In this guide, we will explain how to sue a dentist for dental negligence, as well as set out the specific criteria your case must meet in order for you to have a valid dental negligence compensation claim.

Furthermore, this guide will explore the time limits for initiating legal proceedings that need to be adhered to for dental negligence claims. We will also provide example scenarios of negligent dental treatment that could give rise to a valid claim.

Additionally, we will explain how compensation is calculated for a dental claim against a negligent dentist as well as explain the different heads of loss that could be awarded for a successful dental negligence claim. This includes the effects of a physical injury or any impact on your mental health. This guide will end by sharing the various advantages of making your claim with one of our experienced No Win No Fee dental negligence solicitors.

To discuss your potential dental negligent treatment claim, you can contact a member of our advisory team today. They can be reached 24 hours a day, and can also help you answer any question you may have about claiming dental negligence compensation. To reach them, you can:

• Call 0800 073 8804.
• Fill in our “Contact Us” form for a callback.
• Use our live chat.

Select A Section

1. How To Sue A Dentist For Negligence
2. On What Grounds Can I Sue A Dentist?
3. How To Prove A Dental Negligence Claim
4. How Much Compensation For Dental Negligence Claims?
5. How To Sue A Dentist With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
6. Learn More About The Dental Negligence Claims Process

How To Sue A Dentist For Negligence

All healthcare professionals, such as dentists, whether they be NHS dentists or private dentists, have a duty of care when they are treating their patients. As part of their duty of care, they are required to provide treatment that meets the correct standard of care. This means the dentist should provide a service of a reasonably competent dentist. If a dentist fails to uphold this duty, this can result in patients experiencing avoidable harm.

To be able to make a dental negligence claim, you will need to meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. A dental professional must have owed you a duty of care.
2. The dentist failed to uphold this duty by providing you with negligent treatment.
3. Their failure resulted in you experiencing avoidable or unnecessary harm.

Call our advisors, who can assess a dental claim for free today, and if you have sufficient grounds to make a claim for substandard dental treatment, they could connect you to dental negligence solicitors.

Time Limits To Sue A Dentist

Dental negligence claims are, in most cases, subject to a time limit of 3 years. This can run from the date the dental negligence occurred or the date you first became aware of it, otherwise known as the date of knowledge. This time limit is set out by the Limitation Act 1980.

In certain circumstances, such as cases where the injured person is a minor or those with a reduced mental capacity, exceptions to the 3-year limit can apply.

To learn what these exceptions are or to ask any questions regarding how to sue a dentist for dental negligence, you can contact a member of our team.

On What Grounds Can I Sue A Dentist?

There are a number of circumstances that could arise where you may be able to sue a dentist for dental negligence. Some examples of dental negligence cases may include:

• The dentist took the wrong tooth out during a removal surgery. This not only delayed the treatment of the infected tooth they were meant to originally remove but could cause further pain and complications due to the wrong tooth being removed.
• You suffered dental nerve damage after the dentist fractured teeth in a dental error. The damaged teeth had to be removed in a subsequent procedure.
• During your surgery, the dentist damaged surrounding teeth causing further injury. As well as the substantial cosmetic impacts of this, one of the damaged teeth developed a painful dental abscess, necessitating further removals.

These are only a few examples. To check the validity of your dental negligence case, you can contact a member of our advisory team.

How To Complain About Negligent Dental Care

As well as making a claim, you can also complain about dental treatment if you feel the care you received did not reach the correct standard. How you do this will depend on whether you are complaining about a public or private dental practice.

You can also contact our advisors to learn more about a dental negligence compensation claim.

How To Prove A Dental Negligence Claim

When suing a dentist for dental negligence, you will need to have sufficient evidence that proves the harm you suffered and that your dentist was liable for failing to adhere to their duty of care.

Some examples of evidence that could be used to help support a dental negligence claim include:

• Medical records, such as your dental records, can be used to show any additional treatment you required. Your dental records may also include X-rays of your teeth.
• The contact details of anyone who witnessed your negligent treatment, for example, if a family member attended your dental appointment with you.
• Evidence of any financial losses you have suffered due to dental negligence, such as an invoice for further dental treatments.

One of our No Win No Fee dental negligence solicitors could support you with collecting evidence for your dental negligence claim. To see if you could be eligible to work with one of them, you can contact one of our advisors. They can also answer any further questions you may have about how to prove dental negligence.

How Much Compensation For Dental Negligence Claims?

If you have a valid claim, you may be wondering how much compensation you could be entitled to. If your dental negligence claim is a success, you could receive a compensation payout comprised of up to two different heads of loss. All compensation claims are unique to the claimant, and therefore, their individual circumstances will determine the dental negligence compensation payout.

The first head of claim is known as general damages, and it is awarded to all successful claimants. It compensates you for the physical injury and impact on your mental health due to the dental negligence.

When calculating a potential value for general damages, those responsible for that task can refer to medical evidence along with the figures found within the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This publication lists guideline award brackets for different types of harm, including both physical injuries and harm to your mental health. We have used some of these compensation guidelines for the table below, except for the first entry.

Compensation Table

Please be advised that this table has been included to act as a guide only.

Type of Harm	Severity	Bracket Guidance	Notes
Multiple Serious Injuries with Special Damages	Serious	Up to £250,000 and above	Multiple serious injuries alongside other damages such as loss of earnings, remedial treatment and care costs.
Facial Disfigurement	Very Severe Scarring (a)	£29,780 to £97,330	Severe psychological reaction and severe cosmetic effect in relatively young claimants.
	Less Severe Scarring (b)	£17,960 to £48,420	Substantial facial disfigurement with significant psychological impact.
	Significant Scarring (c)	£9,110 to £30,090	The worst effects will have been reduced by plastic surgery or will be reduced by future surgery. There will be some cosmetic disability and psychological impact.
	Less Significant Scarring (d)	£3,950 to £13,740	Cases involving a single, or multiple smalls scars that do not markedly affect appearance.
Skeletal Injuries	Jaw Fractures (e)(i)	£30,490 to £45,540	Multiple fractures necessitating prolonged treatment with permanent severe pain, restriction in eating and the risk of arthritis.
	Jaw Fractures (e)(ii)	£17,960 to £30,490	A serious fracture resulting in difficulty opening the mouth, with eating or where there is paraesthesia in the jaw.
Skeletal Injuries	Damage To Teeth (f)	Up to £38,130	Significant and chronic tooth pain extending over a period of years with significant deterioration of overall teeth condition.
	Damage To Teeth (f)(i)	£8,730 to £11,410	The loss of, or serious damage to multiple front teeth.

Special Damages

Any financial losses you have encountered due to dental negligence could be reimbursed under special damages if you make a successful claim. Possible costs that you could claim back as part of your compensation settlement include:

• Loss of earnings, due to needing to take time off work.
• Medical expenses, such as paying for over-the-counter pain relief.
• Remedial treatment to fix your dental issues, including future treatment costs.

To get a more detailed estimate of how much compensation you could potentially receive, contact our advisors today.

How To Sue A Dentist With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

Our advisors can assess dental negligence cases. If they deem your claim to be valid, they could put you in contact with one of our experienced No Win No Fee solicitors.

By offering their services to you under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), the dental negligence solicitor working on your case will not ask for any upfront or ongoing charges for their work. They will also not charge you for their services should your claim fail.

Should your dental negligence claim succeed, you will receive a compensation settlement. A percentage amount of this compensation will be deducted by the dental negligence solicitor as their success fee under the terms of the Conditional Fee Agreement. By law, there is a limit to the percentage that this success fee can be.

To check the validity of your case if you received negligent treatment from a dentist or to find out how to sue for compensation, you can contact a member of our advisory team. They can also offer you free advice for your claim and answer any persisting questions you may have. To reach them, you can:

• Call 0800 073 8804
• Fill in our “Contact Us” form for a callback.
• Use our live chat.

Learn More About The Dental Negligence Claims Process

You can read more of our dental negligence claims guides here:

• Information regarding how long does a dental negligence claim take if you have a valid case.
• Read this guide on starting a wrong tooth extraction claim and how compensation for such negligence is calculated.
• Read our example case study detailing how it may be possible to receive £40,000 compensation for a wrong tooth extraction here.

We have also included these external resources that you may find useful:

• You can learn more about making a complaint to your dental professional with this guidance from the General Dental Council.
• Find out more about the symptoms and treatment for dental abscesses on this NHS page.
• Learn when you could be eligible to claim statutory sick pay on this government webpage.

Contact our advisors if you still have any further questions on how to sue a dentist for dental negligence.

Here you can find out more about our team. You can learn about our expertise, experience, and how we can help you claim compensation.

Meet The Legal Expert Team

Legal Expert is a brand owned by firm of solicitors, JF Law Limited. You can learn all about us and our regulatory information here.

Below, you can find details of the talented individuals who make up our team.

Patrick Mallon

I am a grade A solicitor having qualified in 2005 with a local Liverpool firm. I enjoy all aspects of Employers and Public liability claims. We deal with a whole range of public liability claims here at J f Law including trips and slips, injuries caused by defective products and during beauty treatments.

I joined J F Law in 2018 after having worked as head of the EL/PL department at another well-known local firm. No matter how big or small your claim is I place a great emphasis on client care to ensure that whoever represents you at J f Law you are sure to receive excellent customer service.

Away from the office, my young children take up most of my time but if I ever do get time to myself, I like to spend it running and then relaxing with a beer.

