Who Could Claim Permanent Injury Compensation?

Last Updated 10th December 2025. When an accident results in particularly severe injuries, it can lead to lasting harm that can cause lifelong complications and challenges. Knowing that you will not be able to return to the level of health you had pre-injury can be deeply distressing. If this harm resulted from the negligent actions of a third party, you may be eligible to pursue permanent injury compensation with a solicitor here at Legal Expert.

When it comes to your permanent injury compensation claim, you deserve to have a solicitor by your side who genuinely cares about you and your case. Here at Legal Expert, we prioritise our clients’ financial health by providing our services on a No Win No Fee basis. Our solicitors are also committed to providing a comprehensive service that supports clients on their journey towards finalising a permanent injury settlement. If you are looking for legal representation that is both experienced and compassionate, get in touch with us today.

The Big Questions Answered

• Are there common types of permanent injuries? Yes, some of the most common include traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), organ damage, paralysis, severe burns, and limb loss.
• What types of accidents can cause permanent injuries? They often result from high-impact road traffic accidents, falls from height, slips, and trips.
• How can permanent injuries affect a person’s life? Permanent injuries can cause ongoing physical limitations, chronic pain, significant emotional struggles, and financial impacts.
• Can I also claim for a permanent psychological injury? Yes, if it resulted from the same accident, personal injury compensation can cover psychological damage, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Can I claim compensation for a permanent injury without a solicitor? You can, but having an experienced personal injury solicitor by your side can increase your chances of securing the highest possible compensation.

Find out today if you can pursue permanent injury compensation with one of our expert solicitors by contacting our team of advisors, available 24/7.

Could I Claim Permanent Injury Compensation?

A permanent injury is an injury that will affect a person for the rest of their life. This could be a mental or physical injury and could involve conditions such as:

• Quadriplegia
• Paralysis
• Severe burn injuries
• Permanent organ damage
• Significant loss of function of a body part
• A traumatic brain injury
• Loss of an arm or leg
• The loss of a hand or finger
• Loss of a foot or toe
• The loss of a tooth or teeth
• Loss of hearing
• PTSD

Whether you have sustained a permanent injury at work, in a car accident, in a public place, or while receiving medical treatment, if it was due to negligence of those who had a duty of care to your health and well being, you could be eligible to claim permanent injury compensation. To do so, you’d have to prove:

1. Someone had a duty of care towards you
2. They breached this duty
3. Their breach of the duty of care towards you caused you to sustain a permanent injury.

In the sections below, we describe some examples of permanent injuries and how they could affect your life. If you have sustained a different type of permanent injury than those mentioned below, we could give you further information about claiming permanent injury compensation over the phone and could assess your case for free. Our team can help assess permanent injury compensation payouts. 

How Long Do I Have To Claim Compensation?

If you suffered from a permanent injury in an accident that was not your fault, you typically have 3 years to start a compensation claim. This time limit automatically commences on the date you sustained your injuries. So, it is important to keep track of this.

The Limitation Act 1980 put this time limit in place for the majority of personal injury claims. However, some exceptions may apply to ensure everyone has a fair opportunity to start the claims process.

For example, the time limit on a claim may be paused if:

• The claimant is a child, as minors cannot legally start a claim. Here, the 3-year time limit will commence on their 18th birthday and end on their 21st birthday.
• The claimant does not have mental capacity and cannot start a claim independently. Here, the time limit is indefinitely frozen unless they regain mental capacity.

Permanent injury claims may be brought forward by a litigation friend if the time limit has been placed on pause. Anyone over the age of 18 may take on this responsibility, and they must act in the claimant’s best interests throughout the claims process.

If you would like help in finding out whether you are still within the time frame to claim permanent injury compensation, please contact our helpful advisors.

Permanent Traumatic Brain Injuries

If you have sustained a traumatic brain injury, this could lead to you suffering from a range of symptoms for the rest of your life, such as loss of concentration, memory, seizures, personality changes, and vertigo, to name just a few examples. This could affect your ability to work and to enjoy the same quality of life you had before you sustained your injuries.

A traumatic brain injury (TBI), could happen as the result of almost any accident in which your head is subjected to a heavy blow or jolt.

