Delivering the compensation you deserve.
psychological injury claims
Everyone experiences stress – however, certain types of stress can be physically and psychologically harmful. If you have witnessed a serious accident or been directly involved in a serious accident yourself, you could be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
PTSD is a severe emotional reaction to a disturbing or shocking experience, such as a life-threatening event – and may be evident in depression and/or increased anxiety, or even a change of character. If you think you are suffering from PTSD, you may be able to make a psychological injury claim. Our specialist solicitors can provide a free initial consultation and then investigate your claim to determine if you have a case for compensation for psychological trauma.
To make an appointment to see one of our Personal Injury experts, Navdip Gill, Sam Seaford, Anne Maguire, Ann Summerling or Kerry Gibbs please call 01908 689338 (out of office hours – 07825 940007) or contact us.
What our clients say:
“Anne Maguire’s skills, knowledge, and experience are unrivalled, and she has the knack of being able to get the best out of anyone she works with, whether that be a disinhibited young person with a brain injury, a very concerned family member, or an expert or barrister whom she has instructed.” Dr Neil Brooks, Neuropyschologist, Milton Keynes
For more information about how we can help, you can read testimonials from our personal injury clients
CASE STUDY: Employee receives £20,000 compensation for a psychological injury
It is well established that someone who has been physically injured through the fault of someone else can make a claim for compensation, eg the victim who suffers a whiplash injury through the actions of a negligent motorist.It is not so straight forward if someone suffers a psychological injury through the negligence or breach of duty of another.
Ann Summerling acted for a client who was employed by a Police Authority as a civilian member of staff. She was taken out by police officers as a ‘ride along’ to gain experience of day to day routine police work.
As part of their duties on the day, the police officers had to attend a ‘sudden death’ incident where someone had committed suicide by hanging. Ann’s client went into the house and witnessed the person hanging, and was asked to help handle the deceased’s body and search the property for a suicide note and other evidence.
She was not given any training prior to this incident and did not receive any de briefing or support afterwards. This was despite the fact that police officers are given training before attending ‘sudden death’ incidents.
At first the client did not seem to be too badly affected by what she had seen, although she was initially shocked. However, over the following weeks and months she started getting panic attacks and symptoms of anxiety, depression and flashbacks of the incident.
She was normally a happy and positive person and living in a secure and stable relationship with a supportive partner, and she could not understand why she was feeling like she did. She did not initially connect it to the incident at work.
Her GP and Occupational Health Department diagnosed her as suffering from PTSD as a consequence of what she had witnessed at work and she was given antidepressants and underwent a course of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy treatment. She had several months off work and when she returned, certain things would crop up which would remind her of the incident. Eventually she left the police force as the work was a constant reminder of what had happened and was affecting her ability to recover.
Despite an apology from the Chief Inspector, an acknowledgement that the client should not have been present at the scene of the hanging and an assurance that lessons would be learned, liability was denied by the Police Authority.
Ann persevered with the claim and was successful in achieving an agreed compensation in the sum of £20,000.00 for the psychological injuries and cost of future counselling treatment, enabling her client to put the distressing incident behind her and move on with her life.
Accreditations
Chambers & Partners 2023 – Personal Injury Department Ranked in Band 2: notes the team is a highly regarded personal injury practice offering expertise in a broad range of disputed liability cases. The team is equally adept at handling cases from RTAs, acting for passengers, pedestrians and cyclists. Their expertise includes severe spinal cord and brain injuries, as well as PTSD. “Geoffrey Leaver’s team is professional and approachable.”
Chambers & Partners 2022 – Personal Injury Department Ranked in Band 1: notes the team is highly regarded as a personal injury practice offering expertise in a broad range of disputed liability cases. Equally adept at handling cases resulting from RTAs, brain injuries, as well as PTSD. One client commented “The service I received was five-star; the team were professional and empathetic.”
Chambers & Partners 2021 – Personal Injury Department Ranked in Band 1: one client reports “The process has been nothing but well planned and stress-free.”
Chambers & Partners 2020: Personal Injury Department is recognised by Chambers & Partners 2020 who noted the department as“efficient and effective, and easy to communicate with.”
The Personal Injury Team
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Navdip Gill Partner
Personal Injury 01908 689338 (07825 940007)Navdip is a highly experienced and shrewd Personal Injury Litigator with an exceptional track record in delivering great results for his clients. Recognised as a top ranked lawyer by Chambers & Partners, his particular area of expertise involves complex and challenging high value brain and head injury cases in both adults and children. -
Sam Seaford Partner
Personal Injury 01908 689349Sam is a personal injury solicitor and Partner at Geoffrey Leaver Solicitors, who has over a decade of experience handling serious and catastrophic personal injury claims including but not limited to employer’s liability, road traffic accidents and occupier’s liability claims. Sam has extensive experience in claims against insurance companies, large scale employer’s and their representatives, Councils and the Police. He specialises in high value and complex, pedestrian, motorcycle and cyclist claims. -
Anne Maguire Consultant
Personal Injury 01908 689365Anne is a Consultant to the Personal Injury Department. Anne is ranked as a leader in her field by Chamber and Partners Legal Directory. She has more than 30 years’ experience representing clients who have suffered serious brain or life-changing injuries, clinical negligence and fatal accidents. -
Ann Summerling Senior Associate
Personal Injury 01908 689368Ann is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives who joined Geoffrey Leaver Solicitors in May 2006. She has extensive experience in handling all types of personal injury claims. -
Kerry Gibbs Associate
Personal Injury 01908 692769Kerry has worked in the legal industry for over 20 years, in various roles acting on behalf of claimants and defendants. The majority of her experience has been gained in Personal Injury, where she worked her way up to client account manager for a large corporation before specialising in claimant based work. -
Herma Hirst Litigation Executive
Personal Injury 01908 689375Herma is a very experienced litigator who has been running complex personal and clinical negligence cases for over 20 years. She is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. -
Samantha Pegg Paralegal
Personal Injury 01908 689372Samantha is the newest member of the Personal Injury team, who joins us as a Paralegal after graduating with a First Class Honours in Law (LLB) from the University of Buckingham, and completing her Legal Practice Course and LLM in Legal Practice from De Montfort University. Samantha works alongside Kerry Gibbs and Sam Seaford on a variety of personal injury matters including Road Traffic Accident claims. -
Ariana Kirton-Mogort Paralegal
Personal Injury 01908 689328Ariana is the newest member of our Personal Injury team and joins us as a Paralegal. After graduating from Buckingham University with an LLB, Ariana completed her Legal Practice Course and LLM with De Montfort University. Having always had a passion for studying law, she chose to specifically study personal injury during her master’s degree.