More about Patrick:

• SRA Profile
• Law Society Profile
• LinkedIn Profile

In this guide, we focus on claiming personal data breach compensation for the effects of inappropriate access to medical records in the UK. Winning a claim entitles you to compensation that could cover both material and non-material damage, which we explain in detail at the beginning of the guide.

The personal data in your medical records is protected by two major pieces of data protection acts. We cover both and explain what a personal data breach is before laying out the criteria you must meet to have a valid compensation claim.

Read through our guide to see examples of inappropriate medical records access and how you could benefit from being represented by one of our expert No Win No Fee solicitors.

Our advisors are available right now for further guidance and a free assessment of your potential claim. Learn more by going through any of these avenues:

• Call 0800 073 8804.
• Ask about your claim online so we can get back to you.
• Talk to an advisor today through the live chat feature below.

Select A Section

1. How Much Could You Claim For Inappropriate Access To Medical Records In The UK?
2. What Is Inappropriate Access To A Patient’s Medical Records In The UK?
3. Could Someone Access My Medical Records Without My Permission?
4. Can You Sue For Inappropriate Access To Health Records In The UK
5. What Should I Do If My Medical Records Are Accessed?
6. How Legal Expert Could Help With No Win No Fee Data Breach Claims

How Much Could You Claim For Inappropriate Access To Medical Records In The UK?

If someone has inappropriately accessed your medical records in the UK, you may be curious as to know if you could make a data breach claim for the harm this has caused you. Further down our guide, we look at the eligibility criteria that must satisfied to have an eligible personal data breach claim. In this section, we look at the types of compensation that could be awarded for the impacts a data breach has had on you, the data subject. 

If you have suffered emotionally or mentally, this is known as non-material damage for which you will be compensated for should your claim be successful. This could include post-traumatic stress disorder, otherwise known as PTSD, as well as other forms of psychological injury like anxiety or depression. 

Guideline compensation figures for psychological injuries can be found in the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), a document that may be used by those figuring out your non-material damage payout.

We have used JCG figures in the table below, plus an entry at the top (which is not part of the JCG), to illustrate how compensation for severe mental injuries and substantial financial loss could look. Please note that this is only a guide.

INJURY	SEVERITY	COMPENSATION	NOTES
Very Severe Psychological Injuries Plus Material Damage	Very Severe	Up to £250,000 and above	A payout reflecting serious psychological effects of a personal data breach, as well as any financial deficit it causes like lost earnings.
General Psychiatric Harm	Severe	£54,830 to £115,730	In these cases, the affected person has marked problems with factors like their ability to cope with life. They also have a very poor prognosis.
	Moderately Severe	£19,070 to £54,830	The injured person has significant problems with factors like relationships with family, friends or others. Their prognosis is much more optimistic than that of someone suffering severe psychiatric harm.
	Moderate	£5,860 to £19,070	Problems experienced by the affected person improve markedly and they have a good prognosis.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)	Severe	£59,860 to £100,670	The permanent effects of the disorder prevent the affected person from working at all or at least from anything near pre-trauma function levels.
	Moderately Severe	£23,150 to £59,860	This bracket is distinct from severe cases as, with professional help, the injured person has a better prognosis for some recovery.
	Moderate	£8,180 to £23,150	The affected person largely recovers with no grossly disabling ongoing effects.

Financial Losses

The financial impact of a personal breach is known as material damage. For example, if you lose out on work earnings due to the stress of a breach, those losses could be factored into your payout.

Due to a Court of Appeal ruling in the case of Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc [2015], it is possible to claim both material and non-material damage or to claim for either independently.

Call the number above today if you would like to learn whether you could make a personal data breach compensation claim for the impact of inappropriate access to your medical records.

What Is Inappropriate Access To A Patient’s Medical Records In The UK?

For a person or company to access your medical records they must have authorisation to do so. To process these records there will need to be a lawful basis in place under data protection law. 

Inappropriate access to medical records in the UK could be when someone views your health records under the wrong circumstances. For example: 

• A nurse views the medical records of someone they consider to be famous or in the public eye.
• A doctor accesses a relative’s health records even though they are not their patient.
• A colleague in a hospital looks up the medical records of another colleague.

What is the difference between unauthorised access to patient medical records and inappropriately viewing them? Someone who inappropriately views the medical records of someone may have the authorisation to view their records, but they are not doing it for a medical purpose. A person who has no authorisation would have no authority to ever view this information.

Could Someone Access My Medical Records Without My Permission?

To view a person’s medical records you must have authorisation to do so. This means that in most cases, your permission will be needed for anyone to view the information contained within your health records. To process these records, there must be a lawful basis. There are 6 lawful bases and only one of these is consent. Below we look at examples of entities that can access your medical records: 

• Power of attorney – someone you trust is in charge of your affairs
• Be in a position to act on someone else’s behalf as you have their consent. 
• Have a legal basis for accessing medical records, such as your GP or hospital. 

To find out if you could make a personal data breach claim because someone inappropriately accessed your medical records, call us today, and an advisor can provide you with a free assessment of your potential claim.

Can You Sue For Inappropriate Access To Health Records In The UK

Those who process your personal data and any personally sensitive data, such as personal information related to your health, must do so in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. These data protection laws set out the responsibilities for those who handle your data. 

There are two entities under these laws that are responsible for the protection of your personal data:

• Data controllers, who determine why and how your data is processed.
• Data processors. They may be instructed to process data by a data controller, though a controller can choose to do it themselves.

If either party fails to follow data protection law, then a personal data breach could occur, for example, a hospital (data controller) could fail to train their staff on the importance of data protection, and a member of staff could disclose the medical data of a patient to an unauthorised person.

A personal data breach, as defined by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), an independent public body that works to protect the public’s data rights, is a security incident impacting the confidentiality, availability or integrity of someone’s personal data.

The eligibility criteria to make a personal data breach compensation claim under data protection laws are as follows:

• A data controller or processor failed to uphold their responsibilities under data protection legislation.
• This led to a data breach that affected your personal data.
• Because of this breach, you suffered mental or financial damage or both.

What Should I Do If My Medical Records Are Accessed?

If your medical records have been accessed in a data breach, then you should be notified without delay if this affects your rights and freedoms. You should be sent a data breach notification letter which could be used as evidence if you go on to make a claim. 

If you haven’t been informed of a personal data breach but believe one has occurred, you could contact the data controller directly. Keep hold of any correspondence you have with them, as it could form part of the evidence you submit if you make a medical data breach compensation claim.

If you do not get a satisfactory response, wait no longer than three months, before you contact the ICO and make them aware of the situation. If they investigate and determine that a data controller or processor’s failings caused a breach, their findings could be used to back up your claim. 

Also collect proof of any financial loss, through bank or credit card statements, or payslips. A psychiatrist’s report could act as evidence of psychological injury suffered because of the data breach.

How Legal Expert Could Help With No Win No Fee Data Breach Claims v

If you are in the UK and have been affected by your medical records being accessed inappropriately, call us to discuss your potential to claim. If you have valid grounds, one of our experienced data breach claim solicitors could help you seek compensation.

Our solicitors offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis, through a Conditional Fee Agreement. This arrangement means you will not pay a penny for their work either upfront or as the case goes on. If the solicitor does not secure compensation for you, they do not collect payment for their services.

A success fee would go the solicitor’s way if you win. This will only be a small percentage of your payout, which is certain because The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 sets a legal cap. 

Contact Us

Why not call us today? There is nothing to lose from talking to us, and no obligation to begin legal proceedings. Our advisors can share relevant information and answer any data breach compensation questions you may have.

Furthermore, an assessment can show you whether you have good grounds to start a claim. If you do, we could save you time by connecting you to one of our expert solicitors so they can pick up your case right away.

It is completely free to contact us, so to get started, choose any of these options:

• Call 0800 073 8804.
• Write to us about your claim online and choose a time for us to call.
• Open the live chat tab at the bottom of this page and send a message.

Data Breach Resources For Breach Of Medical Records 

You can also get useful guidance on data breach claims through our other articles, like the ones below:

• When you can claim for a psychiatrist data breach and how we can help.
• How you can make an anxiety data breach claim if a breach affected you psychologically.
• Claiming for the effects of medical conditions being exposed due to a data breach.

Further information relevant to data breaches can be found here:

• The ICO provides an example of someone illegally accessing medical records through a 2019 incident.
• Information from the ICO related to health data and your right of access.
• The NHS explains how you can view your GP health record online.

Thank you for reading our guide on making a data breach compensation claim for inappropriate access to medical records in the UK. Please call if you would like to discuss your possible claim for a breach of your medical records in detail.

This guide explores how to sue a hospital for negligence by discussing the eligibility criteria for medical negligence claims and the evidence you could gather to strengthen your case. Furthermore, we look at how an expert solicitor could assist you with seeking compensation for hospital negligence and the benefits of them doing so under No Win No Fee terms.

Medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care. This means they need to provide the correct standard of care. If there is a failure to do so, and this leads to a patient suffering avoidable harm, this could constitute medical negligence.

If you’re eligible, you could seek compensation to address the physical and psychological impacts of medical negligence. We explore how settlements awarded in successful hospital negligence claims are calculated and what they could include later in our guide.

Read on to learn more about how to sue compensation for hospital negligence. Alternatively, you can get in touch with our team if you have any questions about making a medical negligence claim. An advisor can provide free guidance 24/7.  To get in touch, you can:

• Call on 0800 073 8804
• Talk to us about your claim online
• Use the pop-up live chat window

Select A Section

1. How To Sue A Hospital For Negligence
2. Examples Of Hospital Negligence
3. What Evidence Can Support Medical Negligence Claims?
4. Calculating Settlements For Hospital Negligence
5. Claim With No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors
6. Find Out More About Making A Medical Negligence Claim

How To Sue A Hospital For Negligence

As mentioned, medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care. This extends to those working in a hospital, such as surgeons, doctors, and nurses. The duty placed on them requires them to provide care that meets the correct standard.

