Background

Client B was born and raised in South Wales. She was removed from her family’s care by the local authority at the age of 6 months and spent her childhood passing through various foster placements. The local authority never secured permanence for Client B and she lacked stability throughout her childhood.

The initial placement with foster carers was an unhappy one. Client B suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse at their hands and remained in the placement for over two years before being removed. She went on to suffer further physical and emotional abuse in subsequent foster placements and the only real stability in her childhood came between the ages of 13 and 16 when she was placed in care homes.

How Farleys were able to help

It took our client some years to come to terms with what she had been through and she eventually instructed Farleys in August of 2020, when she was 27.

This immediately presented a problem as our client was “out of time” for bringing the claim. A moratorium was agreed with the defendant solicitors which allowed sufficient time for the claim to be investigated and eventually settled.

The defendants made an early offer to settle the claim in the sum of £10,000 which was rejected by Client B. Before settling the claim, she wanted to see her full social services records and understand what had gone wrong in her childhood. Before releasing records, the defendants made an increased offer of £20,000 which was again rejected.

The social services records were eventually released on the basis of an undertaking from her solicitors and these were considered by Farleys specialist review team.

On the basis of the review it was considered that the claim had a higher value than reflected in the defendant’s offer and a medical expert was instructed to prepare a report. They subsequently confirmed that Client B had suffered a personality disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her early life experiences. Causation of these conditions was disputed by the defendants.

Justin Levinson, specialist counsel was instructed and a conference was held. Further negotiations were entered into with the defendants and the claim was eventually settled without the need for the issue of proceedings in the sum of £35,000.

The matter was dealt with by Jonathan Bridge who heads the abuse claims department at Farleys’. He commented on the case: –

“This case shows the importance of perseverance. Offers from the defendants started at £10,000 and were increased to £20,000 and £30,000 before they were eventually persuaded to settle at £35,000. This was only because of our client’s determination to see her records and to ensure that the appropriate damages award was achieved.”

Client B said: –

“The money I have received will make my life that little bit easier. But it was never about the money with me. It was always about getting justice.”

Contact us confidentially

If you have suffered abuse as a result of negligence from the Local Authority, you may be entitled to make a claim for damages. Contact Farleys specialist abuse team to discuss your case in confidence on 0845 287 0939, speak to us confidentially on our online chat below, or contact us by email.