Hi HM Lang
Im sorry to hear about your accident, but would have to agree with the above post. Unfortunately just because the driver hit you does not mean that he was necessarily at fault for the accident, further I am obviously NOT in a position to say you are either. Your solicitors are in the best position to give you advice in this matter due to the fact that they will have all of the documentation and facts in front of them. I have often dealt with claims like this especially where the injuries are significant simply as if successful it makes a big difference to the injured persons life. Sometimes you win and sometimes it is just too risky to proceed.
One piece of advice I would give is this. Most solicitors will not proceed as the chances of success fall below 50% ie that you may be found responsible for the accident just as much as the other party or indeed more. A lot of solicitors fail to use the power of negotiation when it comes to the issue of liability. From what you have stated above it is clearly a matter of your word against the drivers. Whilst the witness is there he/she may not actually be independent.
All I can suggest is, if not already done, you ask you solicitors to put forward a Part 36 offer in relation to liability whereby you settle the matter on a 50/50 basis where each of you take equal share of the blame. This means you may be able to recover at least something for the injuries you sustained albeit 50% of the total valuation. Prior to doing this your solicitors would need to establish whether there would be a risk of a counter claim against you however with pedestrian claims this would be very rare as it would be hard for you to injure the occupants of the vehicle and of course the value of the damage to the vehicle would have been relatively low.
This may be your last option available and your solicitors would have to be relatively bullish about it. Unfortunately if you go direct to the insurers at this stage my view is that you will be in a weaker position as they will know your solicitors did not have faith in the chances of your succeeding with your claim.
I hope this helps.