In order to sue a hospital for negligence, you must be able to meet the eligibility criteria for medical negligence claims. These are:

• A medical professional owed you a duty of care.
• This duty of care was breached.
• You suffered avoidable harm as a result.

What Is The Time Limit To Sue A Hospital For Negligence?

When looking into how to sue a hospital for negligence, it’s important to be aware of how long you have to start legal proceedings. Generally, as stated by the Limitation Act 1980, you have 3 years to begin a medical or clinical negligence claim.

This time limit can run from the date the medical negligence occurred or the date you became aware that the avoidable harm you suffered resulted from a medical professional providing substandard care.

There are exceptions to this limitation period, such as if the party is under the age of 18 or they lack the mental capacity to start their own claim.

For further guidance on the time limits and eligibility criteria for hospital negligence claims, please contact an advisor on the number above.

Examples Of Hospital Negligence

Medical or clinical negligence in a hospital can take many forms. Below, we have provided a few examples of how a negligent care in a hospital could be given.

Misdiagnosis, Missed Diagnosis And Delayed Diagnosis

For example, you may have attended the hospital with clear signs of a fractured ankle but, because the doctor treating you failed to listen to your symptoms or examine you correctly, your fracture was missed and you were sent home without any treatment.

Alternatively, you may have been given the wrong diagnosis of a sprained ankle. In both circumstances, there will have been a delay in you receiving the correct diagnosis and therefore a delay in treatment being given for the correct condition.

Birth Injuries

Both the mother and the child could suffer injuries at birth. One example could be if the baby’s oxygen levels are not being properly monitored and the baby is temporarily starved of oxygen. This could result in them developing cerebral palsy.

Alternatively, the midwife may have used forceps incorrectly causing the mother to sustain a pelvic fracture during labour.

Surgical Errors

An error in surgery could include never events, which are serious incidents that should never happen. For instance, you may be scheduled for an amputation on your left arm, only to have your right arm removed instead due to a mistake. This is known as wrong-site surgery.

Another surgical error could include where the surgical team, including the anesthetist failed to check your medical records before administering a certain pain killer. As a result, you had an allergic reaction and suffered harm that could have been avoided.

Medication Errors

For example, you may have been prescribed a medication by a doctor in hospital to which you had a known allergy. Another example could include being administered the wrong dosage leading you to experience symptoms of an overdose.

Please note the above medical error examples may not necessarily lead to a valid hospital negligence claim against a healthcare provider. You must prove that a medical practitioner breached their duty of care and this led to you suffering avoidable harm in order to be eligible to seek medical negligence compensation.

Call on the number above to discuss your specific case and learn how to sue a hospital for negligence.

What Evidence Can Support Medical Negligence Claims?

In order to make a medical negligence claim, you need to collect evidence to strengthen your case and prove that a healthcare professional provided substandard care and caused you to suffer avoidable harm as a result. Examples of the evidence you could gather include:

• Copies of your medical records, such as X-ray scans, blood test results, letters from your doctor or the hospital, and prescription slips.
• A personal diary containing details of your physical and psychological state.
• Witness contact details, such as those who attended appointments with you. Witness statements could be taken at a later date to substantiate your case.
• Pictures of any visible harm, such as surgical wounds from unnecessary surgery.

Additionally, hospital negligence claims may also be subject to the Bolam test. This involves a panel of medical professionals trained in a relevant field determining whether the proper care of the correct standard was given when you received medical treatment. You won’t need to arrange this yourself and whether it’s carried out will be dependent on your specific case.

Furthermore, you may be asked to attend an independent medical assessment as part of the medical negligence claims process. This will generate a report that contains details about the avoidable harm you have suffered and the extent to which it’s likely to impact you in the future. The report can be used to help when determining how much medical negligence compensation you’re owed.

To find out more about how you can support a hospital negligence claim against a healthcare provider, get in touch with our advisors today.

Calculating Settlements For Hospital Negligence

While you might be wondering what the average payout is for a successful hospital negligence claim, each case is valued based on the independent circumstances of your case. As such, it would be difficult to provide an average.

Generally, medical negligence compensation payouts awarded following a successful claim can comprise up to two heads of loss. The first of these is called general damages which compensates for the physical and psychological impacts of the medical negligence.

Those responsible for valuing general damages can use your independent medical report alongside the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).

The JCG comprises a list of guideline compensation brackets that correspond to different types of harm. You can find some of these in the table below. Please use the figures as a guide only and keep in mind that the top figure is not from the JCG.

Compensation Table

Harm Type	Severity	Notes	Compensation Bracket - Guidelines
Multiple serious injuries and illnesses with special damages	Serious	Compensation for the physical and psychological impacts of medical negligence alongside financial losses incurred, such as care costs, lost income, and medical expenses.	Up to £1,000,000+
Brain Damage	Very Severe	The person requires full-time nursing care.	£282,010 to £403,990
	Moderate (ii)	A moderate to modest intellectual deficit with a reduction in or removal of the ability to work, and a risk of epilepsy.	£90,720 to £150,110
Arm Amputation	Loss of both arms	The person has full awareness of their condition and is reduced to a state of considerable helplessness.	£240,790 to £300,000
	Loss of one arm (i)	Loss of one arm at shoulder level.	Not less than £137,160
Kidney	Permanent and serious damage or loss	Both kidneys are affected.	£169,400 to £210,400
Bladder	Double incontinence	Complete loss of natural bowel function alongside complete loss of urinary function and control, with other medical complications.	Up to £140,660
Kidney	Loss with no damage	One kidney is affected.	£30,770 to £44,880
Spleen	Loss of spleen	Ongoing risk of internal infection and other disorders because of immune system damage.	£20,880 to £26,290

Special Damages

Special damages is the second head of loss which compensates for the financial losses of the medical negligence. Under this head, you could seek reimbursement of the following costs:

• Loss of earnings
• Medical expenses
• Travel costs
• Care at home

Keep hold of evidence, such as payslips and receipts, to prove these monetary losses.

For further guidance on how much compensation could be awarded in successful hospital negligence claims, please contact our team of helpful advisors.

Claim With No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors

You could benefit from working with one of our expert medical negligence solicitors as they can use they knowledge and experience to help you sue a hospital for negligence.

If you have valid grounds to proceed with your case, they could offer their services under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a kind of No Win No Fee contract.

This usually means you won’t need to pay your solicitor upfront for them to begin working on your case, during the claims process for them to continue working on your case, or if the claim fails for the services they have provided you.

If your case has a successful outcome, you will pay your solicitor a success fee from your compensation. Your solicitor takes this as a percentage which the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 applies a cap.

Due to the cap on the percentage, you can ensure the majority of your settlement goes to you after your case succeeds.

Contact Us

Contact our team if you have any questions about suing a hospital for negligence, including what eligibility criteria you need to meet, how compensation is calculated in successful claims, and whether one of our specialist medical negligence solicitors could represent you on a No Win No Fee basis.

They can provide free advice on claiming for hospital negligence 24/7 and answer any questions you have after reading our helpful guide.

You can reach out and seek advice via the details below:

• Call on 0800 073 8804
• Talk to us about your claim online
• Use the pop-up live chat window

Find Out More About Making A Medical Negligence Claim

For more of our helpful clinical negligence claims guides:

• Find out how to prove medical negligence with our helpful guide.
• Discover whether you could make a clinical negligence claim for paralysis after surgery due to a surgical error.
• A helpful guide on stillbirth negligence claims including when you could seek compensation.

For more helpful external resources:

• Information on how to raise a concern about your doctor from the General Medical Council.
• Guidance on the principles and values of NHS England from GOV.UK.
• Information on good surgical practice from the Royal College of Surgeons in England.

Thank you for reading our guide on how to sue a hospital for negligence following medical errors that caused you to suffer avoidable harm. If you have any other questions, please get in touch using the details above. You could be connected with one our hospital negligence solicitors if your claim is valid.

Damp and mould is becoming a more widely reported problem for many people in the UK. The issue is becoming so severe that people are contracting illnesses said to be caused by the fungi. In some tragic cases, it’s lead to people losing their lives.

We recognise how important this problem is and set out to uncover the full figures from local councils.

How We Conducted Our Research

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we wrote to every council in the country and asked them a series of questions.

Namely, we sought details of the number of complaints made about damp and mould by their tenants, how much has been spent on repairs, and the number of complaints and housing disrepair claims that have been made.

Below, you can find the results of our research, broken down by area.

If you’d like to see the results of our FOI requests, please get in touch.

Damp And Mould In Council Houses: Area Breakdown

This guide examines when you could be eligible to make a personnel records data breach claim. Certain parties must follow data protection legislation in order to protect your personal data. Failure to adhere to data protection laws could result in a breach of your personal data causing you financial loss and/or mental harm. We cover the laws in more detail throughout our guide, as well as what a personal data breach is and how one could occur. 

Furthermore, this guide tells you how to prove that the data from your personnel records has been breached and what impact it had on your mental health and/or finances. We also look at how compensation is calculated in successful data breach claims. 

Finally, we discuss the benefits of working with one of our expert No Win No Fees solicitors when seeking data breach compensation.

