Learn How To Make An Accident At Work Claim

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Calculating Compensation Amounts For An Accident At Work Claim

By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 5th March 2024. 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:

A worker on the floor wearing a white hard hat holding his head.

If you’d like to learn about the key points from this guide, why not check out our video below:

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 To Make An Accident At Work Claim?
  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 parts. 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, those responsible for doing so can refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for guidance. This text provides guideline 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. Please note, however, that the first entry of this table has not been taken from the JCG.

Edit
Injury Type Additional Details Example Compensation Award
Multiple serious injuries and special damages Multiple serious injuries alongside financial losses, such as lost earnings, the cost of prescriptions, and the cost of home adjustments. Up to £1,000,000+
Very Severe Head Injuries Full time nursing care is required as despite the return of eye-opening and waking and sleep patterns, there is little to no meaningful evidence of response to the surrounding environment paired with double incontinence. £282,010 to £403,990
Moderately Severe Head Injuries There is a very serious cognitive or physical disability with a substantial dependence on others. £219,070 to £282,010
Severe Neck Injuries (i) Neck injuries that cause spastic quadriparesis, incomplete paraplegia, or that prevents the claimant from moving their neck despite the constant wearing of a collar. In the region of
£148,330
Moderate Neck Injuries (i) Injuries such as dislocations or fractures that immediately cause severe symptoms, as well as chronic conditions. £24,990 to
£38,490
Severe Back Injuries (i) This bracket contains the most severe injuries, such as damage to the spinal cord and nerve root injuries causing paralysis. £91,090 to £160,980
Severe Back Injuries (ii) These injuries have special features that raise them up from lower brackets, such as nerve root damage that causes some loss of sensation. £74,160 to £88,430
Chest Injuries (b) A traumatic injury to the lungs or chest that caused permanent damage and reduced a person’s life expectancy. £65,740 to £100,670
Moderate Ankle Injuries (c) A fracture that leads to a less serious disability such as the person having difficulty walking on uneven ground or standing for long periods of time. £13,740 to £26,590
Moderate Knee Injuries (b) (ii) Brusing, twisting or laceration injuries that cause occasional pain with aching and discomfort. Up to £13,740

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, including if you received Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
  • 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.

A worker laying on the floor following a workplace accident

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. The Health And Safety Executive (HSE) provides guidance to employers and businesses on workplace health and safety. Additionally, it is your employer’s responsibility to ensure that they comply with any relevant health and safety laws.

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 after a slip, trip or fall at work.
  • 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.

A man in blue dungarees sat on the floor holding his back.

What Evidence Can Help Prove An Injury At Work Claim?

When making a work accident claim, it’s essential that you have enough evidence to prove who caused your injuries, how they occurred, and how they are going to affect your life going forwards.

Some examples of evidence that you could use to strengthen your claim for workplace injury compensation can include:

  • Photographs: Photographic evidence, such as pictures of your injuries or of the site of the accident, can be very useful.
  • Medical records: Your medical records can give more insight into the nature of your injuries. Likewise, an independent medical assessment could be arranged to provide further medical evidence.
  • Witness statements: Taking down the contact details of those who witnessed your accident allows their statements to be taken at a later date.
  • CCTV footage: If your accident was caught on a CCTV system, then you might be able to request the footage to be used as evidence in your claim.
  • Accident book logs: By law,  workplaces with ten or more staff members must have an accident book. Logging your accident in this book creates a permanent record, which can be used as evidence to strengthen your claim.

One of the benefits of working with a personal injury solicitor on your claim is that they can help you find further evidence to support your case. To find out how one of our accident at work solicitors could help you, contact our team of advisors today.

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

You might like to know how long after an accident at work can you claim. 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 with the help of one of our accident at work solicitors.

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.

Talk about accident at work compensation examples with a personal injury solicitor.

Why Claim With Legal Expert Solicitors?

In addition to the No Win No Fee service, there are many benefits to having the support of an experienced solicitor for your claim. One of our solicitors can help you by:

  • Ensuring that your claim is correctly valued with all of your injuries accounted for as well as anything you might be entitled to under special damages.
  • Gathering compelling evidence needed to support your personal injury compensation claim.
  • Presenting your accident at work claim in full and within the personal injury claims time limit.
  • Making sure that any important documents are sent.
  • Adhering to any court-set deadlines.
  • Providing you with any case updates and explaining legal jargon.

Direct any questions you have about accidents at work compensation examples to a member of our team. They can also assess whether you could be eligible to work with one of our solicitors on an accident at work claim.

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Additional Guides And Further Resources

We hope our guide on how to make an accident at work claim and seek accident at work compensation has helped. We have also provided additional guides exploring different aspects of personal injury claims.

We have also provided the following external resources that could help:

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    • Patrick Mallon

      Patrick is a Grade A solicitor having qualified in 2005. He's an an expert in accident at work and public liability claims and is currently our head of the EL/PL department. Get in touch today for free to see how we can help you.