Nerve Damage Claims – How To Get Compensation
By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 13th October 2023. Suffering a nerve damage injury can cause significant pain and disruption in a person’s life. If you’ve been impacted by such harm, you may wish to know if you can make a personal injury claim for compensation.
Below, we discuss all aspects of nerve damage claims. We explore the ways that these injuries can happen (such as in car accidents), how to make a claim and the evidence you may need.
We also offer some compensation examples for nerve damage and explain how our No Win No Fee solicitors can help you.
If you’d rather chat with us now to get some specialist legal advice, you can use the contact information below. We offer a free case check to everyone who gets in touch and if you did wish to make a claim, we can connect you with our personal injury solicitors who’ll get to work on your case right away.
You can reach us by:
- Calling 0800 073 8804
- You can also use the pop-up live chat box to speak to a member of our team
- Or you can see if you have a claim online by filling out the form on our website.
A Guide To Claiming Nerve Damage Compensation
Browse Our Guide
- Could I Make A Nerve Damage Claim?
- Proving Nerve Damage Claims
- How Do Nerve Damage Injuries Happen?
- What Is The Average Payout For Nerve Damage In The UK?
- What Is The Process Like For Claiming Nerve Damage Compensation?
- Make A No Win No Fee Nerve Damage Claim Today
- Learn More About Personal Injury Claims
Could I Make A Nerve Damage Claim?
Typically, you should be able to seek nerve damage compensation if the following criteria apply to you:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care (such as your employer or another road user)
- That duty of care was breached
- And, as a result, you suffered an injury
Generally, establishing that a duty of care existed is straightforward. All employers and road users (like drivers and cyclists) owe each other such a duty.
The tricky part can be proving that duty was breached. This is achieved with evidence, which we’ll discuss in more detail below.
It can be difficult to know whether or not you have a valid nerve damage claim. We can answer any questions you may have about making a claim and can offer you free legal advice. What’s more, if you have a claim, we can connect you to a personal injury lawyer to handle your case on a No Win No Fee basis. Simply call us on the number at the top of this page to learn more.
How Long Do I Have To Claim Nerve Damage Compensation?
There’s also another piece of criteria when it comes to nerve damage claims and that’s the personal injury time limit.
There is a typical 3-year time limit to start a claim. The Limitation Act 1980 sets this as the time limit for personal injury and medical negligence claims. You could start your claim within three years of the date of the incident, or three years from the date of knowledge. Date of knowledge is the date you became aware your injuries were connected to negligence.
However, there are circumstances in which the injured party cannot start a claim for themselves. These suspend the limitation period. They include:
- The time limit is suspended until the date of their 18th birthday. This means that they have three years from turning 18 to start a claim. However, a litigation friend could start legal proceedings on their behalf at any time during the suspension.
- Those who lack the mental capacity to start a claim will see the time limit suspended indefinitely. Should they regain capacity, the limitation period starts from that date, giving them three years to start a claim. However, as with children, a litigation friend could begin legal proceedings on their behalf at any time during the suspension.
If you have any queries about nerve damage compensation or the limitation period, call our advisors. They can assess the chances of your claim succeeding and could put you in touch with our solicitors.
Proving Nerve Damage Claims
You can choose to pursue a nerve damage compensation claim either on your own or potentially with the support of a solicitor. If you have evidence to potentially support a claim, we highly recommend hiring a solicitor who has handled such cases before, like ourselves.
When you contact us, we can help answer questions about your potential case. And if you have strong grounds to make a claim, we may also be able to offer you direct support from one of our solicitors.
If one of our solicitors does support your claim, they may extend the fact-finding process to take in as much information to support your case as possible. This could include attempting to gain access to CCTV footage and other evidence, for example.
We have included a few examples of key pieces of evidence that can be helpful to acquire:
- CCTV footage – It’s possible that the incident that caused nerve damage may have been caught on a surveillance system such as CCTV. If you appear in the footage, you have the right to request a copy.
- Medical evidence – Following treatment, your medical records will contain important information relating to your injuries and their severity. This can also assist in the process of valuing your claim.
- Witness contact details – If there were others who saw how you were injured, it can be very useful for you to have a way to contact them so a legal professional can later collect their statement.
Get in touch if you want to know more about the average payout for nerve damage. Or, you can head to our nerve damage compensation calculator for an estimation of your claim.
How Do Nerve Damage Injuries Happen?
Our central nervous system runs along our body, from head to toe, meaning that you could have a nerve damage injury in many different parts of your body.
