BBC article says his injuries are impactful for life, that sounds pretty serious.
I wasn't aware that they had released the specifics of what happened. If we're speculating it could easily have been "employee injured at work after equipment failure and cannot work for 2 years"
Surely the compensation is relative to earning potential, so he'd obviously get more than a DPD guy
Seems excesssive in comparison to what a regular joe might get, but good lawyers I guess.
Also as it was a work related thing..
“Freddie voiced his worries about the safety of the stunt on set on the day of the accident. He questioned whether or not it was OK, given the vehicle and conditions on the track,” a source told the outlet.
"He was apprehensive before he got behind the wheel and production staff at the track were aware of this. He was obviously used to taking part in these stunts during his time on the show, but alarm bells were ringing.”
the accident occurred when Flintoff was driving an open-topped three-wheel Morgan Super 3 down the course at a high speed. The vehicle flipped and skidded, with Flintoff narrowly avoiding fatal injuries.
Whether or not a commercial driver gets compensated would depend on the how/what/why...
Ditto for Freddy Flintoff... I'm sure the BBC didn't mean to injure him in the name of light entertainment, but if they do, then they need to pay up.
My brother in law's dad had an accident at work where someone else's mistake meant he was hit on the head from a falling scaffold pole which went through his hard hat and actually removed part of his brain leaving him brain damaged, but functional, and requiring a level of care for ife. He was compensated less than £1 million. Barely covers the care from what I'm told. I'm not taking away the severity of Flintoff's accident, but there's clearly something about his injury that's being kept quiet from the media.
Depends what care costs are anticipated for the rest of his life and what the effect on his earnings would be. He's only 45 so could have been expecting to earn a decent whack for the next 20-25 years and care costs for maybe 50 years.
Will quickly mount up.
It’s peculiar this. The incident has been deemed not requiring further investigation by HSE I think, suggesting no negligence.
My understanding of what happened is Flintoff took the Morgan out, and attempted to slide the vehicle, having been told specifically not to by Morgan and production given the dangers of doing so (due to its 3 wheel design). He did so anyway, without a helmet, going against the protocol and advice at the time. All of this was off camera, when not filming segments ie in his downtime.
The fact there’s no HSE case to answer aligns with the above explanation, which then all seems rather at odds with a £9m payout.
Really weird
The fact there’s no HSE case to answer aligns with the above explanation, which then all seems rather at odds with a £9m payout.
Really weird
Reports I've seen have said..
A BBC Studios spokesperson said: "BBC Studios has reached an agreement with Freddie that we believe supports his continued rehabilitation, return to work and future plans.
Flintoff has agreed a financial settlement with the BBC worth a reported £9m
Maybe not compensation in the legal sense, but a contractual clause in his agreement with the beeb given the nature of the job?
Just guessing, IANAL.
Would it not be more about any personal insurance policy agreed as part of his contract before the crash?
People on big money get good assurances; the rest of us usually get the statutory minimum.
It does sound a rather excessive payout, my mate only got £120k for losing an arm, ripped completely from the shoulder due to a non working emergency brake on a scallop boat winch.
It degloved his face or most of it by all accounts. Also the speed was reported at anything from 25mph to 50+.
I'm sure it's more an injury situation built-in the contract for loss of earning at 4 mil a year over 2 years plus compo.
Agreed it's a lot of cash
On the couple of passing photos I've seen, his face looks reasonably messed up. Must have been pretty nasty.
It does sound a rather excessive payout, my mate only got £120k for losing an arm
Did he have a similar earning potential and consequential lack of earning as Flintoff?
I don’t expect the insurers decided to give out an enormous payout just because they like cricket or Top Gear
Isn't this
'My understanding of what happened is Flintoff took the Morgan out, and attempted to slide the vehicle, having been told specifically not to by Morgan and production given the dangers of doing so (due to its 3 wheel design). He did so anyway, without a helmet, going against the protocol and advice at the time. All of this was off camera, when not filming segments ie in his downtime.'
Directly contradictory to the statement above re. his nervousness about the stunt? Also, there's an ongoing external HSE investigation going on`?
I had seen a previous report which said he had expressed reservations about what he was being asked to do. His earnings level and length of time ahead of him to keep earning at that level probably helped it all stack up.
If a truck driver (for example…. anyone who’s job is driving) crashes does he/she get compensated?
Yes, if they’re life changing injuries and/or career ending.,It can also be massively substantial. I know someone who lost a leg, stopped them from doing their well paid job. Last time I heard he was looking at getting a £4m pay out.
@wbo yes it is contradictory, but I would have thought (?) were the accident to have occurred as per the statement the beeb wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, and hse would be much more interested that someone had been ‘forced/strongly encouraged’ to do something they weren’t comfy (or qualified) to do, without a helmet….
However you cut it. He should have been wearing the right PPE were it a sanctioned stunt gone wrong, which I’ve heard very much isn’t the case, hence no action.
All I know is I won't be buying a 3 wheeled Morgan.
Amen 😂
The incident has been deemed not requiring further investigation by HSE I think, suggesting no negligence.
"suggesting no criminal negligence" ftfy
No one ever had a car accident where the insurers accepted fault / liability lay with one party, but no one was prosecuted for any crimes? Just me?
