Accident At Work Claims Guide | How Much Compensation Can I Claim?

By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 1st November 2023. If you’ve been injured in an accident at work because your employer breached their duty of care, then you may be entitled to claim compensation.

This guide offers advice on making an accident at work compensation claim. It explains what type of work accidents you may be able to claim for.

We’ll also discuss the eligibility requirements for starting a workplace accident compensation claim. Also, in this guide, we’ll explain more about the duty of care that employers owe their staff.

We will also provide guideline examples of compensation for an injury at work, and the benefits of making a workplace injury claim with the support of a No Win No Fee solicitor.

To speak to an advisor about claiming injury at work compensation, you can contact our team of friendly advisors.

They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help answer your questions and offer advice for free. You can get in touch with our team by:

• Calling 0800 073 8804
• Filling out our online contact form with your query
• Chatting with our specialist solicitors now using our live chat function

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Explore Our Guide

1. Accident At Work Compensation Examples
2. What Are The Criteria For Making An Accident At Work Claim?
3. Examples Of Work Accidents
4. What Evidence Can Help Prove An Injury At Work Claim?
5. How Long Do I Have To Claim For An Accident At Work?
6. Accident At Work Claims With No Win No Fee Solicitors
7. Additional Guides And Further Resources

Accident At Work Compensation Examples

You may be wondering, ‘How much compensation for a work injury could I receive?’ If your claim for work accident compensation is successful, your settlement could consist of two heads of claim. These are called general and special damages.

General damages compensate for the physical pain and mental suffering that has been caused by your injury at work.

To help them when assigning value to personal injury claims, legal professionals can refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for guidance. This text provides guideline compensation figures for different injuries.

In our table below, we look at a few figures from the 16th edition of the JCG. As each claim is different, these amounts are only provided as guidance.

What Else Can Accident At Work Compensation Payouts Include?

As mentioned, your claim may also comprise special damages which allow you to claim back any past or future monetary losses. The losses incurred as a direct result of your injuries might include:

• Medical bills, such as the cost of any prescriptions or physiotherapy
• Loss of earnings, including loss of promotion or reduction in pension
• Care costs, including for yourself or anyone else dependent on you
• Home adaptations, such as changes to the structure of your home to make it more accessible

Please note, that you must provide evidence in order to claim back any financial losses under special damages. For instance, you could keep receipts to highlight any medical expenses or payslips to show any lost wages.

If you’re unsure whether you could factor financial losses into your claim for a work accident, get in touch with our team of advisors for free legal advice.

Alternatively, if you have any further questions about how to claim compensation, our team could help.

Find out how to make a claim on a No Win No Fee basis

What Are The Criteria For Making An Accident At Work Claim?

If you are injured because your employer failed to uphold their duty of care, then you may be able to make a claim.

In the UK, employers owe their employees a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). This means they must take all reasonably practicable steps to make sure that their employees are safe while working.

In order to make a claim for compensation, you have to be able to prove that:

• Your employer owed you a duty of care.
• They breached this duty.
• You were injured as a result.

These three factors come together to form employer negligence under tort law.

To learn more about making a claim or to find out if you are eligible to pursue compensation, contact our team of advisors today. They can offer more information on the personal injury claims process and can offer a free evaluation of your case.

Can I Make A Workplace Accident Claim If I’m Self-Employed? 

In some cases, you may be able to make a claim if you are self-employed. For example, if you are a self-employed contractor who was working on a construction site, the building site manager may have owed you a duty of care. If they breached this duty of care and caused you harm, it may be possible for you to seek compensation.

An example could include you sustaining a head injury after not being provided with necessary personal protective equipment, such as a hard hat.

To find out more about claiming work injury compensation as a self-employed worker, get in touch with our advisors today. Or, read on to learn more about workplace accident claims.

Examples Of Work Accidents

In order to claim compensation for an injury at work, the accident must have been caused by your employer’s negligence.

To give you an idea of when your employer has breached their duty of care – which is to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of injury in the workplace – we’ll discuss some example scenarios in this section.

Below you will find some injury at work examples:

• If your employer fails to provide you with adequate training on how to lift heavy loads, you may have a manual handling accident, resulting in a back injury.
• If any slip or trip hazards are not identified and absolved, you could potentially suffer a head injury.
• Equipment should be routinely checked to prevent defective equipment causing a potential accident. For example, a ladder accident could occur, causing a spinal cord injury, if a ladder is not checked properly.

Get in touch for free advice on how to claim for a work injury. We could also put you in touch with our expert personal injury solicitors, and who are experts in workplace accident claims.

Learn how to make an accident at work claim

What Evidence Can Help Prove An Injury At Work Claim?

If you would like to make a claim, you must collect sufficient evidence to support it. This needs to prove both liability for your injury and the injury itself.

If you would like to seek compensation for an injury at work, here are a few examples of items that could support your claim:

• Copies of any medical letters or medical records from hospitals or your GP with details of the nature of the injuries you suffered as well as the treatment you needed.
• The contact details of any witnesses to the accident. They can give witness statements in the claims process.
• A copy of the accident book with details of the accident. Accident logbooks are a legal requirement for any workplace that employs ten or more members of staff.
• Videos of the incident, such as CCTV footage.
• Photographs of either the accident scene or of your injuries (if these are visible).

If you would like free advice on other items you could submit to support your case for compensation, speak with one of the advisors from our team.

How Long Do I Have To Claim For An Accident At Work?

There is a time limit for starting a personal injury claim after a workplace accident. This time limit is set out by the Limitation Act 1980, which states that you have three years to begin a claim for an accident at work.

This runs from the date of the accident that injured you. However, this rule comes with some exceptions.

The time limit is frozen temporarily for those under the age of 18. A litigation friend can start the claim on the claimant’s behalf during this time. If a claim has not been made by their 18th birthday, the three-year time limit will be reinstated from that date.

Furthermore, the time limit is suspended for those who lack the mental capacity to claim for themselves. A litigation friend could make a claim on their behalf during this time.

If the claimant were to recover the appropriate mental capacity, and a claim has not already been made, the time limit will restart from the recovery date.

Get in touch with our team today to find out if you could be eligible to make a claim for workplace injuries.

Accident At Work Claims With No Win No Fee Solicitors

If you are eligible to make a claim for compensation, one of our solicitors with experience with workplace injury claims could help you. They could help you through the claims process and represent you in your case.

Furthermore, they may offer their services to you under a No Win No Fee arrangement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

When claiming with a solicitor under a CFA, you won’t have to pay any upfront or ongoing fees for their work. Additionally, if your compensation claim fails, you won’t pay a fee for your solicitor’s services.

If your claim succeeds, your solicitor will take a success fee from your settlement award. This success fee is a small percentage with a legislative cap.

To find out if you could be eligible to work with one of our solicitors, or to learn more about making a claim for a workplace accident, contact our team today. To get started:

• Call on 0800 073 8804
• Contact us online
• Use the live chat feature