For more information about claiming for a breach of your personal data, please get in touch with us. To do so, you can:

• Call 0800 073 8804. 
• Make an inquiry about your claim online
• Message us using the live pop-up chat feature.

Jump To A Section

1. When Could You Claim For A Personnel Records Data Breach?
2. How Should Your Employer Protect Personal Data?
3. How To Prove A Data Breach Claim
4. What Could Your Personnel Records Data Breach Claim Be Worth?
5. Get In Touch To Claim For A Personnel Records Data Breach On A No Win No Fee Basis
6. Discover More About Employee And Employer Data Breaches

When Could You Claim For A Personnel Records Data Breach?

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) are the laws that protect personal data which is any information that can be used to identify you. Data controllers and processors must follow the DPA and the UK GDPR in order to process, store, and handle personal data lawfully. 

The data controller is the party in charge of deciding how and why your personal information will be processed. In some cases, they may also process the data themselves. However, if they choose to, they can outsource this task to the data processor who processes personal data on behalf of the data controller. In the case of a personnel records data breach, your employer would be the data controller.

If either of these parties fails to follow data protection laws, it could potentially result in a personal data breach. A personal data breach can be defined as a security incident that compromises the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of your personal data. This definition is provided by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), an independent body set up to uphold information rights in the UK.

Article 82 of the UK GDPR establishes when you are eligible to claim data breach compensation:

• The data controller or data processor failed to adhere to data protection law.
• Because of this failure, your personal data was breached. 
• Because of this breach, you experienced financial and/or psychological damage.  

Time Limits

Generally, you need to begin your data breach claim within 6 years. However, this is reduced to a 1-year time limit if you are claiming against a public body.

Get in touch with us as soon as possible to confirm whether you meet the eligibility criteria to begin a personnel records data breach claim and how long you have to seek compensation.

How Should Your Employer Protect Personal Data?

Personal data is any type of information that can be used, either solely or in combination with other data, to identify who you are, such as your name, email address, phone number, and National Insurance number. There is another type of personal data that requires extra protection due to it being more sensitive, known as special category data. This can include data concerning your health, such as health and disability information, biometric data, where used for identification purposes, and data revealing your racial or ethnic origin. Personal data such as this could be held in your employee personnel record, which is a record relating to an employee of an organisation. 

Here are some steps and actions that employers should take in order to comply with UK GDPR and DPA to protect an employee’s personal data and avoid a cyber security incident or human error data breach:

• Make sure all access to electronic documents is password protected and that there is a robust cyber security system in place. 
• Putting locks on cabinets that have paper documents inside and ensuring those with access to these cabinets is limited to those who require it, such as the Human Resources and management team. 
• Training staff appropriately so they know how to dispose of and destroy personnel files when it is required to do so. This means shredding files instead of simply putting them in the bin to avoid an unauthorised party gaining access. 

Speak to us to discuss your specific case and find out whether you’re eligible to make a personnel records data breach claim.

How To Prove A Data Breach Claim

Providing evidence for your personnel records data breach claim is important as you need to show how you have suffered financially and/or psychologically due to your personal information being compromised. You could collect, for example:

• A letter from the data controller confirming that a breach occurred and what personal data was affected. Data controllers are required to notify you without undue delay if a breach has put your rights and freedoms at risk.
• Other correspondence between you and the data controller about the breach. For example, if you suspect a breach of your personal data has happened, you can contact them. Any emails or letters sent can form part of the body of evidence to support your claim. 
• Evidence of financial losses caused by the breach. For example, you could provide wage slips showing any lost income incurred because of time taken off work to deal with the mental impact of the breach.
• Medical evidence, such as a report or letter from your GP showing any psychiatric harm you have suffered, like anxiety and distress. 
• Any findings from an ICO investigation. You can contact the ICO if you’ve had no meaningful response from the organisation. They might investigate and if they do, you can use the findings as evidence to support your claim.

If you work with one of our expert solicitors when making a data breach claim, they could help you gather evidence and build your case as part of the services they offer. Call us to find out more.

What Could Your Personnel Records Data Breach Claim Be Worth?

If your personnel records data breach claim succeeds, how much your claim could be worth depends on the psychological harm (non-material damage) and financial loss (material damage) you suffered due to the personal data breach. You do not need to have suffered any material damage in order to recover compensation for non-material damage. 

The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) list different types of psychiatric and psychological injuries alongside guideline compensation brackets for each. When your compensation is being calculated, the JCG will be looked at along with an assessment of your medical reports. 

The table below, for your guidance only, contains figures found in the JCG, with the exception of the first entry.

Compensation Table

Injury	Severity	Guideline Valuation Bracket	Notes
Serious impact to mental health with significant financial losses	Serious	Up to £150,000+	The person experiences a severe impact to their mental health with a poor prognosis resulting in substantial monetary losses, such as loss of earnings.
Psychiatric Damage	Severe (a)	£54,830 to £115,730	Poor prognosis with marked problems that affect different areas of one's life, such as the ability to cope with work.
	Moderately severe (b)	£19,070 to £54,830	Prognosis is much more optimistic but there are still significant problems with different areas of one's life.
	Moderate (c)	£5,860 to £19,070	Good prognosis and a marked improvement.
	Less severe (d)	£1,540 to £5,860	The award will be determined by the how daily activities are affected and how long for.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Severe (a)	£59,860 to £100,670	All aspects of life will be permanently and badly affected and the person will not be able to function at a pre-trauma level.
	Moderately severe (b)	£23,150 to £59,860	There is a better prognosis and some recovery due to professional help. However, for the foreseeable, there will be significant disability.
	Moderate (c)	£8,180 to £23,150	Continuing effects are not grossly disabling because a large recovery is made.
	Less severe (d)	£3,950 to £8,180	A virtually full recovery will be made within 2 years with only minor symptoms persisting longer.

Material Damage

You are able to claim compensation for material damage independently or alongside non-material damage and vice versa. An example of a financial loss you may have experienced directly from a personnel records data breach is a loss of earnings if you have time off work due to stress. As mentioned earlier, evidence, such as wage slips, can help prove this loss.

Please speak to us if you wish to discuss how data breach compensation is calculated in more detail. 

Get In Touch To Claim For A Personnel Records Data Breach On A No Win No Fee Basis

Once you have received a free assessment of your case, you may be connected to our data breach solicitors if you have an eligible personnel records data breach claim. Our solicitors offer their services under a type of No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

A CFA presents significant benefits since there are no upfront or ongoing fees to pay for the solicitor’s services. If your claim is unsuccessful, there is also no need for the solicitor’s services to be paid. 

If your data breach claim succeeds, a small percentage of your compensation will be taken by your solicitor. This is known as the success fee. There is a legal limit to the maximum percentage of your compensation that can be taken, so, the majority of your compensation is yours to keep. 

Contact Us

Contact us today to potentially begin the claims process for your personnel records data breach. We can offer you free advice and support and potentially connect you with one of our solicitors. To reach out, you can:

• Call 0800 073 8804. 
• Make an inquiry about your claim online
• Message us using the live pop-up chat feature.

Discover More About Employee And Employer Data Breaches

Try checking out our other data breach claims guides:

• If a trainee breached your personal data at work, find out whether you could make a claim.
• See how you could potentially make a data breach claim against a former employer if they breached the UK GDPR.
• See what you can do if a breach of your personal data has caused existing mental health problems to worsen.

Alternatively, these external resources may give you some extra useful information:

• GOV.UK – A guide on data protection for businesses and how they should manage staff records.
• NHS – Guidance on how to access mental health services.
• ICO – Information on your right to access your personal data.

Thank you for reading our guide today on when you can claim for a personnel records data breach. If you have any other questions, call the number above to speak with us.

With significant experience in medical negligence claims, we understand and appreciate the impact errors and poor standards of care can have. Its prompted us to conduct our own research into the issue. Here, you can find the results.

Our Research Into Compensation Payouts For Medical Negligence – Methodology

Our research seeks to identify any growing trends or issues in medical negligence. In particular, we seek to examine which Trusts pay out the most in compensation, how much they’ve paid, and the reasons for those payouts.

To obtain this data, we wrote to all NHS trusts in the country under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to formally request this data.

Our Findings

Below, you can find the results of our research into compensation payouts for medical negligence, broken down by each NHS hospital trust.

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust

Medical negligence claims have cost the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust more than £800k in the past year.

A Freedom of Information request uncovered that 14 medical negligence claims were made against the Trust from July 2022 to June 2023.

The total figure of £804,824.32 paid out by the Trust during this period was irrespective of when the claim was initially submitted. 

Out of the 187 complaints that the Trust received last year, over 10%  related to poor or substandard care. All staff have a duty to provide patients with reasonable care expected of any medical professional. 

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

Medical negligence claims have cost The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust more than £10m in the last year.

A Freedom of Information request found that the Trust paid out a total of £10,871,599.14 from July 2022 to July 2023, irrespective of when the claim was made.

In this same period, 229 medical negligence claims were lodged against the Trust.

Additionally, 473 separate complaints were received by the Trust. Out of those complaints, 46.5% allegedly related to poor or substandard care.

The complaints, when broken down, confirmed:

• 106 related to the general care of patients
• 88 related to clinical treatment
• 26 related to diagnoses 

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has paid out £118,581 as a result of medical negligence claims in the last year.

In addition, the Trust dealt with 15 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023.

During the same period, the Trust dealt with 186 complaints. Out of those complaints, 51% were allegedly caused by poor or substandard care.

Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Trust

Medical negligence claims have cost Liverpool Women’s Hospital a total of £8,439,009 in the last year.

