Accident At Work Claims – Workplace Injury Compensation

If employers do not follow the correct safety procedures, this may increase the risk of employees sustaining injuries at work. If this happened to you, you may be eligible to start a claim today to be compensated for your injuries and losses with the help of our experienced panel of solicitors. This guide about accident at work claims should be useful to you.

Key Takeaways About Accident At Work Claims:

  • Your employer has to keep you reasonably safe at work.
  • If your employer’s negligent actions resulted in your injuries, you may be eligible to claim compensation.
  • The amount you are compensated depends on the severity of your injuries and financial losses.
  • If you work in a high-risk industry, you still may be eligible to claim compensation if you were injured while working.
  • Even if you were partly at fault for your injuries, you may be eligible for compensation.
  • Our panel solicitors can help you on a No Win No Fee basis if your claim is eligible

A foreman tends to a colleague lying on the floor in a warehouse who has had an accident at work.

If you have been injured at work and it was someone else’s fault, start a claim with our helpful advisors today by:

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Can I Make An Accident At Work Claim?

To be eligible to make an accident at work claim, you must meet the following criteria:

  • Your employer must have owed you a duty of care
  • Your employer must have acted negligently and breached this duty
  • This must have resulted in your injury

A duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on all employers. Specifically, employers are required to take reasonable and practicable steps to protect the health and safety of their employees. This duty is outlined in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

If your employer failed to adhere to this standard of care, resulting in injury, you may have the right to claim compensation in an accident at work claim.

To find out if you can claim compensation, contact our helpful advisors today.

Common Workplace Injuries In Accident At Work Claims

Accidents at work happen frequently. Some of the most common workplace injuries you may claim compensation for include:

  • Manual handling injuries- for example, if your employer failed to provide training on the lifting of heavy objects and you sustained a back injury, you may be eligible to claim.
  • Injuries caused by falling objects– for example, your employer may have failed to complete a warehouse safety check. If this resulted in unsecured boxes falling on you, causing a head injury, you may be eligible to claim.
  • Burns– for example if your employer failed to provide you with protective clothing while working with chemicals and they caused your burn injury, you may be eligible to claim compensation.

If you have been injured at work and you think your employer or someone else was at fault, contact our advisors today.

How Much Compensation In Accident At Work Claims?

The amount of compensation you may be eligible to claim depends on what injuries you sustained and whether you also incurred financial losses. Compensation is seperated into two heads of claim. These are called general damages and special damages.

General damages compensate you for any physical and psychological injuries you sustained in your accident. This figure is calculated using documents such as an independent medical assessor’s report and guidelines presented by the Judicial College (JCG).

The JCG is a document that lists different injuries and their suggestive compensation figures. Below are examples from the JCG of how much you could potentially be compensated, excluding the top bracket.

InjuryCompensation
Multiple Severe Injuries and Significant Financial LossesUp to £1 million plus
Very Severe Brain Injury£344,150 to £493,000
Severe Back Injuries (ii)£90,510 to £107,910
Severe (ii) Neck Injury£80,240 to £159,770
Very Serious Leg Injuries£66,920 to £109,290
Simple Fractures to Tibia or Fibula or Soft Tissue InjuriesUp to £14,40
Arm Injuries Resulting in Permanent and Substantial Disablement£47,810 to £73,050
Less Severe Arm Injury£23,430 to £47,810
Serious Shoulder Injury£15,580 to £23,430
A Number of Noticable Laceration Scars on One Single Disfiguring Scar£9,560 to £27,740

Compensation For Special Damages

If you sustained injuries, you may also claim compensation for certain financial losses resulting from your accident. This head of claim is known as special damages. Some examples of financial losses you may be compensated for include:

  • Lost wages
  • Lost work benefits such as holiday entitlement
  • Medical and travel costs
  • Home adjustments, such as stairlifts
  • Special equipment, such as walking aids

To be eligible to claim special damages, you must have suffered from an injury and you must provide evidence of your financial losses. Some examples include:

  • Payslips
  • Bank statements
  • Receipts
  • Bills

These are not the only items of financial loss in accident at work claims, and you can speak to an advisor about any loss you wish to claim.

Using A Compensation Calculator

Compensation calculators can be useful tools that help you gain a rough idea of how much compensation you may be awarded if your claim is successful. However, the results may not be accurate as they do not take into account each aspect of your claim. We recommend getting a more accuracte assessment from a personal injury solicitor.