Suffering Nerve Damage After A Car Accident
Any moderate to severe injury is likely to cause some sort of nerve damage. And as car accidents and other forms of road traffic accidents are the most common form of injuries in the UK, it follows that car accidents and road traffic accidents are also major causes of nerve damage claims being made.
Where an injury does cause nerve damage, the superficial wound itself may heal long before the nerve damage does. For example, a deep cut or an intrusive fracture will heal within weeks, but nerve damage could take months or even years to recover, if ever.
If you’ve suffered nerve damage after a car accident, compensation could be received if you’re able to prove that your injury was caused by negligence. In Great Britain, every road user has a duty of care as illustrated in The Highway Code. You would need to prove that your injury was caused by another road user breaching this duty of care causing you to suffer a nerve damage injury.
Get in touch with Legal Expert if you would like to ask related queries such as the average payout for nerve damage from a car accident.
Trauma Caused By An Accident At Work
Workplace and industrial accidents are the second most common way that nerve damage injuries happen in the UK. Slips, trips or fall accidents at work can result in compound injuries that feature nerve damage as a component.
More severe injuries, such as getting a hand or arm stuck in heavy machinery, can result in severe, potentially permanent damage.
An employer is liable to pay compensation if they have failed to follow health and safety regulations, directly leading to a nerve damage injury.
Successful nerve damage claims from accidents at work in Great Britain come from proving that your employer breached their duty of care. This is illustrated in The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Nerve Damage Caused By Medical Negligence
Accidents in public places or at work are not the only way you can suffer nerve damage due to another person’s negligence. Cases involving medical accidents are also relevant to this discussion.
Medically, the most common cause of nerve damage is negligence in the administration of anaesthesia to patients. When anaesthesia is administered – whether it’s locally, regionally, or even generally – medical professionals must take certain precautions. in order to avoid contact with any nerve. When these precautions are not followed, it could result in devastating nerve damage.
For local anaesthesia, when a syringe is used to administer an anaesthetic, the needle must not come in contact with a nerve. Also, regional anaesthesia cases can include injections into the spinal column, a part of the body that hosts many of the most important nerves. Should the injection interfere with or harm these nerves, the effects can be very serious. For medical treatments where general anaesthesia is required, the body’s inability to sense or react to potentially harmful issues means that the possibility of nerve damage is increased.
As well as the administration of anaesthesia, other examples of medical negligence can include:
- Severed nerves as a result of knee replacement surgery.
- Hernia surgery, where there is a likelihood of damage done to the inguinal and genitofemoral nerve.
- Failure to diagnose certain degenerative conditions related to the nervous system.
- Improper use of equipment (surgical negligence), such as surgical retractors and surgical tourniquets.
Some of the above complications can be severe and could require compensation. If you’re interested in claims for nerve damage compensation after surgery, our team can help you.
What Is The Average Payout For Nerve Damage In The UK?
Unfortunately, we cannot offer an average payout for nerve damage. This is because nerve damage compensation is calculated individually, on a case-by-case basis. The amount you could receive is affected by a number of factors, including the severity of your injuries, and how long your treatment will take.
Typically, compensation in personal injury claims is made up of two heads. The first of these is general damages, which address both physical and psychological injuries and the pain and suffering they cause, as well as loss of amenity. Often, legal professionals refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), which provides guideline compensation brackets. You can find some examples of these brackets below.
| Injury | Degree | Amount | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back Injury | Severe (i) | £91,090 to £160,980 | Severe damage to the nerve roots and spinal cord leading to serious consequences. |
| Back Injury | Severe (ii) | £74,160 to £88,430 | Such injuries could include nerve root damage, impaired mobility and sexual difficulties. |
| Leg Injury | Less Serious (i) | £17,960 to £27,760 | Injuries may include nerve damage in the lower limbs and serious soft tissue damage. |
| Skeletal Injury | Fractures of Nose or Nasal Complex (i) | £10,640 to £23,130 | Serious or multiple fractures that cause damage to the nerves, airways and tear ducts. |
| Hand Injury | Serious Thumb Injury | £12,590 to £16,760 | The tip of the thumb is amputated with nerve root damage. |
| Hand Injury | Moderate Thumb Injury | £9,670 to £12,590 | Damage to the nerves or tendons resulting in impaired sensation. |
The second head of claim is special damages. This head of claim covers the financial impacts caused by your injuries, for example:
- Loss of earnings
- Travel costs
- The cost of mobility aids
- Prescription costs
- Home adjustment costs
To learn more about nerve damage compensation, or to find out how a nerve damage compensation calculator could potentially help you, contact our team of advisors today.