Out of the 66 complaints made against the Trust from July 2022 to July 2023, 29 were a result of poor or substandard care relating to clinical treatment and patient care.

In the same period, 46 medical negligence claims were lodged against the Trust.

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust has paid out £2,462.259.10 in damages as a result of medical negligence claims in the last year.

The Trust had dealt with 59 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023.

In the same period, the Trust received 456 complaints, of which, 200 related to poor or substandard clinical treatment.

East Cheshire NHS Trust

East Cheshire NHS Trust has paid out over £10m as a result of medical negligence claims in the last year.

The total cost was revealed as £10,212,030 following a Freedom of Information request.

Legal Expert further found that the trust had dealt with 16 medical negligence claims and 129 complaints from July 2022 to July 2023.

Whittington Health NHS Trust

Whittington Health NHS Trust has paid out £179m as a result of medical negligence claims in the last year.

In addition, there were 39 medical negligence claims lodged against Whittington Health NHS Trust from July 2022 to July 2023.

Out of 310 complaints received by the Trust, 32% related to care.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, which is responsible for the likes of Southampton General Hospital and Princess Anne Hospital, paid out a total of £28,804,107 as a result of medical negligence claims.

There were 61 medical negligence claims lodged against the Trust from July 2022 to July 2023.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust paid out over £24.5m as a result of medical negligence claims last year.

The figure ranked the Trust number four in terms of medical negligence claim payouts when compared to other NHS Trusts in England and Wales.

The Trust, which is responsible for the likes of the Royal Derby Hospital and the Florence Nightingale Community Hospital, also dealt with 135 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023. 

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust spent almost £5m on compensation payouts as a result of medical negligence claims in the last year.

The trust dealt with 28 claims from July 2022 to July 2023, but paid out a total of £4,914,799.05 irrespective of what date the claim was made. 

In this same period, out of 190 complaints lodged against the trust, 45% related to poor or substandard care.

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has been found to be one of the most impacted NHS trusts in terms of medical negligence claim payouts in the last year.

The trust, which includes Musgrove Hospital, paid out £13,511,879 as a result of medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023.

The figure meant the trust ranked number eight when compared to other trusts in England and Wales.

In the same period, 77 medical negligence claims were lodged against Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust paid out £13,349,173 as a result of medical negligence claims in the last year.

The figure ranks the Trust at number 10 when compared to other trusts in England and Wales in terms of medical negligence claim payouts. 

The health service, which covers Queen Alexandra Hospital, also received 89 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023.

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has paid out over £3m as a result of medical negligence claims in the last year.

The organisation, which is responsible for providing ambulance services for the NHS across South West England, dealt with 22 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023.

The total paid out by the trust came to £3,075,209.40.

Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Medical negligence has resulted in Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust paying out £2,882,328 in compensation during the last year.

There were 75 medical negligence claims were lodged against the trust from July 2022 to July 2023.

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust 

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust has paid out almost £5m as a result of medical negligence in the last year.

The trust, which runs the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, dealt with 75 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023.

In the same period, irrespective of when a claim was lodged, medical negligence claims cost the trust £4,985,759 – one of the highest figures when compared to other trusts in the North East.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust paid out £4,914,799.05, for example, while Cumbria, Northumberland,Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust paid out just £25,250.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust and Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Medical negligence set back University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust by £24.5m in the last financial year.

A Freedom of Information request ffound that 135 medical negligence claims were lodged against the trust in the same period.

Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust dealt with medical negligence claims costing just over £13m.

The trust dealt with 51 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to June 2023.

In the same period, both trusts had over 100 complaints made against them relating to poor or substandard care. 

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust

Medical negligence has cost Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust almost £3m in the last year.

A sum of £2,994,460.22 was paid out as a result of medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023, irrespective of when the claim was lodged.

A Freedom of Information request also found the trust, which also overlooks Parkview Clinic, dealt with 37 new medical negligence claims during this time. 

In the same period, 59% of complaints made against the trust related to clinical treatment or patient care. However, these concerns were not necessarily upheld following investigation.

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust

Medical negligence has set back Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust by £5.8m in the last year.

The total figure of £5,884,951.17 dwarfed the compensation amounts paid out by the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust, which were £950 and £40,802 respectively. 

A Freedom of Information request also found that 134 medical negligence claims were lodged against the trust from July 2022 to July 2023. 

The trust, which overlooks the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, dealt with 327 formal complaints in the same period – 100% of which related to or had an element of poor or substandard care.

North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust

North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust has paid out more than £3.3m as a result of medical negligence claims in the last year.

The trust, which runs Peterborough City Hospital and Hinchingbrooke Hospital, dealt with 90 formal Letters of Claim in relation to medical negligence during July 2022 to July 2023. 

The total sum of £3,331,090 paid out was irrespective of when a claim was made and may relate to claims from previous years.

Out of 726 complaints made against the trust, 35% related to issues with care.

Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust

Medical negligence has cost Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust over £11.5m in the last year.

A Freedom of Information also found that the Greater Manchester trust had 151 medical negligence claims lodged against them from July 2022 to July 2023.

The total compensation amount of £11,581,920.40 paid out as a result of medical negligence claims is irrespective of what date the claim was made.

In the same period, 54% of complaints made against the trust related to poor or substandard care. 

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has paid out more than £12.6m in the last year as a result of medical negligence.

The West Yorkshire trust, which runs Bradford Royal Infirmary and St. Luke’s Hospital, dealt with 156 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023.

However, the total sum paid out of £12,612,678 may relate to claims made before this period.

Out of 469 complaints lodged against the trust, 33.2% related to issues with care or treatment.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Medical negligence cost Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust over £11.4m in the last year.

A total of 295 medical negligence claims were lodged against the trust from July 2022 to July 2023.

However, the sum paid out of £11,402,825.35 does not include annual periodic payments for claims settled in previous years. 

The West Yorkshire trust, which overlooks Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s University Hospital, also dealt with 678 complaints – 59.7% of which related to poor or substandard care.

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust

Medical negligence has setback Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust by £2m in the last year.

The West Yorkshire trust, which provides services for Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital, dealt with 87 medical negligence claims in the same period.

Out of the 507 complaints received by the trust, 23.6% related to issues with patient care.

The Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

The Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has paid out over £1.5m as a result of medical negligence claims in the last year.

Although five new claims were lodged against the Cambridgeshire trust in this period, the total damages paid of £1,534,130 was irrespective of when the claim was made.

Around 19% of complaints made against the trust related to poor or substandard care.

The Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust

The Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust has been revealed as one of the worst trusts impacted by medical negligence in the country.

A total of £13.5m was paid out by the trust as a result of medical negligence in the last year.

There were 38 medical negligence claims were lodged against the trust in the same period.

Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

Medical negligence has cost Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust almost £5m in the last year.

The trust, which operates Rotherham General Hospital, dealt with 56 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023. 

However, the total figure of £4,487,289 paid out in compensation related to claims made irrespective of this timeframe. 

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust has paid out over £7.6m as a result of medical negligence in the last year.

The trust, which operates Torbay Hospital, dealt with 37 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023. 

In this same period, out of 154 complaints made against the trust, 28 related to poor or substandard care.

North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust

Medical negligence has setback North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust by over £12.3m in the last year.

The trust dealt with 55 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023. 

In this same period, out of 259 complaints made against the trust, 30 related to poor or substandard care.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Medical negligence has cost Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust over £11.3m in the last year.

The trust, which operates Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, dealt with 118 medical negligence claims in the same period.

The compensation paid out as a result amounted to a total sum of £11,392,483.27.

More than 11.7% of complaints received by the trust related to poor or substandard care.

Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Medical negligence has cost Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust over £4m in the last year.

The trust, which operates the Doncaster Royal Infirmary, dealt with 81 medical negligence claims from July 2022 to June 2023.

The total sum of compensation paid out as a result of medical negligence claims, irrespective of the date the claim was submitted, amounted to £4,083,573.79.

The figure dwarfed compensation amounts paid out by other South Yorkshire NHS trusts.

For example, Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust paid out £41,750 whilst Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust paid out £13,500.

However, the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust ultimately paid out one of the highest amounts compared to South Yorkshire NHS trusts, with medical negligence claims costing the trust £4,487,289.

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust 

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust paid out over £3.5m as a result of medical negligence in the last year.

The trust, which runs Russell’s Hall Hospital and Corbett Hospital Outpatient Centre, was lodged with 54 clinical negligence claims between July 2022 to July 2023.

However, the total sum paid out in compensation as a result of medical negligence claims in this period, irrespective of the date the claim was submitted, amounted to £3,503,417.46.

Out of the 1,169 complaints the trust received, 32.5% related to issues with patient care.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust has paid out over £2.2m as a result of medical negligence in the last year.

In the same period, 46 medical negligence claims were lodged against the trust.

However, the total sum of £2,223,406 paid out by the trust may have related to claims made in previous years.

Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust

Medical negligence has cost Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust over £3.7m in the last year.

There were 16 clinical negligence claims lodged against the Trust in the same period.

However, the total sum paid out of £3,777,558.90 may have been related to claims made in previous years.

The Trust, which provides mental health services in North London, received 120 complaints last year – 65% of which related to poor or substandard care.

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has paid out £1.9m as a result of medical negligence claims.

In the same period, the trust, which oversees Watford General Hospital, St Albans City Hospital and Hemel Hempstead Hospital, dealt with 62 medical negligence claims.

A further 419 complaints were lodged against the trust, although not all complaints related to poor or substandard care.

