Farming and Agricultural Accident Claims Guide – How To Claim Compensation?
By Michael Patrick. Last Updated 7th October 2024. Welcome to our guide on farm accident claims and farm accident compensation. On this page, you will find information on making farming accident claims and agricultural accident claims. Throughout the duration of this guide, we shall be covering the accidents that cause them, and the process for claiming damages. The guide is aimed at providing people who have suffered an injury caused by an accident on a farm, with all the information they need to understand how their legal team will make the claim.
If you prefer, you can skip reading this guide entirely and contact our team to begin making a claim. To do this, simply call Legal Expert on 0800 073 8804 today, and we will take it from there.
Select a Section:
- A Guide To Farming Accident Claims
- What Injuries And Accidents Can Happen On A Farm?
- How Can Farmers Prevent Accidents And Injuries?
- What Can Farm Accident Compensation Claims Include?
- Farming Accident Claims Compensation Calculator
- No Win No Fee Agriculture And Farming Accident Claims
- Talk To Legal Expert Today
- Helpful Links
A Guide To Farming Accident Claims
The farm is legally obligated to take proper care to avoid causing foreseeable harm to both employees and visitors. This is what is known as a ‘duty of care’. Should this duty be breached by the farm and you sustain injuries in a farming accident, you could be eligible for compensation.
Farming Accidents At Work
If you are an employee at the farm, your employer must take reasonably practicable steps to ensure your health, safety and welfare while you are carrying out your work duties. This is the duty of care as set under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). Should your employer fail to adhere to all relevant health and safety legislation and you sustain an injury, you could be eligible to make a farm accident claim.
For example, if there is a blockage in a harvester and you have not been appropriately trained in how to remove it, but you are expected to do so, you could suffer an arm amputation. Your employer must ensure that you are sufficiently trained for any work tasks you are expected to carry out.
Farming Accidents For Visitors
If you are a visitor at a farm, the business or individual in control of the farm, also known as the occupier, must ensure you are reasonably safe if you are using that space for its intended purpose. This is the duty of care set out in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. Should a breach in this duty occur and you sustain injuries in a farming accident, you could be eligible to make a farm accident compensation claim.
For example, if you trip on a trailing wire, you could break your arm. Occupiers should ensure that any spaces accessible to members of the public are clean and clear of clutter.
Direct any questions about farming accident claims to a member of our advisory team. They can check your eligibility to claim and if you meet the criteria, could help you get one started today.
What Injuries And Accidents Can Happen On A Farm?
Now we’ve explained the various laws surrounding making farm accident claims, this section looks at what injuries might be caused in accidents on farms. The presence of heavy vehicles, machinery and animals means a large variety of farm accidents can occur. We have provided a possible list here:
- Accidents involving animals.
- Damage to limbs from getting caught in machinery such as ploughs or cultivators.
- Burns from chemicals.
- Crush injuries from heavy objects.
- Vehicle collisions.
- Slips, trips and falls.
As we said above, the farm management and any supervisors have a duty of care to minimise the risks of these incidents occurring as far as they reasonably can. This is something we’ll examine in a later section.
For more information on making a farming accident claim, contact our advisors today using the details provided below.
How Can Farmers Prevent Accidents And Injuries?
Above, we explained many of the risks involved in farming, that could lead to a worker or member of the public to begin the farm accident claims process. We also explained how UK Health & Safety regulations are in place to mitigate many of these risks, reducing the number of accidents that might lead to agricultural accident claims. These guidelines cover safety issues such as:
- Training – making sure that all farmworkers are trained properly to do the jobs they are asked to do. This also includes making sure that the drivers of farm vehicles such as tractors are not only trained but also qualified in driving the vehicle.
- Risk assessments- ensuring that any risks to workers are identified and removed or reduced.
- Maintenance – making sure that all farm machinery, equipment and vehicles are maintained properly, to ensure that the chance of accidents at work caused by equipment is as low as possible.
- Storage – making sure that all chemicals which could be harmful to farmworkers are stored correctly and safely.
- Animal care – making sure that the farm animals and livestock are cared for properly, and that they have a proper environment to live in, making them much safer to handle.
Ultimately, your employer has a duty of care to ensure your safety as far as is reasonably possible while you’re working. Failure of them to do so could be grounds for a claim.
Legal Expert is a team of agricultural and farm machinery accident claims solicitors, that can give you expert agriculture and farming accident claims advice. Call us at the number at the bottom of this page to begin a claim.