If you would like to know more about your potential compensation, contact our friendly advisors today.

A construction worker has hurt his knee in an accident at work.

I Work In A High Risk Industry – Can I Make A Claim?

If you were injured while working in a high-risk industry, you may be eligible to make a claim. This is because your employer still owes you a duty of care and must take practicable steps to reduce the risks you face. Depending on the nature of your role, your employer may have to take additional steps to ensure you are safe at work. Some risks can not be removed, but this does not mean that they cannot be reduced.

If you have been injured while working in a high-risk industry, start a claim with our advisors today.

What To Do If You Were Partly At Fault

If you were partly at fault for the accident or injuries you sustained at work, you still may be eligible to claim compensation. However, you may have your damages reduced. There are two ways this could happen.

Firstly, you could be found to be partly at fault for the accident. This is known as split liability, where liability (fault) is split between the parties. This can be in any proportion that adds up to 100%, for example, 50:50. In this case, you would receive only 50% of the compensation instead of the full amount.

The second is that you could be found to have made your injuries worse, even though you did not cause your accident. An example could be failing to wear the PPE that work gave you, and this makes your injuries worse than if you had used it. This is called contributory negligence, and if you are found to be contributory negligent, you could have your damages reduced. For example, this could be by 25%, meaning you would keep 75% of the compenstaion.

Contact our advisors if you have nay questions about accident at work claims.

How To Start Your Claim

The following sections will explain how you can start an accident at work claim today with our helpful panel solicitors.

Gathering Evidence For Your Case

For an accident at work claim to be successful, you must be able to prove that your employer’s negligent actions resulted in your injury. To do this, you may need to collect evidence such as:

  • CCTV footage of the accident
  • A copy of the accident report book
  • Medical documents
  • Witness details
  • Risk assessment reports
  • Training documents

Any evidence that helps prove your accident or injuries can build your case.

How Long Does It Take To Make A Claim?

The circumstances of all workplace accidents differ. Therefore, we cannot give you a specific timeframe for how long your claim may take to resolve. Some factors that may determine the length of your claim include:

  • Whether your injuries are ongoing
  • Whether the third party has admitted liability
  • How long it takes to collect evidence

If you are eligible to claim, you must do so within three years of the date of your accident. This is a requirement of the Limitation Act 1980. However, there are exceptions to this, such as:

  • Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the time limit is paused if the claimant lacks mental capacity. If the claimant regains mental capacity, the time limit will commence from that date.
  • If the claimant is a child, they cannot legally start a claim. Therefore, the time limit will commence once they turn eighteen and will end when they turn twenty-one.

When the time limit is paused, a responsible adult may apply to the court to act as a litigation friend on the claimant’s behalf. This can happen in claims for those under 18 or for those who lack capacity.

An engineer is injured in a factory.

The Cost Of Claiming For A Workplace Injury

If you file an accident at work claim with our panel of solicitors, you will begin the process with a free consultation with our helpful advisors.

If you are eligible to claim, you may do so on a No Win No Fee basis with our panel through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This may benefit you for many reasons, such as:

  • You do not have to pay any upfront or ongoing costs for our panel solicitor’s work on your case
  • If your claim is successful, you will not have to pay out-of-pocket expenses for our panel solicitors’ work. They will take a small percentage of your compensation (which is legally capped) to pay something called their success fee.
  • If your claim is unsuccessful, you will not be required to pay for our panel solicitor’s services.

Who Will Pay My Compensation?

If your claim is successful,  you may be awarded compensation.

If you are claiming against your employer, their insurer may pay your compensation. Under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, employers are required to have liability insurance to protect them if workplace accidents occur. This can take away fears that your employer has to pay your compensation directly as they should be insured.

For more information on how to start your claim, contact our friendly advisors today.

How Our Panel Of Solicitors Can With Accident At Work Claims

If you want to make an accident at work claim, our panel of solicitors want to help. They are experienced specialists in this area of law and can use their expertise to help you by:

  • Explaining the claims process and legal terminology
  • Building your case and helping you claim compensation
  • Negotiating a settlement on your behalf
  • Helping you obtain evidence

If you have been injured at work, start a claim with our helpful advisors today by:

A solicitor who is an expert in accident at work claims meets a client.

More Information

For more information on accident at work claims, visit the following links:

References:

We appreciate you taking the time to read this guide that explains accident at work claims.