By Stephen Bishop. Last Updated 28th November 2024. Welcome to our scaffolding accident claims guide. Have you been involved in a scaffolding accident that wasn’t your fault and been injured as a result? Regardless of whether you are a construction site worker or a member of the public, if you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you may be eligible to make a claim for compensation for a scaffolding accident.
In accordance with UK law, all employers are legally required to have set health and safety policies and procedures actively in place for them to be able to provide a safe working environment. With some industries like the construction industry, it is even more necessary for care to be taken in regards to health and safety as there is naturally a greater risk of an accident taking place resulting in serious injuries or even death.
If you have been injured due to a scaffolding accident that wasn’t your fault, we can help you to file a personal injury claim and get you the compensation you deserve. Just call Legal Helpline on 0333 000 0729 for free help and advice on how to start your claim. Before calling us though, have a read through this guide to get an informative overview of what claiming compensation for a scaffolding accident involves.
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- Who Could Make Scaffolding Accident Claims?
- Proving Liability In Scaffolding Accident Claims
- Common Scaffolding Accidents
- How Long Do I Have To Claim Compensation?
- When Making A Scaffolding Accident Claim, What Can It Include Damages For?
- Scaffolding Accident Claims – Example Compensation Payouts
- Scaffolding Accident No Win No Fee Claims
- Why Claim Compensation With Legal Helpline?
- Call Legal Helpline Today
Who Could Make Scaffolding Accident Claims?
It is stated in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 that all employers owe a duty of care to all their employees. This means that reasonable steps must be taken to ensure that all their employees are safe while at work.
However, considering scaffolding is mainly used on construction sites, it may not just be your employer who owes you a duty of care. You could also be owed a duty of care at work by the scaffolding construction company or site manager, which could change who you make your scaffolding accident compensation claim against.
Here are some other laws that apply to the construction industry:
- The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 imposes standards of health and safety on those working in construction.
- The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states that all workplace equipment must be well maintained, and those using workplace equipment must be given adequate training.
- The Work at Height Regulations 2005 states that any work conducted above ground level must be safely carried out.
As such, here are the scaffolding accident claims eligibility criteria:
- Your employer, a site manager, or a scaffolding construction company owed you a duty of care at work.
- They breached this duty of care.
- You were injured because of this breach.
To check whether your potential scaffolding accident claim is eligible, please chat with us today.
Proving Liability In Scaffolding Accident Claims
Providing evidence in scaffolding accident claims is essential. This is because it must be proven that your injury was caused by a breach of duty of care.
The best types of evidence to collect to claim scaffolding accident compensation include:
- Copies of your medical notes that show the extent of your injury.
- CCTV footage from the workplace of the accident happening. This could highlight the cause of the accident.
- Contact information from anyone who could provide a witness statement, such as a fellow employee.
- A copy of the reported incident from the workplace’s accident book.
- Photographs of the causation of the accident (such as a broken piece of scaffolding) and of any visible injuries.
- A personal diary with recordings of your symptoms and treatment.
The above list may seem daunting to collect all by yourself. This is why the solicitors from our panel help their clients gather evidence as a small part of their services. So, please contact us today to check whether you can receive this help.
Common Scaffolding Accidents
Scaffolding accidents are often thought of as being generally a straight forward accident, but actually, this isn’t always true. Scaffolding accidents can happen not only in the workplace but also to members of the public. They may occur due to a whole variety of different reasons:
- The main cause of scaffolding accidents, mainly among construction employees, are accidents due to slips, trips and falls. Falling off of a scaffold especially from a high height can result in devastating, severe injuries particularly to the back and legs, can cause potential brain damage if a head injury occurs and even death.
- Accidents that are also common are those where an object has fallen off of the scaffold and hit someone. The objects most likely to fall from the scaffold will be tools, roof tiles and other building materials, which due to them often being very heavy, can cause serious injuries in particular head and brain injuries.
Common injuries that are sustained from a scaffolding accident are:
- Broken or fractured bones.
- Back Injuries.
- Leg injuries.
- Internal and external lacerations.
- Head trauma and/or brain damage.
Regardless of how the accident happened, if you have been injured in a scaffolding accident and it wasn’t your fault, you may make a claim for compensation. Contact Legal Helpline for further help and advice.
How Long Do I Have To Claim Compensation?
In the UK, there is a personal injury claims time limit of three years. Basically, this means that you have exactly three years from the date of your accident to start a compensation claim and initiate court proceedings.
However, there are some exceptions to this ruling. Where children are involved, the three-year time limit is slightly different and doesn’t start until they turn 18. So, for someone who has been injured as a child, if no-one launched a compensation claim for them, they have until their 21st birthday once they have turned 18 to start a claim for themselves.
In most cases where a scaffolding accident is involved though, an accident date is typically used if the injuries are immediately obvious, so the three-year time limit will start from that date.
When Making A Scaffolding Accident Claim, What Can It Include Damages For?
