€85k for man ‘happy to stay out of work’
A BUSINESSMAN whose car was ‘jolted’ from behind has been awarded €85,000 compensation.
However Michael Dardis, who had claimed an inability to work as a result of the car accident in October 2009, was found by the High Court not to be ‘unfit for work’. And his claim for €620,000 for loss of earnings was unsuccessful.
On October 21, 2009, Mr Dardis, who set up a construction firm in 2008, was waiting to turn right at an intersection in Co. Meath, when his car was ‘shunted’ from behind. In his lawsuit, Mr Dardis said he was ‘jolted forwards and backwards’ and he grazed his head on the windscreen.
The car was written off. Mr Dardis did not attend hospital that day but was off work for seven days. The married fitness enthusiast attended his GP the following day complaining of neck and lower back pain. An MRI scan taken days later showed his spinal cord was ‘normal’, the court heard. Mr Dardis left the building trade in 2010 and hasn’t worked full time since then.
In December 2011, one surgeon noted that he walked without a limp and had suffered a ‘mild to moderate whiplash injury to his cervical spine’, the court heard. In 2012, Mr Dardis lodged a lawsuit claiming that he would never be fit to work again. Complaining of years of pain, he sought almost €142,000 for loss of earnings from 2009 to date plus €478,279 for future loss of earnings. In addition, he sought an unspecified sum of general damages and almost €5,000 in medical fees. Mr Dardis sued driver Sergejs Poplovka, who was fully covered by Axa Insurance, accusing him of causing the accident by driving too fast. The case reached a full hearing in recent weeks and was fully defended by Axa. The case concluded in recent days with Judge Anthony Barr rejecting Mr Dardis’s ‘totally unrealistic’ claim – awarding him nothing for alleged future salary losses.
But the judge accepted that Mr Dardis suffered ‘significant pain and disablement’ between 2009 and 2011 and has ‘some ongoing pain’.
Judge Barr awarded him €20,000 for past ‘loss of opportunity on the job market’ plus €60,000 for his injuries and a further €4,688 for medical expenses. In his ruling after an eightday hearing, Judge Barr said Mr Dardis looked fit, strong and healthy in court – and concluded he was not ‘rendered totally unfit for work’ .
Against the backdrop of the 2009 property crash, Mr Dardis appeared to have been ‘content to remain unemployed’ while waiting for the outcome of his court case, Judge Barr said. The matter of who will pay costs in the case will be decided on March 28.
Claim for €620,000 ‘totally unrealistic’
THE folly of our compensation culture is highlighted in the recent High Court bid by builder Michael Dardis for a €620,000 payout for a whiplash injury.
The judge’s damning verdict said that Mr Dardis was ‘extremely fit’ and that he gave up full-time work seven years ago in an apparent attempt to ‘sit back’ and wait for a handsome settlement.
Judge Anthony Barr rejected the plaintiff’s ‘totally unrealistic’ claim. But while he awarded him nothing for alleged loss of future earnings he granted him €85,000 for his injuries, medical expenses and loss of job opportunities.
This sum may only be a fraction of what was originally sought but nevertheless it represents a tidy return on a claim that was vigorously contested by Axa Insurance and where the judge criticised Mr Dardis for making ‘no effort’ to get a less physically demanding job and concluded that he was not ‘rendered totally unfit for work’. But the real significance of the case however is that it encourages more exaggerated injury claims whose costs are ultimately borne by policy holders.