.jpg)
A union member from Devon has secured £4,000 in compensation following an accident as a pedestrian at a zebra crossing. Butcher James Broom secured the compensation with the support of the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) free legal assistance scheme and personal injury specialists Thompsons Solicitors.
In August 2004, 19 year old Broom, from Cullompton, Devon, was walking over a zebra crossing outside the Manor Hotel in Fore Street, Cullompton, when a driver failed to give way and collided with him. As a result of the road accident, Mr Broom sustained an injury to the soft tissue of his knee and was off work.
James Broom explains: “I was halfway across a pedestrian crossing when I was knocked down. I was taken by ambulance to Tiverton Hospital. The next day I was told that there was a possibility of a cracked bone. As a result I was off work for two months and on returning to work I was sadly made redundant at the end of February 2006.”
“Before the accident I was unaware that my union membership covered accidents outside of work. The specialist support provided by TGWU and their solicitors Thompsons was excellent. I doubt I would have had such good legal representation and secured so much compensation if I’d simply used the solicitors offered by my insurer.”
Steve White, from the Transport & General Workers Union in Taunton, comments: “James Broom’s claim demonstrates the importance of union members using their union’s legal service for non-work related accidents. Motor insurance companies are increasingly referring claimants to their own panel solicitors, who may not provide the same independent legal advice as trade union solicitors.