£47,500 Compensation For A Broken Cheekbone
In this case study, we are looking at a claimant who suffered a broken cheekbone as well as secondary injuries affecting their vision and some psychological injuries. The claimant suffered the injuries as a result of a road traffic accident, the circumstances of which are not currently released.
Solicitors working on behalf of the claimant were able to secure them a total of £47,500 in damages for the physical and psychological injuries as well as their loss of income and inability to continue their previous hobbies. Whilst the defendant did admit their liability, the compensation value of the injuries suffered was a matter of dispute between the two parties.
Eventually, the case progressed to the County Court where damages were awarded. Read below to find out more about this case and broken cheekbone injuries as well as how specialist personal injury solicitors helped the claimant to recover the compensation he was entitled to.
Cheekbone injury
At Legal Expert, we work with a panel of specialist personal injury solicitors across the country. They have the experience and knowledge to help claimants in making a variety of different types of compensation claims.
Legal Expert is one of the UK’s number-one resources for legal advice, information, and guides on how to make different types of personal injury claims. We have a variety of guides to injury types as well as case studies, such as the one below, which help to illustrate how a great personal injury solicitor can help you.
If you have any questions while reading this case study, or would like help starting your own claim, please get in touch with our advisors using the following details:
- Call 0800 073 8804
- Start your claim online.
- Use our live chat on the bottom of the screen.
Select A Section
- Details Of The Case
- What Injuries Did The Claimant Sustain?
- The Fractured Cheekbone Compensation Award
- How To Start A Broken Cheekbone Claim
- No Win No Fee Personal Injury Solicitors
- Contact Legal Expert Today
- Useful Links
Details Of The Case
Our case study dates back several years. The claimant was (at the time) a 21-year-old man who was involved in a road traffic accident, the details of which have not been made public. The claimant suffered several injuries to his face, the most serious of which is a broken cheekbone. The injuries which resulted from the road traffic accident ultimately led to the claimant having to give up both his leisure activities and his accountancy profession.
Whilst the cause and circumstances of the accident are not available, what is known is that the claimant’s injuries were directly caused by the accident. The accident caused the claimant to suffer a broken cheekbone as well as social anxiety which resulted from the scarring he was left with.
What Injuries Did The Claimant Sustain?
The claimant sustained several facial injuries, the most serious of these was a broken cheekbone. The broken and bruised cheekbone required bone grafts as well as skin grafts (taken from the claimant’s groin, to repair tissue which had been lost. To repair the broken cheekbone and other damage to the claimants face they had to undergo several operations and attempts at repairing the damaged area. However, the broken cheekbone surgery cost the claimant a lot of their confidence as it was not possible to fully repair the damage, leaving the claimant permanently disfigured in the affected area. The claimant was left with a noticeable difference when presented with broken cheekbone surgery before and after pictures of the left cheek.
Additionally to the broken cheekbone and bruised cheekbone, the claimant also experienced other facial injuries, including problems with his eyesight. The fractured cheekbone and eye socket injury were separate injuries. The claimant experienced issues with his sight including some double vision as well as excessive watering of the eyes. The medical assessment of these injuries showed that they would be permanent.
The broken cheekbone injury left the claimant with permanent scarring on the left cheek where there was a different texture and colour to the skin in that affected area. Due to the cheekbone injury swelling and scarring, the claimant experienced some social anxiety and had become withdrawn and depressed, shying away from contact with other people.
A fractured cheekbone can be a very serious injury. The cheekbone is also part of your eye socket and helps to protect your eyeball by providing support from underneath it. The cheekbone also joins onto the nose and the top part of your jaw. The symptoms of a broken or fractured cheekbone include a general flatness in the affected cheek, altered feeling around the bone directly beneath the eye, visual problems (such as the double vision experienced by the claimant in this case), and pain moving the jaw. Whilst there is a small risk of complications from broken cheekbone surgery, it is unlikely that this will happen in most cases, and it should be possible to recover from the injuries within a couple of years.
The Fractured Cheekbone Compensation Award
As a result of his injuries, the claimant found that he was unable to continue his work as an accountant. Prior to the accident, the claimant had practiced martial arts and was involved with a local club. After the accident, he was unable to do so.
