Make A Serious Brain Injury Claim
By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 4th June 2024. This guide will share details on when and how a serious brain injury claim can be made. Firstly, we will review the criteria that must be met for you to be eligible to make a personal injury claim following an accident causing a brain injury.
When working, travelling on the road, or spending time in a public place, you are owed a duty of care. We will look at the third parties who owe the duty of care to keep you safe in these spaces and give examples of where a breach of this duty could lead to a serious injury.
Brain injuries can be life-changing events, potentially disrupting financial security as well as physical and mental health. After reviewing the evidence you can gather for a claim, we will cover the heads of claim under which you can seek compensation for the impact of your injuries.
If you need support with a serious brain injury claim or would like some free advice, you can speak with an advisor from our team. They can tell you about the No Win No Fee terms under which our solicitors could help you make a claim.
You can reach an advisor at a time that suits you by:
- Asking about your claim online;
- Calling 0800 073 8804;
- Selecting the live chat feature below
Select A Section
- Can I Make A Serious Brain Injury Claim?
- What Types Of Serious Brain Injury Could You Claim Compensation For?
- Do I Need Evidence To Prove My Serious Brain Injury Claim?
- How Much Compensation Could I Receive?
- How Long Do Serious Brain Injury Claims Take?
- Why Choose Our Brain Injury Solicitors?
Can I Make A Serious Brain Injury Claim?
For a serious brain injury claim to be valid, it will need to meet the eligibility criteria listed below:
- A third party owed you a duty of care.
- They breached that duty of care.
- The breach led to an accident that caused your physical and/or mental harm.
The three points above lay the foundation of negligence in claims for a personal injury. If there is evidence to show negligence occurred, it may be possible to seek compensation.
What Is The Limitation For Your Claim?
Personal injury claims need to be started within the time limit set out by the Limitation Act 1980. This limit is typically three years after an accident occurs.
Exceptions can sometimes apply to this limitation period. For example, if the claimant lacks the mental capacity to make their own claim, the time limit is suspended indefinitely. During this time, a suitable adult can make an application to the courts to act as a litigation friend and make the claim on their behalf. If this is not done, and the person recovers their mental capacity, they will have three years from the recovery date to seek compensation for their injuries.
You can learn more about time limits, and whether any exceptions could apply to a serious brain injury claim, by giving our advisors a call on the above number.
What Types Of Serious Brain Injury Could Claim Compensation For?
This section will closely examine the third parties who owe a duty of care in certain places. A failure to follow this duty of care can mean there is a risk of a person suffering a severe brain injury. You can find examples of how this could potentially happen throughout the following sections.
Serious Brain Injuries Caused By Road Traffic Accidents
Road users must act in a way that prevents harm or damage to themselves and others while using the roads. This is their duty of care. As part of this duty, they must follow the rules laid out in the Road Traffic Act 1988 as well as the Highway Code.
Failure to uphold their duty of care could result in an accident. For example, if an HGV or lorry driver is using their phone while on the motorway, they could swerve and cause a crash with the driver of another vehicle. This could lead to the driver experiencing a traumatic brain injury.
Serious Brain Injuries In The Workplace
Employees are owed a duty of care by their employers. As such, employers must take reasonably practicable steps to prevent employees from sustaining harm in an accident at work as per Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
If an employer does not uphold their duty of care, it could lead to an employee becoming injured in an accident. An example can include where an employer provides faulty equipment to an employee working at height. As a result, an employee falls in a ladder accident and fractures their skull, leading to serious neurological damage.
Serious Brain Injuries In Public Places
The party in control of a public space owes a duty of care under the Occupier’s Liability Act 1957. They must take steps to keep visitors reasonably safe while on the premises.
An occupier not repairing a damaged staircase, causing a member of the public to suffer moderate brain damage after a trip and fall on a broken stair, could constitute a breach of duty.
To discuss the specific circumstances surrounding your serious brain injury claim, please contact an advisor on the number above.
Do I Need Evidence To Prove My Serious Brain Injury Claim?
A serious brain injury claim could benefit from the gathering of relevant evidence, such as:
- An official record, like a police report after a car accident. This could also include a work accident book entry if you are hurt in the workplace.
- Dashcam or CCTV footage capturing the accident and its cause.
- Photographs of the scene and also any visible injuries suffered.
- Medical records, such as a brain scan or psychological assessment, showing the extent of any brain damage.
- A diary covering any treatment and symptoms.