Special Damages In Nerve Damage Compensation Claims
Special damages are awarded for any financial harm or losses you have incurred as a result of your injuries. For example, you might pay for physiotherapy costs as you recover from your nerve damage. If you wish to be reimbursed for these costs, you will need to provide evidence. A receipt or invoice from your healthcare provider could be used to prove medical expenses.
Additionally, you may spend money on travelling to and from medical appointments regarding your injury. You can include this cost when you claim personal injury compensation for nerve damage, but again, you must provide proof of any costs. To prove travel expenses, you could use a gas or petrol receipt, or a train or bus ticket.
If your nerve damage is severe and results in you taking time off work, your earning capacity could be reduced. You could use wage slips as evidence for a loss of earnings. Should your nerve damage be permanent and result in you not being able to work in the same occupation anymore, you could also claim for a future loss of earnings.
For more information on what the average payout for nerve damage in the UK is, connect with one of our friendly advisors using our live chat function. You could also be connected with one of our specialist personal injury solicitors.
What Is The Process Like For Claiming Nerve Damage Compensation?
If you have suffered nerve damage because another party breached the duty of care they owed you, then you should first make sure you get the medical treatment you require. If you wish to pursue starting a claim, then you should start gathering evidence for your case as soon as you can after receiving treatment.
You can also choose to get help from a personal injury solicitor. A solicitor could review the details of your case by asking you questions and determining what evidence could be acquired. If they determine you have a valid claim, they may then offer to help you under a signed agreement. If you contact our advisors, they could review your case and may connect you with one of our experienced solicitors.
If a solicitor agrees to support your nerve damage compensation claim, they can guide you through the next steps of the process. A solicitor can also assist with gathering evidence and calculating the value of your claim. When these steps are done, your solicitor can then contact the party you’re claiming against to discuss reaching a settlement. Your solicitor can work on getting a payout agreement before any court proceedings become necessary.
You can contact our advisors for free today to ask them questions about the process of claiming or other matters, such as the average payout for nerve damage.
Make A No Win No Fee Nerve Damage Claim Today
Beginning a nerve damage compensation claim can seem complicated, and you might not know where to start, but one of our solicitors may be able to help. With years of experience in personal injury law, they can help you support your claim and ensure that all areas of your claim are fully considered. This includes the likes of accurately calculating special damages like loss of earnings, and properly accounting for the psychological injuries you may suffer alongside the physical injuries.
Alongside these benefits, our solicitors offer their assistance on a No Win No Fee basis. This means that, through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), they will begin work on your claim without asking for any upfront fees, and you won’t pay a fee to retain their services. Plus, if your claim does not succeed, then you won’t pay a fee to your solicitor for the work they put into your case.
However, should your claim succeed, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from your final award. This fee is a small, legally-capped percentage and is taken straight from your compensation. The legal cap is in place to help ensure that you keep the majority of what you receive.
Start A Nerve Damage Claim
Our team of advisors can help you identify whether you have a valid claim, and may be able to connect you with one of our solicitors. Get in touch today to find out if you could be eligible to claim compensation for nerve damage:
- Call our team on 0800 073 8804
- Contact us online
- Use the live chat feature
Learn More About Personal Injury Claims
If you’d like to learn more about personal injury claims, especially those relating to nerve damage, we’ve included some useful information below:
- Nerve injury The British Society for Surgery of the Hand – More information on nerve injuries from the British Society for Surgery of Hand.
- How Much Compensation For a Spinal Injury Claim? – Find out the compensation amounts for a spinal injury claim.
- How Much Compensation Can I Claim For A Serious Injury? – If you have suffered from a severe injury it’s very important you get the very best advice contact us for extra support and guidance.
- How Long Do I Have to Make A Claim Following An Injury At Work? – Find out what the time limits are regarding workplace injury claims.
- Neck Injury Claims
- Read this article to learn more about claiming for a crane accident.
- Facial Injury Claims
- Our guide offers more information on making arm injury claims and how a No Win No Fee solicitor could help.
- Find out how much compensation you could potentially receive for a back injury claim with our guide.
- Get help with claiming for an accident on a building site and learn more about the personal injury claims process.
If you’d like more information and advice on nerve damage claims, contact us at Legal Expert. No question is too big or small.
