We have recovered £45,000 for a cow attack compensation claim.
Our client was undertaking the circular walk of Wet Sleddale. It is a well known walking route, being advertised on sites such as ‘Visit Cumbria’, as well as being featured in The Guardian. It is said to be a popular walk for tourists as well as locals and was the site where part of the film, “Withnail and I”, was set.
Our client was accompanied by her dog, her friends and their two children. As the group were making their way along a public highway, they had to stop as cows were obstructing the path.
She attempted to gesture for the cows to move away. When they refused, she retreated and put her dog on a lead to avoid agitating them. She then tried again to get the cows to move aside, when one of them came behind and lunged for her dog. She released the lead and her dog ran away. The same cow then side swiped our client, causing her to fall to her knees. The cow moved back, lowered its head and head butted her in the chest, knocking her over and continued to attack. Her friend was able to go back to get his car. He approached in his vehicle and managed to pull her into the safety of the car.
The emergency services were called. Paramedics discovered that our client had an irregular heartbeat and she was therefore rushed to hospital where a CT scan revealed lacerations to her spleen and kidney. As well as internal injuries she suffered psychological injury, facial scarring and fractures to her chest bone and wrist.
Our client reported the incident to the National Park. Despite being aware of the large footfall through his field the grazing farmer failed to put up signs to warn that there were cows with calves in the field, or to consider advice of the Health and Safety Executive about the risk of cattle to the public when out walking.
She contacted the Slee Blackwell legal helpline for guidance. We gave her free legal advice and agreed to take on her cow attack compensation claim, working on a no win, no fee basis.
We presented the case to the farmer’s insurers. They initially denied that the farmer was at fault. However we were able to persuade them to reverse their decision. We are experts in animal injury cases, including those involving cattle. You can read here our article on the legal duties owed by farmers to the general public. Using our expertise, not only did we secure an admission of legal liability, but we were able to get the insurers to provide funds for our client to receive specialist counselling.
After swift negotiations we reached an out of court settlement, with our client receiving £45,000 in compensation.
She was very pleased with the outcome of the case, stating:
“You’ve made this process as painless as possible and been pleasant and professional throughout.”
For guidance on making a cow attack compensation claim on a no win, no fee basis, call our free legal helpline on 0333 888 0404 or send an email to us at [email protected]
