Lawyers say I can’t claim…

I had an accident in 2022 when a car entering a roundabout I was on did not stop and knocked me off my bike. The car driver admitted the accident was his fault. I was injured and my orthopaedic surgeon recommended a series of physiotherapy sessions. I had to go to these first thing in the morning which required me to take time off work for which I was not paid. My solicitors, who were given to me by my insurer, are telling me that I won’t be able to claim my loss of earnings which seems odd to me – are they right?

John Taylor, by e-mail

Answer

You can of course recover your loss of earnings for going to physio which has been medically recommended as a direct result of your accident. The purpose of your claim is to put you into the financial position you would have been in had the accident not happened.

Surely there is more to this? Perhaps they are arguing a failure to mitigate your loss (keep your loss to a reasonable minimum) by not attending physiotherapy outside of work hours. Or perhaps you are self-employed and trying to claim an hourly rate but unable to prove a loss to your business through the physio attendance. I recommend that you ask your solicitors to explain their reasoning for saying that you cannot recover your loss of earnings. Come back to me when they respond.