I was hospitalised when I hit a pothole just outside of Edinburgh.

I shopped around for a Lawyer to take the case on. Initial research suggested that success rates for this type of accident are as low as 10% and many cyclists on forums were put off trying as councils tend to auto deny liability.

I went with Cycle Law Scotland as they were the most approachable on first contact and had success with other cyclists in our area. I provided everything you would think you would need for a successful claim yet the council unsurprisingly still denied liability saying that they had carried out inspections in the area and provided a difficult to interpret document with inspection notes.

It would have flummoxed most people to try and work out which note was relevant to which date and location (it was all in local workman slang). Roz Boynton was my lawyer for the claim and she managed to prove the lie in the council's claim to have inspected the area within their legally obligated period. A combination of wit and visiting the area to make sense of the council's works notes led to Roz putting them into check - it took months, but the council were forced to admit liability.

Without a proper legal mind and perseverance, it would have been really difficult for anyone to have found a way through the vagueness of the evidence the council will throw at you and that's why I think you should make sure you pick a law firm that will dedicate resources to your case.

Most firms will not have a lawyer go and visit your accident site. They will not spend hours brainstorming possibilities for the meanings in workers' notes. My case would have dragged on and fizzled out from what I can tell from reading other people's experiences on using larger chain PI law firms. A lot of cases likely seem simple initially but complications can be intentionally inserted from other parties and that's what happened to me - a huge curveball was thrown to derail the claim.

After the council's hand was forced, then the next battle started for damages.

The insurance company really will try to lowball you on everything you're claiming for. In my case they tried to pretend my bike wasn't worth what we were claiming even though the receipt was provided, independent inspection carried out etc. They are shameless.

I'm happy to say now that it's all over that Roz Boynton has all my thanks.

Hopefully, more riders go to her or her firm and think twice perhaps about going to firms that take cases en masse and just fire out the paperwork and hope a few score. There's no way my case would have succeeded without proper investigative nous and work ethic.

This review might seem long but it's actually really short on the details. Just trust that a successful claim needs proper ground work, not just paper-filing. They really don't miss a trick over there at Cycle Law. Feels nice that they actually ride too, commute, race, triathlons etc, helps when you start talking about kit and how much riding means to you. And friendly, so yes, recommended. Hopefully don't need to go back again but I'm glad they're around.

Tian Jiang