What Can Farm Accident Compensation Claims Include?
You may be wondering what kind of damages can be included in agricultural accident claims. When you make a compensation claim for common farm injuries and agricultural accidents, your eventual settlement will comprise of a number of different damages. However, these damages fit into two basic categories, general damages and special damages, thus:
- General damages (for the physical aspects of your injury).
- The pain and suffering of both the initial accident and the injury it caused.
- Any psychological damage such as shock, trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder.
- To compensate you for any long-term or permeant effects of your injury that will have an effect upon your quality of life.
- Special damages (for all the non-physical aspects of your injury).
- Medical fees if you have had to pay any out of your own pocket, and also the cost of over the counter medication or prescription charges.
- Travel costs if you have had to pay out of your own pocket to visit the hospital, or to visit your legal team as part of your claim.
- Loss of earnings due to having to miss time off work causing you to lose out on pay.
- Loss of future earnings if the injury will leave you with a permanent disability that will affect your ability to work.
- Ad-hoc losses such as missing a plane flight due to the accident, for which you did not receive a refund.
These are the typical types of damages that can be included in agricultural and farming accident claims. Call Legal Expert on the number at the bottom of this page and we will be able to give you a much better idea of what you can be included in farm accident claims.
Farming Accident Claims Compensation Calculator
It is very hard to give an accurate estimate of how much a person might receive for farm accident claims. This is because every claim is different. However, based on farm injury statistics and the historical amounts that have been paid to victims, the table below will give you a general idea of how much can be paid out for farming accident claims and agricultural accident claims.
These figures were taken from the Judicial College Guidelines. This is a document with a list of guideline compensation payouts for different injuries. It can be used to help calculate farm injury compensation. Please note that the figure in the top row was not taken from this document but is instead included to show you how your settlement may include compensation for multiple injuries and special damages. This table is only intended as guidance.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries and Special Damages | Very Severe | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain Damage | Very Severe | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Paralysis | Paraplegia | £267,340 to £346,890 |
| Arm Amputations | Loss of One Arm (i) | Not less than £167,380 |
| Hand Injuries | Total or Effective Loss of One Hand | £117,360 to £133,810 |
| Foot Injuries | Severe | £51,220 to £85,460 |
| Hand Injuries | Less Serious | £17,640 to £35,390 |
| Back Injuries | Moderate (i) | £33,880 to £47,320 |
| Severe Leg Injuries | Moderate (iv) | £33,880 to £47,840 |
| Toe Injuries | Severe | £16,770 to £25,710 |
If you call Legal Expert on the number at the bottom of this page, we will be able to go over your particular case and calculate how much compensation we believe that you could be awarded.
No Win No Fee Agriculture And Farming Accident Claims
Legal Expert offers our No Win No Fee claims service to every UK resident, no matter where they are located. We believe that this is the simplest, most effective way for a person that has suffered an injury in a farm accident to make a personal injury claim.
Under our No Win No Fee agreement, the only time we will ever expect you to actually pay any of our legal fees, is when you receive an actual damages settlement and not before. You don’t need to pay anything at all to begin your claim, and even if it takes months to resolve, we won’t ask you to pay any ongoing costs. And in the very rare eventuality that we actually fail to claim any compensation for you, then you don’t pay us anything.
This makes the Legal Expert personal injury claims service an entirely risk-free way, from a financial perspective, to get the compensation you deserve.
Talk To Legal Expert Today
Have you suffered an injury due to a farm accident that was caused by a third party? If you are someone that is questioning whether farming accident claims and agricultural accident claims could be a suitable course of action then why not contact our team? Call Legal Expert on 0800 073 8804 today.
We will spend a little time asking you some questions so that we can get a better idea of your claim. Once we have done this, we will offer you some free no-obligation legal advice on what we think you should do next.
Helpful Links
At the link below, you will find statistics covering fatal accidents in the farming industry in the UK published by the Health & Safety Executive:
HSE statistics on farming accident fatalities
At the link below, you can find full details of the farming safety guidelines published by the UK Health & Safety Executive at the link below:
HSE Regulations for the Farming Industry
At the link below, you will find a guide to how much compensation you might be able to claim for a farming injury:
At the link below, you will find NHS published information about brucellosis:
At the link below, you will find a full guide to making a farming accident compensation claim for a personal injury:
A guide to making a farming injury claim
At the link below, you will find a full guide to making a compensation claim on a No Win No Fee basis for a personal injury:
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