How To Sue A Company For An Injury – Claiming Compensation
By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 8th November 2023. Have you been injured in the workplace? If your workplace injury was caused due to negligent behaviour by your employer, you may have questions such as how to sue a company for an injury. Some people may be worried about making any kind of workplace accident claim, as they may fear the repercussions of making a claim against their employer. They may fear that it will create bad blood between them and their employer while others may worry that they could be sacked.
how to sue a company for injury
However, if your employer is liable for your injuries, and you take appropriate legal action, there should be nothing to fear. Moreover, you can also potentially make a claim that involves suing a company for an injury even if you were not an employee.
For more information, you can reach us by:
- Calling 0800 073 8804
- Completing our online contact form
- Chatting to us on our live support feature
But before you do so, read on to discover everything you need to know about launching a claim of this nature and the personal injury law UK in place.
Select A Section
- When Am I Eligible To Sue A Company For Injuries?
- Evidence To Sue A Company For Negligence
- Suing For Damages – How Much Could I Claim?
- Time Limits For Suing A Company For An Injury
- How To Sue A Company On A No Win No Fee Basis
When Am I Eligible To Sue A Company For Injuries?
When you are suing a company (that is also your workplace) for an injury you suffered while you were at work, you will need to meet certain eligibility criteria to have a valid personal injury claim. These are:
- Your employer owed you a duty of care.
- They breached this duty.
- You suffered injuries as a result of this breach.
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers owe all of their employees a duty of care. The exact responsibilities held by a company will depend on the type of work their staff is involved in. In summary, though, employers should take reasonable steps to protect their staff while they are working.
Therefore, if you can prove that you suffered an injury while at work due to your employer failing to adhere to their duty of care, you may be able to make a personal injury claim.
If you contact our advisors about your potential claim for a work accident, they can review your case and help establish if you have strong grounds to claim compensation. Contact our advisors today to learn more about your eligibility or to ask other questions, such as how to sue an employer for a work accident.
Evidence To Sue A Company For Negligence
You might have valid reasons to sue a company as we covered earlier in this article. However, if you are wondering how to sue a company for negligence, you will need to submit evidence that proves your injuries were caused by a breach in the duty of care owed to you.
Examples of useful evidence that could help prove employer negligence includes:
- Accident book. This should be filled in with your name, date and time, along with details of the incident.
- These could be of the accident scene or of your injury is if it was visible, such as swelling or lacerations.
- Footage of the accident. For example, you can request CCTV for a personal injury claim. Additionally, another party may have filmed the accident on their phone.
- Witness contact information. If anyone saw what happened, they can give a statement at a later date.
If you need any advice on gathering evidence, our advisors would be happy to help. Any legal advice they give to you is free. Additionally, they can assess the validity of your claim. Should it seem to them like you might successfully recover workplace injury compensation, they could connect you with our No Win No Fee solicitors specialising in accident at work claims.
Suing For Damages – How Much Could I Claim?
Suing for damages could help you recover some of your losses due to an injury if it was caused by someone else’s negligence. You could sue for pain and suffering or sue for damages of a financial nature. This is known as general damages and special damages, respectively.
To successfully sue a company in the UK, you need to prove that they were at fault and that their actions or inactions caused you to get injured or made your symptoms worse.
When suing for damages, it may help to have an idea of what your claim may be worth. To do so, you can use the table below which includes example payouts from the 2022 edition of the Judicial College Guidelines. These figures are calculated using past court claims payouts so are only a rough guide as to what you could receive in a successful claim.