Common causes of TBI could include:

• Physical attacks
• Falls
• Vehicle collisions
• Combat incidents, such as explosions
• Sports injuries

You could also sustain a TBI if your skull is fractured or if something penetrates the tissue in your brain. While some brain injuries could be considered mild, and would only affect your brain cells temporarily, others could cause bleeding, bruising, torn tissues and types of physical damage to the brain. In such cases, the effects could be more damaging and could cause permanent loss of cognitive function, as well as affect other areas of the body. In some cases, a traumatic brain injury could lead to an injured party losing their life.

Claiming compensation for such an injury could involve claiming for ongoing care needs, future loss of earnings, and the pain and suffering caused by your injuries. A personal injury solicitor could help you fight for the maximum compensation possible for your case. We are experienced at securing permanent injury compensation payouts for people who have suffered TBIs. 

Permanent Paralysis Injuries

As we mentioned above, some spinal injuries could lead to permanent paralysis. If you are diagnosed with paralysis, this would mean that you would have lost the ability to move some, or all of your body. You could be paralysed in a wide variety of accidents, such as falls from heights, road traffic accidents and workplace accidents. Common causes of paralysis include brain injuries and spinal cord injuries. However, you could also be partially paralysed by a brachial plexus injury or by nerve damage.

If you have been paralysed in an accident that was not your fault, you may be eligible to claim compensation for the suffering and pain you’ve experienced, both mentally and physically. You may also be compensated for the costs of ongoing treatments, such as physiotherapy, mobility aids and more. A good lawyer could help you fight for the compensation that could make dealing with such an injury more bearable.

A Permanent Quadriplegic Injury

Unfortunately, some people who have been paralysed lose the use of both of their arms and legs. This is called quadriplegia and could result in a loss of sexual function, bowel function and more. The causes of quadriplegia could include:

• A car accident
• A fall
• Violent assault
• A botched medical procedure

Those who are diagnosed as being quadriplegic will be reliant on care for the rest of their lives, and this will come at a cost. For an injured party to have the best quality of life possible, they may have to pay for specialist medical treatments, aids and therapies. A compensation claim could not only compensate them for an inability to work because of their injuries but could also pay for the costs of ongoing care.

Loss Of A Limb

The loss of a limb could be another example of a permanent injury. Whether you have suffered the loss of a toe, the loss of a finger, the loss of a leg or an arm, this could significantly impact your life. For example:

• The loss of a toe could lead to difficulties with walking and balance
• Losing a finger could cause your grip to be impaired
• The loss of a leg could leave you with significant mobility issues
• Losing an arm could lead you to be unable to perform a variety of day-to-day tasks

All of the injuries above could lead to effects on your ability to work and live as you did before the accident. They could also cause permanent pain. In some cases, phantom limb pain could have a significant effect on mental health as well as the physical health of the injured party.

Claiming permanent injury compensation for the loss of a limb would not resolve the injury you’ve suffered, but it could pay for the therapies, treatments, and aids that could help you to move forward after such an injury.

Severe And Permanent Burn Injuries

A burn injury could be complex to treat and could depend on the substance you were burned by, the thickness of the burns and the surface area affected. All these factors could affect your ability to recover from them. In some cases, severe burn injuries could lead to permanent damage to the skin and unsightly scarring that may not be reversible. It could also, in some cases, lead to permanent damage to the lungs.

Claiming compensation for both the pain and suffering caused by your injuries, as well as any psychological effects of such injuries, could be something we could help with. Whether you’ve sustained chemical burns, electrical burns, or sustained burns in a fire accident that was not your fault, our solicitors may be able to get you compensated for your suffering.

Permanent Loss Of Sight

Loss of sight is something that could affect many aspects of a person’s life. Even if someone has lost sight in one eye, this may mean they have problems with balance and performing tasks once done with ease. If you have lost sight in both eyes, this could cause you to require a carer, a guide dog and you may need to make changes to your home in order to continue living independently. It could also have a significant effect on your ability to work and your mental health.

Claiming compensation for such a permanent injury, whether it is caused by an accident at work, a road traffic accident, or through clinical negligence, could help you pay for the aids you need, as well as compensating you for the suffering you’ve borne from such an injury.

Permanent Loss Of Hearing

Whether you’ve suffered industrial deafness, or you’ve lost your hearing because of a road accident, workplace accident or an accident in a public place, claiming permanent injury compensation would not restore your hearing. However, it could help you come to terms with your diagnosis and help you move forward with your injuries. It could also help to cover the costs of counselling you may need to come to terms with such an injury.