- Witness contact information.
Please speak to our advisors if you would like to know more about gathering evidence, as well as how our solicitors could help you in these efforts.
How Much Compensation Could I Receive?
A serious brain injury claim settlement can include up to two heads of claim. These heads of claim are:
- Special damages, a claim for monetary losses caused by any injuries, such as healthcare fees or missed earnings if you cannot attend work.
- General damages, the head of claim for pain and suffering caused by any injuries.
We have shown a selection of guideline compensation brackets for different brain injuries in the table below. These figures come from the Judicial College Guidelines. Legal professionals can use this document alongside medical evidence to value injuries.
However, as a settlement can differ greatly for various reasons. As such, this table only provides a guide to brain injury compensation.
| INJURY | SEVERITY | COMPENSATION | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries Plus Special Damages | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ | If you're eligible to claim for multiple serious injuries including a serious brain injury, then you could receive a payout covering each injury plus any related financial losses, such as the cost of home care provisions. |
| Injuries Involving Paralysis | Tetraplegia | £396,140 to £493,000 | Also known as Quadriplegia, this is where the injured person suffers upper and lower body paralysis. |
| Injuries Involving Paralysis | Paraplegia | £267,340 to £346,890 | The injured person is afflicted by lower body paralysis. |
| Brain Damage | (a) Very Severe | £344,150 to £493,000 | The injured person requires full-time care and does not show any, or little, meaningful response to their surroundings. |
| Brain Damage | (b) Moderately Severe | £267,340 to £344,150 | There is a significant dependence on others and the requirement for care due to a very serious disability that is either physical or cognitive. |
| Brain Damage | (c) Moderate (i) | £183,190 to £267,340 | Cases include where there is an effect on the senses, a change in personality, and a deficit in intellect of a moderate to severe nature. There is also a significant epilepsy risk with no future employment prospects. |
| Brain Damage | (c) Moderate (ii) | £110,720 to £183,190 | A moderate to modest deficit of intellect, a removed, or greatly reduced ability to work, and some epilepsy risk. |
For further guidance on serious brain injury compensation, contact an advisor on the number above.
How Long Do Serious Brain Injury Claims Take?
The amount of time a personal injury claim can last before it’s settled varies on a case-by-case basis.
Claims involving serious injuries, such as a serious brain injury claim, could take longer to solve than those being made for lesser injuries. This is because a lengthy period may be needed to fully understand how your injury will affect your life in the future and what type of recovery you will and have made.
If you are making a claim for a serious brain injury, then you may be eligible to receive interim payments while your claim is ongoing. Interim payments are portions of the compensation for your claim which can be given out before its conclusion. They can potentially be ordered by a court during a serious injury claim if the liable party admits fault during the early stages of the case.
Interim payments can help injured parties and their family members if they are experiencing financial hardship due to the injury being claimed for. Such payments could cover the recent cost of rehabilitation, for instance.
To learn more about interim payments or other aspects of making a serious injury claim, please get in touch with our advisors for free today.
Why Choose Our Brain Injury Solicitors?
If you have a valid serious brain injury claim, you could seek the services of our experienced personal injury solicitors. Their expert support could be offered under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a type of No Win No Fee contract.
If you agree to a CFA, you will likely not pay for the solicitor’s services upfront or during the claim. You also would not need to pay for the work your solicitor did on your case if it fails. Though your solicitor would take a success fee from a winning claim. This would be a pre-agreed percentage of the compensation. The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 applies a cap to this percentage.
Talk To Our Team
Hopefully, this guide has helped you understand if and how you can start a serious brain injury claim. Our advisors can help you for free if you have any questions after reading, or would like your case to be assessed.
As mentioned, this could also lead to your case being forwarded to our solicitors, if you have valid grounds for personal injury compensation.
To reach the team, all you need to do is:
- Enquire about your claim online;
- Call 0800 073 8804;
- Send a message through live chat below.
Learn More About Brain Injuries
You may also find these guides helpful:
- A helpful guide on head injury claims.
- This article reviews concussion injury claims.
- Learn about seeking post-traumatic stress disorder compensation.
Here are some resources that are also helpful:
- NHS – Information on steps to take if someone has suffered a head injury or concussion.
- GOV – Reporting a traumatic brain injury to the DVLA.
- NHS – How to request medical records.
Thank you for reading our guide on how to make a serious brain injury claim. For more information, call our team on the number above.
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