The claimant was a cyclist. He passed along inside a line of traffic, and collided with a lorry turning left into a petrol station ahead of him, suffering serious injuries. He appealed against a finding that the lorry driver had signalled and that he had not been watching where he was going.
Held: The claimant was lucky to have had found against him only the degree of contribution applied. The cyclist was in a racing position with his head down, and : ‘any cyclist who is taking reasonable care for his own safety knows that any vehicle turning left ahead of him will endanger him and he should therefore keep a particularly careful look-out.’ His appeal as to apportionment of liability was dismissed.
As to the disregard of housing benefits in calculating damages: ‘Parliament has not expressly provided that housing benefit shall be disregarded. The benefit was payable because the claimant’s qualifying need arose in consequence of the tort of which he was the victim. In my judgment, it must therefore follow as the judge found that the payments of housing benefit should be taken into account in reduction of the claim for loss of earnings to date.’
Judges:
Kennedy, Chadwick, Jonathan Parker LJJ
Citations:
[2002] EWCA Civ 1848
Links:
Statutes:
Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997 8
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Clarke v South Yorkshire Transport Ltd CA 19-Mar-1998
. .
Cited – Chapman v Hearse, Baker v Willoughby HL 26-Nov-1969
The plaintiff, a pedestrian had been struck by the defendant’s car while crossing the road. The plaintiff had negligently failed to see the defendant’s car approaching. The defendant had a clear view of the plaintiff prior to the collision, but was . .
Cited – Hodgson v Trapp HL 10-Nov-1988
The question was whether the attendance and mobility allowances which were payable to the plaintiff pursuant to statute should be deducted from damages she had received for personal injury.
Held: They should be. Damages for negligence are . .
Cited – Cresswell v Eaton 1991
The mother was tortiously killed, the father was no longer on the scene, and an aunt had to give up work to look after the three children.
Held: There were two heads of claim; the ‘disbursement dependency’, representing the mother’s financial . .
Cited – Parry v Cleaver HL 5-Feb-1969
PI Damages not Reduced for Own Pension
The plaintiff policeman was disabled by the negligence of the defendant and received a disablement pension. Part had been contributed by himself and part by his employer.
Held: The plaintiff’s appeal succeeded. Damages for personal injury were . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Personal Injury, Negligence, Damages
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.217804