comercrawley solicitors

26.08.2007

Favourable settlement reached after football boot injury

A man who received a serious injury as a result of a faulty football boot has received a favourable settlement from Adidas’ insurers.

The claim arose from an incident that occurred on the 26 August 2007 while ‘Mike’ was participating in a ‘friendly’ football match at Hartismere High School in Eye, Suffolk.

Mike was wearing a pair of Adidas Predator Pulse boots that he had purchased two to three months earlier. One of the studs on the right boot snapped off, causing his right leg to give way and for him to twist and put all of his weight onto his left leg. Mike was subsequently diagnosed with a complete rupture of his left Achilles tendon – a serious injury that required a long period of rehabilitation and recovery. Mike was in a cast and splint for 12 weeks, followed by intensive course of physiotherapy treatment.

Happily, Mike made a good recovery from the injury and no significant long-term problems are anticipated.

Mike reported the matter to Adidas and sent the boots off for testing. He received a letter from Adidas confirming that the boots ‘failed to meet our stringent quality control standards and are faulty’. He was offered, in full and final settlement, the sum of £50 and a replacement pair of boots.

Mike consulted comercrawley for advice and we advised that a full claim for compensation should be pursued and subsequently received instructions from him.

The claim was dealt with by Adidas’ insurers, Zurich, who promptly admitted liability in full but required proof that Mike’s injury was as a result of the defect in the boots. We obtained evidence from other players to confirm that the injury hadn’t been suffered as a result of, say, a tackle.

A report from an independent medical expert was obtained and a schedule prepared fully detailing Mike’s various financial losses and expenses (loss of earnings, medical expenses, gym fees and additional cost of utility bills due to him being incapacitated at home, etc).

Zurich made a very low assessment of the injury element of the claim and as we were unable to agree settlement, court proceedings were commenced.

This prompted Zurich to deal with the matter on a reasonable basis and a favourable settlement was reached early on in the court proceedings.

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