee Nowland. I couldn’t fault Express Solicitors and would be happy to use them again if the need arose.”