How we helped the Keens secure independence for their daughter Lucy who lives with brain injury and to have a voice in the administration of her deputyship.
Since 2016, our Compensation Protection team has been a professional financial deputy for Lucy Keen, working with her parents John and Kate to secure one thing: a suitable level of independence for Lucy.
John and Kate Keen initially approached us in 2016. At that time their daughter, Lucy, who had received compensation for a catastrophic brain injury sustained in a life-changing accident in Australia, was living in residential accommodation with three other vulnerable individuals.
Whilst we didn’t secure Lucy’s compensation, our professional deputy team has extensive experience of taking on clients where damages have already been awarded and where a change in deputy is required. In this particular case it was a consequence of the retirement of the existing deputy.
Giving Lucy more understanding of the decisions made on her behalf.
When the deputy team first met Lucy she was monosyllabic and monotone in her conversation and seemed unhappy with her living environment. All that was about to change with the dynamic input from a case manager and her change of deputy. A multi-disciplinary team was formed and Lucy began to thrive with this fresh and holistic support.
With Lucy’s increasing levels of awareness of her condition and situation, it became apparent that she should have more engagement with and understanding of the decisions that were being made on her behalf.
With the agreement of her parents, Lucy was welcomed into the regular meetings with the professional deputyship team. For John and Kate this was a refreshing change of approach:
“They put Lucy at number one. Right from the start we’d been protective of Lucy and tended to – at finance meetings or legal meetings – act on her behalf without including her, because we didn’t think she would cope with it. But RWK Goodman made it clear they thought Lucy should be involved. So when she came to the first meeting they just hit it off, and she’s been to all the meetings since”.
"RWK Goodman made it clear they thought Lucy should be involved. So when she came to the first meeting they just hit it off, and she’s been to all the meetings since”.
John Keen
Helping Lucy gain some level of independence.
An additional challenge for John and Kate was in helping Lucy to progress so as to be able to live independently in her own home (with carers). The accommodation she was living in at the point our team was instructed was a care facility with other individuals, which was not the right environment for Lucy and was even a barrier to her wider family visiting.
From early meetings with John and Kate, it was understood that securing Lucy into her own house was important to them: to provide a space where Lucy could thrive and where her family could visit and spend valuable time with her. They hoped to achieve this goal by Lucy’s 40th birthday. Once our team understood this objective, they set to work. A suitable property was purchased and Lucy ended up moving just days before her milestone birthday. Kate recalls:
“I could see that time was getting close to her birthday. I said, ‘it really doesn’t matter if it she’s not in by her birthday, but that I can see it’s going to happen sometime this year’. ‘Oh, no. She’ll be in by her birthday’ they (her deputy and case manager) said. She moved in on the Sunday and her birthday was on the Thursday”.
“They just genuinely want to do the best for Lucy, and to support us as much as possible. And you just feel that it isn’t just a job. They go that extra mile”.
Kate Keen
Whilst Lucy still requires round the clock support, having her own space to live and host family – particularly younger members of her extended family – has been something our team has been proud to help achieve. John explained, “It changes the whole family dynamic. Friends and family were resistant to visiting Lucy in a care home. They now come and visit Lucy in her home, and we can have parties there… it’s freed us up”.
Our team is honoured to have helped Lucy and her family over the years, supporting Lucy to live independently in a new home and helping her gain a level of understanding of the decisions made on her behalf, having taken account of her wishes and feelings.
Kate summed up our team’s approach, “They just genuinely want to do the best for Lucy, and to support us as much as possible. And you just feel that it isn’t just a job. They go that extra mile”.
Our expert compensation protection team are here to help you and your family manage compensation and ensure quality of life for your loved one.
