£68,000 compensation bill: Grandmother could lose her home after postman tripped up outside her front door

Published 19th Jul 2010

A grandmother could lose her home because the postman tripped outside her front door.

Colin Hatch, 41, claims he was frightened by Pauline Little's growling dog and caught his foot on a cracked paving stone as he fled.

He suffered a serious knee injury when he tripped and was forced to retire for health reasons. Although he has made a 'very good recovery' and is working again in a different job, Mr Hatch has successfully sued care assistant Mrs Little, 61, and she faces having to pay him up to £68,000 in compensation and costs.

She says she has no savings and will have to sell the semi in Billingham, Teesside, where she has lived for 20 years. Since the £80,000 property was bought with a substantial mortgage, even after losing her home Mrs Little could still owe tens of thousands.

When her son found out about it he accompanied her to Middlesbrough County Court this month only to discover the judge had already ruled in the postman's favour in an uncontested claim.

The judge will make a final decision next month on what she must pay Mr hatch, who is claiming £34,000 compensation and the same amount in legal costs.

To add insult to injury Mrs Little insists Mr hatch is wrong about the circumstances of his accident. On the day of the incident she was staying with her dog at her daughter's house as she was recovering from a broken ankle, she said.

Relatives are now desperately trying to raise at least £6,000, the minimum amount necessary to hire a solicitor and attempt to appeal against the judge's decision.

At the time the postman was injured, Mrs Little had let lapse her buildings insurance policy, which includes public liability protection. She was off work with a fractured ankle and was receiving only £275 a month in pay.

'Family helped me out, but I had to pay the mortgage because I couldn't risk losing the house,' she said. 'There was simply no money left for insurance.'

Mr Hatch said in a statement that he was delivering leaflets to Mrs Little's house in June 2007 when he heard a dog growling. He knew she had two 'aggressive' border collies and was worried the other one might come for him too (Mrs Little said her collie Jake was her only dog).

He then caught his foot against a cracked paving stone: 'Momentum kept my knee going forward and I felt something go in my knee.'

A specialist diagnosed a torn ligament and Mr hatch had keyhole knee surgery. Unable to walk long distances, he left the Royal Mail in August 2008 on health grounds, but got a job working as a handyman on less pay.

Asked to comment on Mrs Little's problems, he said: 'It has been three years and the other day when she turned up in court was the first time she has responded to this. She has never responded to any of my solicitor's letters.'

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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