Even Tiff Needell couldn't drift the 3 wheeled Morgan, almost flipped it trying.
Nothing said yet about the nature of injuries other than "life-alteringly significant".
However you cut it. He should have been wearing the right PPE were it a sanctioned stunt gone wrong, which I’ve heard very much isn’t the case, hence no action.
It looks like crash helmets are not mandatory on 3 wheelers, on the road at least..
Is a crash helmet required? No, providing the distance between the centre of contact of the front/rear wheels exceeds 460 mm.
https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/ask-the-police/question/Q504
But if the beeb cajouled him into not wearing a helmet in an open top 3 wheeler, whilst doing a 'stunt' or whatever on a 'private' track... they are not the most stable of vehicles...
I thought it was a bit odd.
Not sure of the circumstances of the crash but I got the impression they were not asking him to do anything daft.
His face has been reconstructed but so are many cancer patients
I don’t think he was that talented a tv personality to earn £9m !???!
He had a race licence , drove race cars would have been highly aware of the danger
Silverstone track day policy:
Helmets and Seat belts or Harnesses must be worn and fastened securely at all times when on the circuit. It is the responsibility of the drivers to brief their passengers with regards to correct fitment of helmet and safety harness and belts.
https://www.silverstone.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/car-track-days-terms-conditions.
Of course on a private track or track hired out for a private purpose that probably wouldn't apply...
I don’t think he was that talented a tv personality to earn £9m !???!<br /><br />
Whether he is or not is a matter of opinion/debate, but he was a very talented cricketer.
There's been a bit of rumbling throughout that it's basically a duty of care thing- that Flintoff basically had no real judgement of his own but was also really easily persuaded/up for it, but that the showrunners were still acting as if they had experienced drivers/presenters/journalists and so that wasn't handled right. Seems pretty plausible, ties in with the suggestions that he'd voiced safety concerns but also that he'd driven the car in a way he'd been warned not to, despite his own safety concerns... You can say "well it's his own fault then" but if you're putting someone with poor impulse control and a lack of experience in that situation it's not so simple.
There's a whole lot of give and take in this sort of thing. Like, even with all the experience and screen time the old 3 all apparently had to be handled really differently to get good results/to try and stop Hammond from dying.
I wouldn't let me 10 year old ride certain trails (or even sections of trails) today as I didn't think he was skilled enough for, he would have ridden them if I'd let him. He might have been fine but he could also have hurt himself. He didn't so I think I made the right decision.
Does a company have the same responsibility over an employee as a parent does over their child?
Seems pretty plausible, ties in with the suggestions that he’d voiced safety concerns but also that he’d driven the car in a way he’d been warned not to, despite his own safety concerns… You can say “well it’s his own fault then” but if you’re putting someone with poor impulse control and a lack of experience in that situation it’s not so simple.
But he holds a racing license so should have a degree of talent and common sense
There of vids online of Chris Harris drifting one of the Morgan’s and Tiff Needel getting it on 2 wheels. If he ran out of talent that’s not someone else’s fault
What’s happened is awful but unless his employer was negligent I don’t see why it’s more than an insurance claim for rehab.
If a have a car crash tomorrow will my insurance pay out loss of earnings?
When are we actually going to hear what truly happened?
Damages could have been much higher if it had gone to court (potential for permanent disfigurement in someone who has/had a tv presenting career), even if liability was shared between Flintoff and the BBC.
BBC Global don't want a court case where the claimant starts flinging muck about 'culture of risk' etc from the witness stand.
Hence a negotiated settlement. I'm sure the insurers are involved in the negotiations, depending on the nature of the policy covering TG.
When are we actually going to hear what truly happened?
The nature of out-of-court settlements means that we will probably never get a full rundown.
True cost to the BBC is surely the cancelling of the show. It might have been long past it's sell by date but globally it was still a big money maker.
That's assuming it'll never come back after this....
And Flintoff's recent unpaid assistant role with England - I wonder for who's benefit that was - the teams or Freddie's? English cricket has been good in the past about bringing ex stars with health issues back into the fold as part of their recuperation (thinking of James Taylor)
Finally - it'll be odd if the 3 of them for the last TG cast don't get a chance to talk about it at some point, given their jobs are based largely around talking about stuff. FLintoff especially - unless he becomes a backroom cricket coach and that's it. I don't follow the careers of the other two much - is Chris Harris actively making YouTube videos again and Paffy McGuinness making shite TV quiz shows or whatever he'd been doing before TG?
FunkyDunc
Free MemberBut he holds a racing license so should have a degree of talent and common sense
I held a racing licence, and I'm an absolute div. Main thing you learn going through the process is that racing licences are to deal all the people who want to race but have hardly any talent and absolutely no common sense
There of vids online of Chris Harris drifting one of the Morgan’s and Tiff Needel getting it on 2 wheels. If he ran out of talent that’s not someone else’s fault
Unsurprisingly, fredelo ran out of talent very quickly. A long time ago.
I've never really understood 3 wheelers, a 4th wheel isn't going to add a huge amount of extra weight, relative to the 3 billion times better handling you'd get with a 4th wheel.