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust spent £1.3m on medical negligence claim payouts last year.

In the same period, 26 medical negligence claims were lodged against the trust.

However, the total figure of £1,304,168 paid out by the trust may have related to claims made in previous years.

Out of the 98 complaints dealt with by the trust, 29% related to clinical treatment whilst 23% were a result of issues with patient care.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust paid out over £13.6m as a result of medical negligence in the last year.

A Freedom of Information request uncovered that a total of 67 medical negligence claims were submitted against the trust from July 2022 to July 2023.

The trust, which oversees Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Rosie Hospital, ultimately paid out £13,641,897 on medical negligence claims.

However, the figure may relate to claims submitted in previous years.

The Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust

The Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust has been revealed as one of the worst trusts impacted by medical negligence in the country.

A total of £13.5m was paid out by the trust as a result of medical negligence in the last year.

There were 38 medical negligence claims were lodged against the trust in the same period.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Medical negligence has setback Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust over £800k in the last year.

Figures obtained from the trust revealed that it dealt with a total of 21 medical negligence claims between July 2022 to July 2023. 

However, the total amount of £812,272 in compensation paid out by the trust may have related to claims made prior to this period.

Out of 371 complaints the trust received, a fifth related aspects of treatment and care of patients.

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust 

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust paid out over £3.5m as a result of medical negligence in the last year.

The trust, which runs Russells Hall Hospital and Corbett Hospital Outpatient Centre, was lodged with 54 clinical negligence claims between July 2022 to July 2023.

However, the total sum paid out in compensation as a result of medical negligence claims in this period, irrespective of the date the claim was submitted, amounted to £3,503,417.46.

Out of the 1,169 complaints the trust received, 32.5% related to issues with patient care.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

Medical negligence claims have cost Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust almost £44m in the last year.

The trust, which runs King George Hospital in Goodmayes and Queen’s Hospital in Romford, paid out £43,702,730 altogether as a result of medical negligence claims.

However, the figure may also include compensation payouts from claims made in previous years.

Further data obtained from the trust revealed that from July 2022 to July 2023, a total of 84 medical negligence claims were lodged against them.

This guide explores how to sue a business for causing your injuries both as an employee and as a visitor to their premises.

We provide information on the duty of care businesses owe to their workers and the general public and some examples of how failures to uphold these duties can cause injuries. We also explain how personal injury compensation is calculated under the two different heads of claim.

You will find guidance on filing your personal injury claim and how our solicitors can support you throughout the claims process. This guide also briefly touches on settling out of court.

The penultimate section of the guide explores the specific No Win No Fee contract our solicitors can offer, with particular reference to the benefits of starting your potential claim under these terms with us.

To discuss how to sue a company further or get an assessment of your eligibility to start a claim for free, contact our team of advisors today. You can reach our team 24/7 using the contact details provided here:

• Call our team on 0800 073 8804. 
• Begin your claim online by completing this form.
• Click the live chat button on your screen now

Select A Section

1. How To Sue A Business For An Injury
2. Examples Of Accidents You Could Sue A Business For
3. How To File Your Personal Injury Claim
4. What Compensation Could You Claim?
5. Out Of Court Settlements
6. Ask How To Sue A Business With Our Team
7. Resources On How To Sue A Business In The UK

How To Sue A Business For An Injury

Businesses have obligations to ensure both their employees and visitors to their premises are kept safe. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their workers. 

Businesses also have obligations under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 to take steps to ensure the reasonable safety of visitors to their premises. Failures to uphold their duty under either of these laws can result in accidents.

These duties can be upheld in different ways depending on the work being carried out, but the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s independent regulator for workplace safety, publish guidance on how businesses can ensure the safety of persons both working and visiting their premises.

To begin a personal injury claim against a business, you will need to meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. A business owed you a duty of care.
2. The business breached this duty of care.
3. This breach resulted in an accident in which you were injured.

Contact our advisors today for more guidance on how to sue a business following an injury on their premises.

How Long Do You Have To Sue A Business?

Personal injury claims are subject to a time limit of 3 years in most cases, as per the Limitation Act 1980. Exceptions to this can be made in cases where the injured person is a minor or is of a reduced mental capacity. 

To learn more about how to sue your employer while employed, make a public liability claim or find out more about the time limits, contact our advisors today.

Examples Of Accidents You Could Sue A Business For

Both their workers and members of the public could be injured in an accident if businesses fail to take the necessary steps to protect them. Examples of how you could be injured as a result of a business’ failure to uphold its duty of care include:

• You and a colleague were using a forklift truck to move goods in a warehouse. Your employer had provided inadequate training yet instructed you and your colleague to use the truck regardless. Your colleague failed to stop the forklift, running you over and causing serious injury to both of your legs.
• When entering a shop, the sign above the door came free from its mountings and hit you in the side of the head. The business was aware of the faulty sign yet had not repaired the sign or removed it altogether. You suffered a substantial head injury in the accident.

The above scenarios are just two examples of how a business can fail to uphold its duty of care. To find out how to sue a business in your particular circumstances, contact an advisor via the details given above.

How To File Your Personal Injury Claim

This section provides an overview of how to sue a company in more detail. Your claim will be filed in accordance with the Pre-action Protocol for personal injury claims.

In order to start your personal injury claim, you will first need to acquire adequate supporting evidence. This may include CCTV footage of the accident taking place, which is useful as it may have captured the hazard that caused the accident, a copy of the report from the company accident book, if a workplace has more than 10 employees, an accident log book is compulsory,  training documents and contact details of witnesses who saw the accident occur, statements can be taken later by a responsible party if needed.

As part of the personal injury claims process, you will also be invited to an independent medical assessment. This is so a medical practitioner can assess the severity of your injuries, state whether they think your injuries align with the circumstances of the accident and provide a prognosis. The report from this assessment will be used in the valuation process of your claim.

Issuing in court proceedings is a last resort. The two parties should attempt to reach a settlement outside of the courts.

Our team of advisors can explain the claims process further, offer guidance on the evidence you can acquire and assess your eligibility to claim free of charge. Contact an advisor today using the details given below

What Compensation Could You Claim? 

Now we’ve explained how to sue a business, this section looks at how compensation in personal injury claims is calculated. Compensation settlements for personal injury claims can be made up of two different heads of claim. These are:

• General damages: this head of claim awards for the physical and psychological effects. 
• Special damages: financial losses associated with the injuries you have sustained could be reimbursed under this head of claim.

The persons responsible for calculating the potential value of your claim can refer to your independent medical assessment in conjunction with relevant figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document, published by the Judicial College, details guideline award brackets for a multitude of different injuries. We have taken some of these brackets for use in our table.

Compensation Table

This table has been included as guidance only. The top entry is not from the JCG.

Type of Injury	Severity	Guideline Amount	Notes
Multiple Serious Injuries Plus Special Damages	Very Serious	Up to £1,000,000 and above	Multiple serious injuries with a loss of earnings, care expenses and other costs.
Brain Damage	Very Severe (a)	£282,010 to £403,990	The injured person will have little if any response to the environment, little to no language function, double incontinence and require full time care.
	Moderately Severe (b)	£219,070 to £282,010	Very serious disability necessitating constant care. Disabilities may be physical, such as paralysis, or cognitive, such as an impairment of personality and intellect.
Paralysis	Paraplegia (a)	£219,070 to £284,260	Lower body paralysis. Factors influencing awards for paralysis include the injured person's level of independence, the presence of any pain, their age and life expectancy and any psychological impacts.
Leg	Amputation (a)(ii)	£201,490 to £270,100	Below-knee Amputation of Both Legs. The level of award will depend on the severity of phantom pain, the success of prosthesis and side effects such as backache and future degeneration of remaining joints.
Epilepsy	Established Grand Mal (a)	£102,000 to £150,110	Awards for epilepsy are dependent on the impacts on the injured person's work and social life, the success of medication in controlling attacks, associated behavioural problems and the prognosis.
Arm Amputation	Loss of One Arm (b)(i)	Not less than £137,160	Amputation of one arm at the shoulder.
Hand Injuries	Total/Effective Loss of One Hand (b)	£96,160 to £109,650	This bracket includes injuries such as crush injuries where all fingers and most of palm were traumatically amputated, or later surgically amputated. Loss of a dominant hand will warrant a higher award.
Chest Injuries	Traumatic Injury (b)	£65,740 to £100,670	Traumatic injury of the chest causing permanent damage and functional impairment of the lungs and/or heart.
Back Injuries	Moderate (b)(i)	£27,760 to £38,780	This bracket includes cases involving crush fractures of the lumbar vertebrae with a substantial risk of osteoarthritis with constant pain and discomfort.

Special Damages

You could recover costs incurred as a result of being injured under special damages. Examples of such costs include:

• Lost earnings.
• Domestic care.
• Home adaptations.
• Travel expenses.

You will need to submit evidence to claim special damages, so retain copies of your payslips, travel tickets and receipts.

To get a more detailed estimate of what your personal injury claim could be worth, speak to an advisor today. You can reach our team 24 hours a day using the contact information given below. 

Out Of Court Settlements

An out-of-court settlement could be offered any time up until the case is heard in court. Only a very small percentage of cases will go to court. At any stage, the defendant or their team can offer you a settlement. If you have decided to use a solicitor they can advise you on whether the amount offered is justified. At no time do you ever need to accept the offer if you do not want to. 

Most personal injury claims do not go to court, call our advisors now to find out if you are eligible to make a personal injury claim. 

