Imagine a scenario. Tomorrow you have an accident: maybe you trip on broken pavement, or a careless co-worker runs a forklift over your foot, or someone knocks you off your bike. You’re injured and in pain and it wasn’t your fault. It shouldn’t be the end of the world though; you might need time off work, maybe physiotherapy, possibly painkillers, but the doctors say you’ll recover fully. And why shouldn’t you? You know lots of people who’ve broken bones or sprained ligaments or slipped discs and they’ve all got better. They might have an occasional twinge but their lives can continue pretty much how they did before and there’s no reason why you won’t be the same.
But it doesn’t happen. You don’t know why, but the pain from your original injury gets worse and worse and nothing you can do makes it any better. The injured limb starts changing temperature and colour, going from icy frozen and blue to scalding hot and bright red. It becomes harder and harder to bear anything touching it; you can’t wear clothing on that limb anymore and the brush of the bedclothes at night is agony. You barely sleep because of the pain and even popping out for a pint of milk becomes an insurmountable task. The doctor gives you a diagnosis you’ve never heard of: complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).
And now you’ve been off work for eight weeks rather than the intended four and you’re not feeling any better. And your paid sick leave has run out and now you’re on Statutory Sick Pay so you don’t know how you’re going to make this month’s rent. And the kids need new school shoes and the dog needs to go to the vet and you’re starting to get really scared now because why won’t this pain stop and how are you going to cope and when will you finally be able to get back to work?
Solicitor
At this point most victims of an accident will start to look for a personal injury solicitor. The courts can’t take away your physical and emotional suffering, but they can help alleviate the financial worries that an injury can cause.
Often, people will contact one of the huge national firms of personal injury lawyers who advertise on the TV. After all, mustn’t the big firms have the most experience and be the best? They’re making enough money to advertise in practically every ad break during the day (or so it feels!) and claim on their website that they’re experts in your rare condition, so you’re sure they’re the right people to help you.
Unfortunately, not all solicitors are created equal. A friend of mine, who I’ll refer to as Mrs X, contacted a large UK-wide firm with her personal injury claim. Following an accident at work, she was diagnosed with CRPS and after months off sick was struggling to pay her bills. She had complete confidence in her large firm of solicitors; they’d assured her that her case was clear-cut, her employer had admitted liability and her diagnosis was clear.
But then a few months passed and she heard nothing more from them. Her CRPS wasn’t improving and the financial situation was getting worse. The final straw came when, out of the blue, she received a letter from her solicitors stating that her claim was being passed over to a trainee, someone who wasn’t even a qualified lawyer. Mrs X felt that her life was falling apart; she was about to lose her job as she could no longer physically do it and her pain was getting worse and worse. She felt helpless and alone. The legal team who were meant to get justice for her suffering just didn’t seem to care anymore.
BLB
At that moment, she decided to start looking for alternative legal representation and found BLB Solicitors. For the sake of transparency, I want to disclose that this, like my other posts, is an article I have been paid to write. However, I am only writing this piece because it is a genuine, honest account of the experience Mrs X and I (and many of BLB’s other clients, if you look at the testimonials) have experienced. BLB genuinely changed my life and I write only in the hope of enabling as many sufferers as possible to obtain the justice for their suffering that they deserve.
When BLB took over Mrs X’s claim, it became apparent that the previous solicitors didn’t really understand CRPS and didn’t know what to do with her case. BLB wasted no time in driving the claim forward, instructing top medical experts in CRPS, obtaining a vital interim payment to cover some of the wages Mrs X had lost and arranging the appointment of an experienced, medically qualified case manager to facilitate treatment.
Like Mrs X, my own personal injury claim began with a large firm of solicitors that I found after seeing a TV advert. They seemed capable of dealing with my claim when it was a simple case of an ankle injury, but as soon as I was diagnosed with CRPS, the case stalled and I got more and more scared and frustrated. After yet another fruitless conversation with them, I started looking to see if there were any lawyers out there specialising in CRPS. I found BLB Solicitors, had a conversation with Richard Lowes and rapidly decided that I should transfer my own claim to them. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
What makes BLB different is that they are specialist solicitors, working almost exclusively in the area of chronic pain. That means they really understand rare conditions like CRPS, fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain. That understanding means that not only do they work to get the maximum financial compensation for their clients, they also fight for the best possible medical treatment and care. In fact, medical treatment and care is their first priority.
At BLB, each solicitor makes every effort to get to know you and your life, developing a real relationship so they understand what matters to you. Each of them takes on only a few cases at a time, letting them concentrate on each individual client, unlike many large firms where they focus on quantity of claims rather than quality of representation.
It’s also important to note that changing solicitors is an easy process. I was worried that I might have to speak to my original solicitor and tell them I was leaving, which terrified me, but BLB took care of the whole process. I never had to speak to anyone from my original solicitors again. To better understand the process, see this helpful article – ‘Can I change my solicitor?‘
I’m so glad I changed my claim to BLB Solicitors. During my case I knew that I could pick up the phone anytime and have a genuine, honest conversation with Richard Lowes about what was happening and how I was feeling, however down or worried I was. The settlement that Richard achieved for me has been life-changing for me and my family. We no longer have to worry about the fact I can’t work anymore and the cost of the care I need, as every element was factored into the final settlement. BLB made the sun come out again after years of pain and misery.
So if you’re in the awful position of developing a chronic pain condition through an accident, it’s worth finding out if BLB Solicitors could help you. You can have a confidential, non-binding conversation with them at any time to see if they feel that they could move your case forward. You’ll never be put under any pressure to use them as your solicitors – I never was. If you think you might have a claim, then I suggest you get in touch – you genuinely have nothing to lose and you might have everything to gain.