When making scaffolding accident claims, there are a number of things to take into consideration that can be included in your claim, such as:
- General Damages – This part of the compensation award is made up of the physical and psychological aspects of your claim and will be greatly influenced by the type and severity of your injury and its effects on your quality of life and well-being. The more severe the injury and impact on your quality of living, the higher the compensation award amount will be.
- Medical Costs – Any medical costs you have incurred directly as a consequence of your injury will need to be included. These may be private treatments, prescription fees, specialised medical equipment etc.
- Travel costs – Any travelling costs incurred due to your accident can be included, as can the costs of any essential vehicle adaptions. As long as the costs are of a direct consequence of your injury they can be included.
- Care Claim – If you have needed extra care and help around the home, you can also launch a care claim.
- Loss of earnings – Any loss of earnings should be recovered in your claim including any potential future loss of earnings or promotional benefits etc.
In order to include the extra costs that you incurred as a result of your injury, proof of payments must be provided. So, it is really important to keep all records and receipts of monies paid out due to your injury.
Scaffolding Accident Claims – Example Compensation Payouts
The amount of compensation that may be offered for claims for scaffolding accidents varies from one person to the next, as no one case is the same. Therefore, it’s difficult to present an average compensation figure that may be offered following work incidents such as a scaffolding collapse accident.
However, in the table, we’ve included some compensation brackets taken from the latest Judicial College Guidelines. These guidelines are based on compensation awards given for past court claims.
Each case will be treated on its own individual basis of circumstances and so we must be clear in saying that these amounts are averages and by no means a guarantee of what amount you may be awarded. The top figure is also not from the JCG.
| Injury | Severity | Guideline Compensation Bracket | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple injuries of a serious severity and special damages | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ | An award for sustaining multiple injuries of a serious severity and monetary losses, such as professional care costs. |
| Paralysis | Tetraplegia (a) | £396,140 to £493,000 | Upper and lower body paralysis. |
| Paraplegia (b) | £267,340 to £346,890 | Lower body paralysis. | |
| Brain damage | Very severe (a) | £344,150 to £493,000 | Includes cases such as quadriplegic cerebral palsy. |
| Moderately severe (b) | £267,340 to £344,150 | There will be a severely reduced life expectancy with a minimally conscious state. | |
| Moderate (c) (i) | £183,190 to £267,340 | There will be a moderate to severe personality change and intellectual deficit. | |
| Back | Severe (a) (i) | £111,150 to £196,450 | Damage to spine and nerves, resulting in severe pain and incomplete paralysis. |
| Hips and Pelvis | Severe (a) (i) | £95,680 to £159,770 | Extensive fractures involving severe pain and often requiring spinal fusion. |
| Leg | Severe (b) (iv) | £33,880 to £47,840 | Complicated or multiple fractures, such as crushing injuries. |
Scaffolding Accident No Win No Fee Claims
Legal Helpline offers a no win no fee policy. In basic terms, this simply means that we only ask for a payment, if we win your case for you, if we do not win, we do not charge you any fees and will not be expected to pay us anything at all.
No win no fee is another name given for a Conditional Fee Agreement. This agreement outlines our professional relationship and the responsibilities we have as your legal representatives, as well as the expectations we have of you as our client. It also states that no monies will be paid to us unless we win your case for you. In these circumstances, your fee will be taken as a small percentage, which is a legally capped deduction from your final settlement award.
With our no win no fee policy, there are no upfront costs or in fact any costs during the whole process and so allowing you to have fantastic legal representation without any of the financial risk often associated with personal injury claims. By using our service, you not only dramatically increase your chances of a successful outcome, but also you get to hire legal help without the worry and stress of any negative effects on your current finances.
Why Claim Compensation With Legal Helpline?
The panel of solicitors at Legal Helpline have been specialising in the personal injury claims industry for many years and have a wealth of experience in handling scaffolding accident injury claims.
We offer fantastic customer service and always strive to get the best results for our clients with every single claim that we take on. We are a reliable, honest and friendly team that put your health, quality of life, and well-being as the focal point of the claim to make sure that we get you the maximum compensation award that we can for you.
A sincere and emphatic approach is something that we feel is incredibly important when dealing with personal injury claims as we understand that you may be experiencing a very painful and traumatic time at the moment and so want to make the claiming process proceed as smoothly and as quickly as possible so that you can concentrate on your recovery.
If you choose us to be your legal representatives, you can rest assured that your claim will be in the best hands and will be dealt with in a professional and timely manner with the aim of getting you the compensation you deserve.
Call Legal Helpline Today
If you’d like help and guidance making scaffolding accident claims, please call Legal Helpline today on 0333 000 0729.
We will offer you a free, no-obligation, consultation where you can freely discuss your claim, asking as many questions in regards to your claim as you wish. We will also use this time to gather the facts surrounding your case from you so that we can make an informed decision as to whether we think you have a valid case.
If you have a legitimate case, we will offer to take on your case for you and proceed with your claim on your behalf under a no win no fee agreement.
We may also offer you a free local medical if we feel this could be of benefit.
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Thanks for reading our scaffolding accident claims guide.