Loss Of A Tooth Or Several Teeth

A loss of a tooth may not seem like a significant injury when compared to those that mean you’ll never walk again, but it could affect you permanently and significantly. Whether you’ve lost a tooth or several teeth in a violent attack, due to dental negligence, or due to a work accident or road accident, this could lead to significant pain, as well as the loss of confidence in the way you look.

Not only could permanent injury compensation cover the costs of dental care, such as implants or false teeth, but it could also compensate you for the pain you’ve experienced, and the psychological damage you’ve suffered too.

Permanent Organ Damage

Damage to the internal organs could be serious. In some cases, if you’ve had to have an organ, such as a kidney, removed, this could lead to permanent effects on your health. Even in cases where the organ is left intact, if its function is affected, you may need treatment for the rest of your life, and your life expectancy may be reduced as a result.

Claiming compensation for permanent organ damage would require you to provide evidence of how the permanent damage could affect the rest of your life. A medical assessment would need to be conducted with an independent medical expert, who could then provide a medical report detailing the long-term effects of your injuries, whether you would be able to return to work with them, what care or medical treatment you’d need going forward, and what effect such an injury could have on your life expectancy.

Our experienced solicitors could use this evidence to fight for the maximum compensation possible for your specific injuries.

Disfigurement And Scarring

Whether you’ve been disfigured due to lacerations received in a car accident, physical attack, workplace accident or by way of medical negligence or burn injury, this may affect you emotionally as well as physically. It could also lead to you suffering nerve damage, sensitivity loss and pain.

If you have been affected physically or psychologically by your injuries, permanent injury compensation could pay for the costs of counselling to help you accept and move forward with your injuries, as well as corrective surgery that may not completely eradicate the disfigurement, but could lead to it being easier for you to live with.

Calculating Permanent Injury Compensation Amounts

So, how much permanent damage compensation could you receive if you make a successful claim? Well, the answer to this question can vary depending on a number of factors, including:

• How much evidence you have.
• How severe your injuries are.
• What kind of effects your injuries have had.
• Whether the other party accepts liability.

With that said, most compensation payouts for successful permanent injury claims can contain up to two different heads. The first head, general damages, is awarded to every successful claimant.

This heading of compensation covers the pain and suffering you endure as a result of your injuries. When professionals value permanent injury compensation under this heading, they might use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for help.

The JCG is a document that contains a list of injuries and illnesses alongside guideline compensation brackets. You can find some examples of these below, but keep in mind that these aren’t fixed or guaranteed amounts, so please use the table for guidance only. Notably, the first entry isn’t from the JCG. 

The second heading that you could receive is special damages. This kind of compensation covers the financial losses you experience as a result of your injuries, including the cost of:

• Home adjustments.
• Mobility aids.
• Professional nursing care.
• Lost earnings.
• Braille, sign language, and other accessibility lessons.
• Counselling.
• Childcare.
• Help with cooking and cleaning.
• Cosmetic aids.

These are only a few examples of the kinds of costs that could be covered by special damages. However, you will need to present evidence of them to be able to receive compensation for them. This could include invoices and bank statements, for example.

For more information on what you could receive from a successful permanent damage claim, contact us today.

No Win No Fee Permanent Injury Compensation Payouts

Making a claim with the help of a Legal Expert personal injury solicitor could be done under No Win No Fee payment terms. These types of claims require no service fees to be paid upfront, throughout the claim, or if you lose. Under a Conditional Fee Agreement, you’d agreed to pay your solicitor a success fee from your compensation if you win. The success fee is a legally capped small percentage, so you’d keep the largest share.

If you’d like to learn more about how No Win No Fee agreements work, or you’d like us to provide you with a solicitor under these terms, please call our team, and we’ll be glad to help.

Talk To Our Team

We hope this guide helped you learn more about permanent injury compensation payouts. You can contact us at any time, by:

• Phone 0800 073 8804
• Through live chat
• Or, through our contact form.

Essential References

• Permanent Injury Allowance NHS – You may be eligible for this benefit if you’ve sustained a permanent injury working for the NHS.
• Personal Independence Payment – You could apply for PIP as well as make a personal injury claim if you’ve been left disabled.
• No Win No Fee – This guide explains how to make a No Win No Fee claim and the benefits of doing so.
• Accident At Work? – Claims against employers for accidents at work are covered in this guide.
• Car Accident Claims – Our updated guide contains new information on making a car accident claim.
• Chemical Burn Injury Claims – Our updated guide on how to claim compensation for chemical burn injuries.

Guide By Jefferies

Edited BY Melissa.