Ask How To Sue A Business With Our Team

You can ask our advisors how to sue a business following an accident at any time. Once an advisor has assessed your particular circumstances, they could put you in touch with one of our personal injury solicitors.

Our solicitors can offer their services under a type of No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Making your personal injury claim with a solicitor under a CFA presents a number of advantages to claimants, including:

• Not having to pay a fee upfront for the solicitor to begin work on your claim.
• No fees for this work during the claims process itself.
• In the event your claim is unsuccessful, you will not pay a fee for the solicitor’s services.

Following the success of your personal injury claim, you will receive a compensation settlement. The solicitor will take a percentage of this compensation as their success fee. As the maximum percentage that can be charged as a success fee is legally capped, you will keep most of any awarded compensation.

To discuss the claims process further, ask any questions or get an assessment of your eligibility to start a claim for free, contact our team of advisors today. You can reach our team 24/7 using the contact details provided here:

• Call our team on 0800 073 8804. 
• Begin your claim online by completing this form.
• Click the live chat button on your screen now

Resources On How To Sue A Business In The UK

Read more of guides to making personal injury claims against businesses:

• Find out how to claim for a broken ankle at work and how personal injury compensation is calculated.
• Learn when you could be eligible to claim for an accident in a shop here.
• Read who is entitled to claim after a slip, trip or fall at work.

We have also provided these links to some external resources you may find helpful.

• Read this resource on head injury and concussion from the NHS.
• Learn more about litigation friends in claims where the injured person is a minor or lacks mental capacity.
• The HSE has published guidance on training and competence in the workplace.

We’d like to thank you for taking the time to read our guide on how to sue a business. Our team of dedicated and experienced advisors are available 24 hours a day to address any of your queries. They can also assess your eligibility to begin a personal injury claim for no charge. Get in touch today via the contact information provided above.

This article has been written to assist those who want to know how to sue a shop for compensation. There are various ways you could become injured in a shop due to them breaching their duty of care. This duty is something we’ll explore in greater detail later in the article. We’ve also included information on the eligibility criteria to pursue a personal injury claim.

There’s also a section on example accident scenarios and one on how compensation is calculated in instances such as these. You can also read about the advantages of working with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.

Get in touch with any questions about how to sue a shop that you may have as you read. It’s free to contact us, and we’re available 24/7. Read on for more information, including our contact details:

• Call us on 0800 073 8804
• Talk to us about your claim online
• Use the pop-up chat window in the corner

Select A Section

1. How To Sue A Shop For Compensation
2. Am I Eligible To Sue A Shop?
3. What Accidents Could Happen In A Shop?
4. How Much Could You Sue A Shop For?
5. How To Sue A Shop On A No Win No Fee Basis
6. Learn More About How To Sue A Shop For An Injury

How To Sue A Shop For Compensation

Gathering evidence to support your claim is a big part of the personal injury claims process. If you’ve sustained an injury in a shop, then in order to have an eligible personal injury claim, the onus will be on you to prove it was caused by the shop breaching their duty of care. If an accident in a shop is entirely your own fault, you cannot make a personal injury claim.

As you will see in the next section, to have a valid public liability claim, the accident in which you sustained the injury will need to have happened because the shop failed in its duty to keep you reasonably safe while on its premises. You not only have to prove why you think the shop is at fault for the injury you sustained in the accident but also how you suffered. To do this, you could gather the following evidence:

• CCTV footage – If you appear in CCTV footage, you have the legal right to request a copy of it.
• Witness contact details – If others saw how you were injured, make sure you have a way to reach them. That way, you can pass on their contact details to your solicitor, who can approach them for a statement when required and appropriate.
• Photographs – As well as the hazards that caused your injury, take pictures of any visible signs of the injury you’ve sustained.
• Medical evidence – Your medical records should contain details of your injury, including how severe the damage was.

The list above is not exhaustive. There are other examples of evidence that may be available to you in your circumstances. Get in touch with our advisors today to find out how to sue a shop with the help of one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, who can also help you with the process of gathering evidence.

Am I Eligible To Sue A Shop?

In accordance with the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, those responsible for a public space must take steps to keep members of the public using the space for its intended purpose reasonably safe. As a customer, this includes you. The shop takes on the role of the occupier in the context of this legislation, and fulfilling their responsibilities means they’re upholding their duty of care.

With that in mind, let’s move into the personal injury claim eligibility criteria:

• Duty of care – Did the shop owe you a duty of care when you were injured? As a customer, you are instantly owed a duty of care
• Breach of duty – Did the shop breach its duty by failing to take steps to avoid you being injured? For example, they may be aware of a wet floor but make no effort to clean it up or display wet floor signs.
• Injury sustained – The breach of a shop’s duty of care needs to have caused you injury in order for you to make a personal injury claim.

Workplace Accident Claims

The personal injury claim criteria are similar to those stated above if you are an employee of the shop rather than a customer. However, the relevant duty of care in these scenarios is included in the Health and Safety and Work etc. Act 1974.

Because this would be a workplace accident claim rather than being referred to as an accident in a public place, the shop is known as your employer rather than the occupier. However, both instances fall under the umbrella of personal injury law.

Are There Time Limits To Sue A Shop For Compensation?

You generally have 3 years from the date you were injured to begin the process of making a personal injury claim. This time limit begins from the accident date. This is all stated in the Limitation Act 1980.

The Act also includes exceptions to the time limit for child injury claims and claims for those who do not possess the capacity to claim for themselves. Reach out to our advisors today for more information.

If your personal injury claim meets all of the criteria above, as well as falling within the limitation period, then it could be valid.

What Accidents Could Happen In A Shop?

This section includes some examples of accidents that could cause you injury in a shop. Some are relevant to both customers and workers, whilst some are more specific to one field.

• Slips, trips, and falls – Wet floors could cause you to lose your balance, as can inadequate lighting on the stairs. Incidents could cause broken bones, amongst other injuries.
• Manual handling accidents – Employees must be shown by their employees how to safely carry out these tasks. Inadequate training at work can lead to back injuries.
• Being struck by a moving object – Stock may not be properly stored on high shelves. If it were to fall on you, it could cause head injuries or possibly brain damage.
• Vehicle accidents – A forklift driver could lose control of the vehicle and run over your foot due to them not being properly trained on how to use it.

If you want to find out more about how to sue a shop and if you have a valid claim, get in touch with us today.

How Much Could You Sue A Shop For?

The value of a personal injury compensation claim depends on various factors. Your claim is valued specifically, and so the figure that’s arrived at will be unique. For your pain and suffering, there is a head of claim called general damages. Those responsible for making the necessary calculations often do so with the assistance of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG contains guidance amounts pertaining to general damages.

We’ve provided some extracts from the JCG in the table below, which you can use as a rough guide. However, bear in mind that your own claim will differ in value.

The table’s top entry, which takes into account a head of claim called special damages, does not appear in the JCG.

Injury	Severity	Notes	Bracket Amounts
Multiple serious injuries and special damages.	Very severe	You could suffer more than one injury of a serious nature, and the figure would be combined with financial losses such as loss of earnings and medical expenses.	Up to £1,000,000+
Paralysis	(a) Quadriplegia	Life expectancy and levels of pain/awareness are amongst the considerations when valuing this injury.	£324,600 to £403,990
Paralysis	(b) Paraplegia	As well as issues with depression and an impact on the person's independence, there may also be a risk of further paralysis.	£219,070 to £284,260
Brain damage	(a) Very severe	Although some patterns such as sleep may return, there will be little response to the person's environment. The person's language function will also be severely decreased.	£282,010 to £403,990
Neck	(a) Severe	Injuries such as these are associated with paraplegia of an incomplete nature. There will be intractable headaches.	In the region of £148,330
Arm	(a) Severe	Although the injury falls short of the need for amputation, it isn't by much.	£96,160 to £130,930
Arm	(b) Permanent	Lasting functional or cosmetic disability has been caused by serious fractures to either one or both forearms.	£39,170 to £59,860
Arm	(c) Less serious	A substational recovery will have taken place, despite there being sigificant disabilities at first.	£19,200 to £39,170
Eye	(d) Total loss	One eye will be totally lost.	£54,830 to £65,710
Shoulder	(a) Severe	Significant disability caused by damage to the brachial plexus.	£19,200 to £48,030
Shoulder	(e) Clavicle fracture	The injury is valued depending on factors such as residual symptoms and length of recovery.	£5,150 to £12,240

Special Damages

Some claimants can also be eligible to receive special damages. This additional head of claim can reimburse you for financial costs and losses caused by your injuries.

Examples can include:

• Medical expenses – Prescription medication such as painkillers, for example.
• Loss earnings – Your income may have been disrupted if you’re left unable to work on a temporary or permanent basis.
• Walking aids – Your injury may have caused you mobility problems.
• Travel costs – You may need to travel using public transport and taxis to reach medical appointments.
• Damage to personal property – The accident that caused your injury may have damaged or destroyed personal items such as a phone or laptop.

Get in touch with our advisors for more examples of special damages, how compensation is calculated, and to have us give you a bespoke estimate of how much you could be owed.

 How To Sue A Shop On A No Win No Fee Basis

If you’re struggling to understand how to sue a shop for negligence, you may find making a claim with the help of one of our No Win No Fee solicitors to be very helpful.

When working with our solicitors, there is nothing to pay them upfront, this is because they work with a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) in place, which is a form of No Win No Fee arrangement. If your claim is successful, your solicitor will take a fee from your compensation in the form of a legally capped percentage. This is not taken if your claim fails, which is why it’s referred to as a success fee.

