It’s fair to say that compensation solicitors online have dealt with a wide range of personal injury claims from the routine to the most bizarre. From a man on the Isle of Wight who was pushed off a cliff by another man’s dog, a woman in Scarborough who was hit in the face by a flying golf club and a man in London who walked straight into a glass window, there has been a wide range of surprising but successful compensation claims in recent years.
But perhaps the claims that surprised us all the most and captured the public’s attention the most were the ones with record compensation payout figures.
Let’s take a look at some of the highest payouts in personal injury claims history:
- £23 million record UK payout for girl, 17, injured in car accident
What’s surprising about this compensation claim is not the fact that this teenage girl was awarded compensation, but the actual amount that was awarded. She was awarded £23 million which is a record payout in the UK for a personal injury. She received a lump sum of £7.25 million and will receive tax-free payments of £270,000 a year to cover the costs of her care for the rest of her life. While gigantic in size, this compensation payout is justice for a girl who suffered life-changing injuries through absolutely no fault of her own.
- £93.5 million payout for girl, 13, who witnessed her family burn to death
A 13-year-old girl in the United States was awarded a staggering $150 million (£93.5 million) payout after a jury in Los Angeles found a truck driver to be at fault for a road traffic accident that led to the 13-year-old witnessing her family burn to death. She was nine at the time, and only she and her brother survived. But her brother tragically committed suicide on his mother’s birthday before the trial went to court. All of which led to this wrongful-death civil case becoming one of the largest in history.
- £11 million payout for a passenger left paralysed
In March, 2010, a car passenger left paralysed after a crash was awarded £11 million in compensation – the highest personal injury payout in UK history at the time. The accident happened in 2006 and took four years to reach a conclusion. The victim was awarded a £4.25 million lump sum and annual payments of £235,000 to meet his lifelong care – worth an estimated £11.15 million. As with all of these cases, in this instance this payout is justified and while it will not replace what was lost, it will at least allow the victim to live in comfort.
