Keith Hilton

Expertise

Within Gateley Smithers Purslow Keith takes on appointments following instruction from solicitors or insurers to act as an expert witness writing Part 35 Accommodation Reports for both claimants and defendants in the field of residential accommodation for persons who have incurred personal injury and therefore have changed accommodation needs.

Keith typically completes his accommodation reports for adults or children that are seeking compensation and damages for their injuries. Ranging from minor to severe/ catastrophic injuries. Their personal injuries may have many causes, including traffic accidents, work-based accidents, or clinical negligence.

Keith’s Accommodation Reports may recommend adaptation works to their current property, and search for notional future accommodation based on the claimant’s needs and how that may be suitably adapted. Together with costings for any adaptations, rental or purchase costs and running and maintenance costs.

Keith has over 35 years of experience as an Architectural Technologist and Building Surveyor on a wide range of residential accommodation, education, health care and commercial projects for private and public sector employers.

In his role as an Architectural Technologist and Building Surveyor Keith has undertaken work on feasibility studies, prepared drawings for Planning and Building Regulations and developed these with specifications for contract documents and construction. He has also acted as contract administrator for projects that are carried out on site.

How do you help clients?

Typically, I help solicitor or insurer clients by undertaking Part 35 Accommodation Reports writing based on the medical evidence provided at instruction or throughout the case. Plus visiting, interviewing, and surveying any relevant accommodation.

Alternatively, I can assist clients by completing my Accommodation Report process via a desk top exercise.

To help clients to help determine how to proceed with a case or to assist with an early settlement, I may give comments on initial adaptation, future property and outline costing advise based on limited available information.

Experience

1. Acting as the Accommodation Expert for various road traffic accident cases that have resulted in various levels of physical and or psychological injuries. Acting for either the claimants or the defendants.
2. Professional/ medical negligence case, acting for defendant solicitors to write a Part 35 Report where the claimant was misdiagnosed.
3. Acting as the claimant’s Accommodation Expert for a workplace accident where the claimant had complex series of living accommodation both pre and post accident.
4. Advising the defendant insurer at early stages of an amputee claimant from a road traffic accident case. To assist in early case settlement without the need for a full Part 35 Reports from medical and accommodation experts.
5. Demonstrating that the claimant amputee could possibly continue to live at his existing three storey family home with adaptations as an alternative to purchasing single level accommodation in central London.