Contact Us

Getting in touch with us is free of charge, and we will answer your questions and give you guidance regarding your claim. If we think your claim could be valid, we can also pass you on to one of our No Win No Fee solicitors to help begin the process of claiming.

Learn More About How To Sue A Shop For An Injury

Follow the links below for more helpful information.

More from us: 

• We have answers to some of our public liability claim FAQs. Head here to read the answers.
• You can also claim if you’re injured in other shared spaces, such as if you had an accident in a public park. Find out more by reading this guide.
• Employee accidents can result in a broken ankle at work claim. Explore this guide to learn more about this specific scenario.

Information from other sources: 

• There is information regarding the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims on the Government website.
• In certain claims, a litigation friend may need to be assigned to claim on behalf of someone who is unable to do so themselves.
• The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has simplified some legal jargon so you can understand it with greater ease.

Thank you for reading our guide on how to sue a shop.

This article discusses how to sue your workplace for an injury caused by your employer’s negligent actions. The steps involved in making a personal injury claim include ensuring you meet the eligibility criteria to be able to seek compensation, ensuring your legal proceedings are started within the relevant time limit, and collecting evidence to strengthen your case. We explore these further throughout our guide.

Additionally, we provide examples of workplace accident and injuries as well as discuss how compensation is calculated and what a payout could consist of following a successful workplace accident claim.

Finally, we look at the benefits of making a claim with the help of one of our No Win No Fee solicitors and the terms under which they could offer their services.

Read on for more information on how to sue for compensation. Alternatively, you can reach out to our advisors with any questions you may have via the contact details below.

• Call us on 0800 073 8804
• Talk about your claim online
• Use the pop-up chat window

Select A Section

1. How To Sue A Workplace For An Accident Or Injury
2. What Reasons Could You Sue Your Employer For?
3. Steps To Take If You Are Injured At Work
4. What Payout Could You Be Awarded For An Accident At Work?
5. How To Sue A Workplace With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
6. Further Resources On Workplace Accident Claims

How To Sue A Workplace For An Accident Or Injury

An employer owes a duty of care to their employees with regard to their health, safety, and well being. This duty requires them to take all reasonable and practicable steps to prevent their employees from sustaining an injury at work as per the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

If your employer breached this duty, and you suffered harm as a result, you might wonder how to sue a workplace for your employer’s negligent actions.

In order to start a personal injury claim following an accident at work, you need to prove negligence. In tort law, negligence means:

• You were owed a duty of care at the time and place of your workplace injury.
• This duty was breached.
• You were injured physically, psychologically, or both as a result of the breach.

How To Sue A Workplace Within The Claims Time Limit

There is a time limit in which personal injury claims need to be started. As stated in the Limitation Act 1980, this time limit is generally 3 years from the date you were injured.

However, there are exceptions to this time limit that could allow legal proceedings to begin later than that, such as if the person was under the age of 18 or they lacked the mental capacity to bring forward their own claim.

Our advisors can tell you more about how to sue your workplace and whether you’re still within the time limit to do so. Reach out today to find out more.

What Reasons Could You Sue Your Employer For?

Below, we’ve provided some examples of how your employer could breach their duty of care and cause you injury.

• Slips, trips, and falls – For example, a broken bulb in a stairway could mean you lose your balance and fall due to inadequate lighting. An incident such as this could cause broken bones, head injuries, or even paralysis in extreme circumstances.
• Inadequate training – Jobs that require manual handling require specialised training on how to safely lift and transport heavy loads. If you are not supplied with this training, then you could sustain a back injury due to lifting items that are too heavy for you or through using the improper technique. Alternatively, if your colleague was not supplied with this training and failed to stack items correctly on a shelf, you could be hit by a falling object.
• Damaged equipment/machinery – It’s your employer’s responsibility to make sure any equipment you’re provided with is safe for use and in working order. If there is a failure to do so and you use faulty equipment, such as a power tool, it can lead to severe injuries such as the loss of limbs.
• Failure to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – If a risk posed by a hazard cannot be removed completely, your employer has a responsibility to provide PPE to reduce the risk of injury. For example, when working on a construction site, it may be necessary to provide you with a hard hat. If this isn’t provided, you could be hit on the head and sustain an injury.

If you’re unsure if you can claim for your injuries or want to know how to sue a workplace for injuries caused by your employer breaching their duty of care, reach out to our advisors today.

Steps To Take If You Are Injured At Work

One of the most important steps involved in making a personal injury claim is gathering evidence. The list below consists of some examples of how you could support your claim.

• Video evidence – If your workplace has CCTV, then there may be footage of the incident. If you appear in the footage, then you have the right to request a copy of it.
• Workplace accident book – There should be one of these in your workplace if their are 10 or more employees. You can request a copy of the incident report to provide details of your accident and injuries.
• Photographs – Document the hazards that contributed to your injuries and take pictures of any visible injuries you have.
• Witness contact details – You may have had colleagues who saw how you were injured. Keep hold of their contact information as they could be approached for a statement at a later date.

If you have a valid personal injury claim, you could instruct one of our solicitors to represent you. They have experience helping eligible claimants understand how to sue a workplace and seek compensation for the injuries they suffered in an accident at work caused by a negligent employer.

Our advisors can tell you more about how they could assist you, so get in touch using the number above today.

What Payout Could You Be Awarded For An Accident At Work?

Compensation for a workplace injury claim is calculated on an individual basis. This means the amount you receive will be unique to you. Generally, though, a settlement can consist of two heads of claim called general damages and special damages.

General damages are to account for your pain and suffering caused by the injuries. Those responsible for valuing this head of claim make use of resources, such as medical evidence and the Judicial College Guidelines to assist them. The latter is a publication that contains guideline valuation brackets for different types of injuries.

We’ve provided some figures from the latest edition of the JCG in the table below. The top figure is not taken from the JCG. You should also use the figures as a guide only because your own claim will differ in value depending on your specific circumstances.

Injury	Severity	Notes	Compensation Bracket
Multiple severe injuries with financial losses	Severe	A payout comprising compensation for the pain and suffering of multiple severe injuries and financial losses incurred such as loss of earnings and medical expenses.	Up to £1,000,000+
Paralysis	(a) Quadriplegia	There are various factors that come into consideration when a value is being settled on, including the person's age.	£324,600 to £403,990
	(b) Paraplegia	The level of pain experienced as well as how badly the person's mental health is affected is considered when valuing the award.	£219,070 to £284,260
Head	(a) Very severe	At the top end of this bracket, the person may have retained some basic ability to follow commands. However, a meaningful response to environment will be minimal, or there will be none at all. The person will need full-time care.	£282,010 to £403,990
Arm Amputation	(a) Loss of both arms	The person is reduced to a state of considerable helplessness.	£240,790 to £300,000
	(b) Loss of one arm (i)	A single arm is amputated at the shoulder.	Not less than £137,160
	(b) Loss of one arm (iii)	One arm is lost below the elbow.	£96,160 to £109,650
Eye	(b) Total blindness	Sight is completely lost in both eyes.	In the region of £268,720
	(d) Total loss of one eye	The award given will depend on age, mental impact and cosmetic effect.	£54,830 to £65,710
Chest	(a) Complete removal of one lung and/or serious damage to heart	Causing serious and prolonged pain and suffering with permanent scarring that's significant.	£100,670 to £150,110
	(d) Simple injury	Lasting damage to lung tissue but with no significant long-term effect on lung function.	£12,590 to £17,960

Special Damages

Special damages account for financial losses caused by your injury in the workplace. It can reimburse you for various outgoings and losses, such as:

• Loss of earnings if you have been unable to work while you recover.
• Medical expenses. For example, prescription costs.
• Travel costs. For example, if you’re unable to drive due to your injury and require taxis to and from medical appointments
• The cost of adaptations to your property. For example, ramps may need to be fitted to your house if you need to use a wheelchair due to your injuries.

Make sure to keep hold of receipts, payslips, and other forms of evidence to aid in the support and calculation of your special damages.

Get in touch today if you’d like our advisors to provide you with a bespoke valuation of your claim overall.

How To Sue A Workplace With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

All of our solicitors work with their clients under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a form of No Win No Fee arrangement. A CFA allows you access to their services without the need to pay them anything upfront or as your claim proceeds.

If your claim is successful, your No Win No Fee solicitor will take a success fee from your compensation. The fee they’re permitted to take is a percentage of your compensation that is capped by law. However, this fee is not taken if your claim fails.

Contact Us

If you have any further questions on how to sue your workplace, get in touch today. Our advisors are available 24/7 to help you with your claim in any way we can. Getting in touch is free, and there is no charge for the advice you’re provided. Our advisors may also be able to connect you with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors to help you begin the process if it’s found your claim is valid.

To get in touch and discuss how to sue a company for an injury, you can:

• Call us on 0800 073 8804
• Talk about your claim online
• Use the pop-up chat window

Further Resources On Workplace Accident Claims

More personal injury claims guides from us:

• If you need more information about personal injury claims against employers, this helpful guide could help.
• Read this article to find out more about your employer’s responsibilities after an accident at work.
• We’re often asked, “Can I sue my employer for negligence at work?“. Find out by reading this guide.

Information from other sources: 

• Helpful guidance on when you could be eligible for statutory sick pay from GOV.UK.
• The NHS has a helpful guide on the question of, “How do I know if I’ve broken a bone?“.
• Guidance from the Health and Safety Executive about your employer’s responsibility to report certain accidents and illnesses.

We hope you found this guide on how to sue your workplace for a personal injury helpful. If you have any other questions, contact our team on the number above.