Court puts figure on optometrist's worth

The value of an optometrist's job has been assessed by three of the country's top judges - who upheld an award of 372,909 to a 33-year-old practitioner injured in a car crash.

Rebecca Watt sustained whiplash injuries when her stationary car in which she was sitting was hit from behind in January 2001.

In London's Court of Appeal last week Lord Justices Waller, Tuckey and Neuberger unanimously dismissed an appeal by the motorist, who was to blame for what happened to Bristol-based optometrist, against the size of the award.

Lord Justice Waller told the hearing that the key issue on assessment of damages was the extent to which Watt's injury prevented her from practising in the way she had prior to the accident.

'Her case was that she had to give up her private practice of practising optometry,' he said, 'in what may be termed the conventional way, well known to those who have had their eyes tested by high street optometrists.'

He said she claimed that she was only able to work 'using laser treatment' and work for three days rather than four days of the week. Of the damages she was awarded, 358,251, which included interest, was in respect of past and future loss of earnings.

In challenging the award the other motorist claimed that the judge who made it was wrong to take the view that Watt's injuries rendered her unable to work for a fourth day.

However, dismissing the appeal, Lord Justice Waller said that Watt had been 'an impressive witness' and that it had been open to the judge who made the award to find that a change of working practice had been forced on her.

He continued : 'It was, in my view, open to the judge on all the evidence to find as he did, that the claimant had her working practices forced upon her by the accident.'

He said that in deciding the damages Watt should receive, the judge had assessed her past loss of earnings for the time of the accident at 61,657 and had added 8,946 interest to that.

As far as her future loss of earnings was concerned he had assessed that at 287,648. He said there had been no criticism of the way those figures were reached.

The challenge had been to Watt's claims that she had been forced to give up one day's work a week.