The claimant hired a specialist solicitor with experience in helping clients with broken bone injuries, such as the broken cheekbone suffered in this case. Despite collecting evidence to support the claim, and presenting this to the defendant, the solicitors for both parties were unable to negotiate an appropriate settlement. The defendant did not dispute their liability for the accident and injuries caused. However, they could not agree on the amount of damages or ‘quantum’ appropriate to this case. As such the claimant had to seek legal action in the County Court.
The broken cheekbone case was heard at the County Court and the judge awarded the claimant a total of £47,500 in damages. The award included damages for the pain and suffering experienced by the claimant as well as their loss of amenity (the broken cheekbone) during the lengthy recovery process. The claimant was happy with the compensation settlement. bb
How To Start A Broken Cheekbone Claim
If you suffered a broken cheekbone and would like to claim, you will need to prove that a third party breached a duty of care they owe to you and this is how you were injured. This is known as negligence.
You are owed a duty of care in various daily situations including:
- On the roads, like our client in the case study above.
- At work.
- In public places.
Each one of these situations has different legislation that sets the duty of care, but in each one, you could make a personal injury claim if you can prove that negligence caused your injuries. To do this, you will need evidence.
The following items might be useful to help prove your cheekbone is broken due to a liable party’s negligence:
- Medical records. These will include the date you sought treatment. In addition, you might be asked to attend an independent medical exam to help establish the severity of your injuries and what impact they are expected to have on your life as part of the claiming process.
- Pictures of the broken cheekbone. If your injury is visible, such as a swollen face or bruised cheekbone, you can submit photographs of it.
- Witness contact details. If anyone saw what happened, you could note their contact information so they can provide a statement later in the claiming process.
- Accident footage. For example, from CCTV or a mobile phone.
Time Limits For Personal Injury Claims
If you would like to claim, you typically must start legal proceedings within three years of the date of the accident. This is set by the Limitation Act 1980.
However, in circumstances where the injured party cannot start a claim for themselves, the time limit is suspended. A litigation friend could be appointed to start proceedings on behalf of the injured party at any point during the suspension.
Injured parties who cannot start legal proceedings themselves include:
- Children under the age of 18. The time limit is paused until their 18th
- Those without the mental capacity to start a claim have the time limit indefinitely suspended. Should they regain their mental capacity, they will have three years from that date to start proceedings.
If you have any questions about how to start legal proceedings, call our advisors for free advice. In addition, they can assess whether your claim is valid. If it seems like it is, you could be put in touch with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.
No Win No Fee Personal Injury Solicitors
The simplest way to explain a No Win No Fee agreement is that as the claimant you won’t be expected to pay anything either at the start of your case or whilst your solicitor is pursuing your compensation claim. If the solicitor we match you with from our nationwide panel fails to recover any damage or compensation on your behalf, you will not have any legal bills to pay. This means that you will never be left out of pocket by making a No Win No Fee claim. If your claim is successful, the legal fees due can be deducted from any compensation you receive. Also known as a (CFA) Conditional Fee Agreement, the No Win No Fee contract will set out the framework within which your solicitor will provide their services. It should say what the solicitor will do, how and under what circumstances they will be paid, and how that fee is calculated.
Legal Expert are happy to provide our clients with a comprehensive CFA service, helping people to access the legal services and representation that they need, no matter their current financial circumstances and ability to pay. Claimants should not be restricted from being able to claim monies they are owed because they lack the financial resources to do so. With a CFA, you will not have to pay any legal costs until your compensation payout has been awarded. You can find out more by reading our No Win No Fee guide here.
Contact Legal Expert Today
Whether you have suffered a fractured cheekbone or another injury as a result of an accident which was not your fault, talk to the personal injury and compensation specialists at Legal Expert today. Our team is on hand seven days a week to take your call and start the process of getting you the compensation that you are entitled to.
You can reach our team by calling
0800 073 8804 seven days a week between 9 am and 9 pm. You can also send us an email about your case to info@legalexpert.co.uk. Alternatively, you can also start your claims process online by clicking here. However, you get in contact with Legal Expert, start your claim today.
Useful Links
Fractured Bone Compensation Claim
Information on how to make a successful compensation claim for a fractured bone, such as a cheekbone injury.
Facial Injury Claims
If you have suffered a facial injury as a result of an accident which was not your fault, read our guide to facial injury compensation claims.
Fractured cheekbone symptoms NHS
You can find information on the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of fractured cheekbones in this handy PDF guide from the Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust.