| Injury | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Paralysis | (a) Tetraplegia – The figure awarded will depend on several factors such as life expectancy and age. | £324,600 to £403,990 |
| Brain damage | (a) Very Severe – Various factors will be considered when determining the award, such as life expectancy. | £282,010 to £403,990 |
| Epilepsy | (a) Established Grand Mal | £102,000 to £150,110 |
| General psychiatric damage | (a) Severe – Issues caused in many areas of life, including work and education. | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| Sight | (d) Total loss of one eye – The final payment will depend on factors such as the victim’s age, the cosmetic effects of the injury and whether there are any psychiatric consequences. | £54,830 to £65,710 |
| Wrist | (a) This bracket applies to wrist injuries that have caused complete loss of function in the wrist. | £47,620 to £59,860 |
| Chest | (c) Lasting disability caused by damage to the lung(s) and chest. | £31,310 to £54,830 |
| Hearing | (c) Total loss of hearing in one ear – Compensation will be towards the higher end of the bracket if there are associated problems such as tinnitus. | £31,310 to £45,540 |
| Asthma | (b) Where chronic asthma has necessitated the occasional use of inhaler and caused breathing difficulties as well as other issues. | £26,290 to £43,010 |
| Shoulder | (b) Serious – This bracket covers various types of shoulder injuries such as dislocations, rotator cuff injuries or damage to the lower part of the brachial plexus. Symptoms will usually be intrusive and permanent. | £12,770 to £19,200 |
For a more accurate estimate, get in touch with us at any time.
Time Limits For Suing A Company For An Injury
If you are suing a company for an injury you suffered, you must ensure you start the process within the relevant time limit. Under the Limitation Act 1980, you will have three years to start your claim from the date the accident occurred.
This time limit can work differently under some circumstances. For instance, the time limit is paused for those under the age of 18. While it is paused, a litigation friend can claim for them. If a claim is not made y their 18th birthday, then they will have three years to start one from this date.
The time limit is suspended if the claimant doesn’t have the mental capacity to make a claim. A litigation friend can claim for them while it is suspended. It will only come into force if the claimant recovers/
Contact our advisors today for more advice on the criteria for suing for damages following a workplace accident.
How To Sue A Company On A No Win No Fee Basis
There are many benefits associated with the No Win No Fee approach. First and foremost, there are many financial advantages to be gained by making No Win No Fee personal injury claims as opposed to going down the traditional route.
To begin with, you don’t actually need any money to begin your claim. This is often one of the biggest hurdles for people when it comes to making a personal injury case. Aside from this, financial risk is eliminated. With a traditional service, people are often worried that they are going to invest a lot of money in a solicitor to then lose their case. The monetary risk is not as high when it comes to a No Win No Fee personal injury lawyer.
This means that you benefit from a much better service. After all, the personal injury solicitor working on your case is going to be more impacted by the outcome than a traditional solicitor would be. Therefore, you are likely to reap the rewards of better quality, and your case will receive the full amount of attention it deserves.
It is also worth considering the fact that a No Win No Fee solicitor will only take on your case if they actually believe there is a good chance of it being a success. They won’t waste your time or theirs. You will be pleased to know that all of our provided solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis at Legal Expert.
If you have any queries or you would like to make a claim, please do not hesitate to get in touch:
- Calling 0800 073 8804
- Completing a contact form
- Chatting to us on our live support feature
Resources And Useful Links
Hopefully, you have found this guide informative. If you need any further advice, though, the links below may be just what you are looking for.
- Government advice on reporting accidents and incidents at work
- ABI information on public liability insurance
- Government information on employer’s liability insurance
- Our guide to accident at work claims
- Supermarket accident claims guide
- Our guide on theme park accident claims
- Gillingham Personal Injury Solicitors
- Gloucester Personal Injury Solicitors
- Gosport Personal Injury Solicitors
- Grantham Personal Injury Solicitors
- Greenock Personal Injury Solicitors
- Greenwich Personal Injury Solicitors
- Grimsby Personal Injury Solicitors
- Guildford Personal Injury Solicitors
- Hackney Personal Injury Solicitors
- Halesowen Personal Injury Solicitors
- Foot Injury Claims
- Get help claiming ankle injury compensation with our informative guide.
- Find out how to claim for an accident at work if you were injured working as a server or wait staff with our informative article.
If you have still have any questions on how to sue a company for an injury, you can contact our advisors using the details highlighted above.
