Robert McCallan
“On the 25th August 2019, I was riding my motorcycle on the A830 towards Mallaig as part of a group of 7 riders including my son. At a point on the road between Lochailort and Mallaig, I noticed up ahead that a number of riders had pulled into a layby. I indicated left to pull in and just as I was about to enter the layby, I was hit at speed by one of the following motorcyclists. I believe the speed on impact was between 60 -70mph. As a result of the collision, I was rendered unconscious.
I was taken to Belford Hospital in Fort William and diagnosed with severe soft tissue injury and severe concussion.
I reported the incident to my insurer, Bennetts, who seemed entirely disinterested regarding any detail of the collision itself. The following day, they appointed a firm of solicitors to represent me. They also instructed a company called 4th Dimension to deal with my damaged motorcycle.
4th Dimension got in touch with me, promised to pick up my damaged bike from Mallaig and offered me a hire motorcycle, although I told them that I was not fit enough to ride one. The extent of my severe head injury had left me extremely confused. I suffered from severe headaches.
Shortly after the appointment of the panel solicitor, I heard about Motorcycle Law Scotland and decided to ask for their help as I hadn’t felt comfortable with some of the documentation that I had received from the appointed solicitor and 4th Dimension.
Motorcycle Law Scotland requested my file. I was then called up twice by one of the Directors of the panel solicitor begging me to stay with them and telling me that they worked closely with 4th Dimension. I just did not feel at all comfortable with them.
When Motorcycle Law Scotland recovered my file, they discovered a document called an irrevocable mandate. I can recall that I had been asked to sign this form at the same time as the appointed solicitor asked me to sign their own terms of engagement but, in the early days, I was so confused that I did not really know what I was doing. Regardless, the mandate was on my file, but I really had no idea what an irrevocable mandate actually meant.”
Motorcycle Law Scotland told me that the irrevocable mandate I was asked to sign meant that on settlement of my claim, 4th Dimension would take 25% of my compensation award!
Thankfully, Motorcycle Law Scotland challenged 4th Dimension as to why they thought it was appropriate to take 25% of my damages and they immediately retracted the mandate! Not only did they do that, they also arranged for the return of the hire motorcycle that I hadn’t used and agreed they wouldn’t insist on the hire charges!
In the early days, I was so worried about finances because I am self-employed. I was off work following the accident, but managed to keep my business going.
The team at Motorcycle Law Scotland guided me through the process of claiming compensation for my numerous injuries and losses. After careful investigation and the instruction of medical experts, they raised a court action for me. I was successful and my case settled for a substantial £33,275. If Motorcycle Law Scotland hadn’t questioned 4th Dimension and the panel solicitors, then 4th Dimension would have received £8,318.75 for doing absolutely NOTHING.
I’m just so pleased that I managed to extract myself from the grasps of the appointed solicitor and 4th Dimension. If I can warn others in some way, then I feel that I will have done something good.
My insurer Bennetts, their panel solicitor and 4th Dimension provided no help to me whatsoever. To my mind, they were only interested in extracting percentages of my settlement pay-out to line their pockets.
Brenda Mitchell and her team at Motorcycle Law Scotland, on the other hand, were knowledgeable, genuine, compassionate and could not have been more helpful to me from start to finish. I am so grateful to them.
My message to the Scottish motorcycling community is, if you need help following and road traffic collision on your motorcycle, always go straight to Motorcycle Law Scotland. Never let your insurer appoint their panel solicitor or any other recovery/storage/hire company.”