Have you suffered a burn injury in an accident or incident that was someone else’s fault? You might have been injured in a road traffic accident, at work or in a public place. No matter where or how you were harmed, if someone else caused you burn injuries you could claim compensation. Our guide looks at how much burn injury claims may be worth.
Having established when you could be eligible to claim, we look at how burn injury compensation could be calculated. Our guide then looks at potential causes of different types of burn injuries before explaining the claims process. At the end of this guide, we look at how a solicitor from our panel could help you and provide additional resources.
Discuss your personal injury compensation claim with our team.
- Phone us on 0333 000 0729.
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Select A Section
- Am I Eligible To Make A Burn Injury Claim?
- How Much Is My Burn Claim Worth?
- Causes Of Burn Injuries That Lead To Claims
- How To Make Burn Injury Claims
- How Our Panel Of Solicitors Can Support Your Claim
- More Information
Am I Eligible To Make A Burn Injury Claim?
There are eligibility criteria which any type of personal injury claim must meet. These criteria are applicable no matter the circumstances in which you were injured.
These criteria are that:
- A third party owed duty of care to you.
- This party had breached their duty of care.
- This resulted in you suffering a burn injury.
In order to have a valid claim you must meet all three criteria. Let’s look at some areas where you may be owed a duty of care.
Accidents At Work
Your employer has a legal obligation to reasonably ensure your health and safety at work. This duty of care is contained in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They must take reasonable and practical steps to ensure you are kept safe while carrying out your duties.
Reasonable steps could include:
- Performing risk assessments
- Making sure you are trained to do your job
- Supplying appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Maintaining machinery and the workplace
A failure to take reasonable steps could lead to an accident at work and somebody suffering a burn injury.
Accidents On The Road
All road users have a duty of care to each other. They must use the road in a way which does not pose any danger or accident or injury to others. In order to meet this obligation they must adhere to rules and guidelines in the Highway Code and laws set out in the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Failing to adhere to either of these could lead to a road user being liable for any accidents they cause.
Accidents In A Public Place
Whilst in a public place the party in charge of the space (often called the occupier) has to take reasonable steps to make sure it is safe for you to use. Their duty of care to ensure your safety is set out in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957.
Please contact our team of advisors to check whether you could make a burn injury compensation claim.
How Much Is My Burn Claim Worth?
Successful burn injury claims result in compensation. How much your claim is worth will be based on the individual circumstances of your case. This means that in order to assess how much your claim is worth, a solicitor will need to review the details of your claim.
However, we can show how compensation may be calculated. You may be compensated for the pain and suffering caused by your burn injury (general damages) as well as any financial impact it has had on you (special damages).
How Burn Injury Compensation Is Calculated
A variety of different factors may be considered when calculating a claim for compensation. The type of injury you have suffered and how severe this injury is may be considered when assessing general damages.
In addition to this, parties calculating compensation may consult your medical records as well as the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a document which may be used as a guideline for calculating general damages in compensation payouts. It contains suggested compensation brackets for a range of injuries, including burns.
The top entry in the following table looks at what you could be awarded where both general and special damages in a case of multiple serious injuries. This is an illustrative example. The remaining entries are taken from the JCG.
| Burn Or Other Injuries | Degree Of Seriousness | Compensation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple type of burn injury | Serious up to severe | Up to £300,000+ where special damages are awarded. | Significant financial losses and serious injuries. |
| Scarring - other parts of the body | Those which cover more than 40% of the body. | £127,930 (likely to be greater than) | Burns to a large percentage of the body with cosmetic and psychological impacts. |
| One disfiguring scar or several which are noticeable. | £9,560 to £27,720 | Includes a large noticeable scar. | |
| One noticeable scar or several which are superficial. | £2,890 to £9,560 | A single noticeable scar. | |
| Facial disfigurement | (A) Very Severe | £36,340 to £118,790 | A young claimant (up to 30) with very disfiguring cosmetic effects. |
| (B) Less Severe | £21,920 to £59,090 | Substantial disfigurement. | |
| (C) Significant | £11,120 to £36,720 | The worst effects are reduced by cosmetic surgery. | |
| (D) Less Significant | £4,820 to £16,770 | One scar or a number of smaller scars. | |
| (E) Trivial | £2,080 to £4,310 | The effects are minor. |
Next, we look at other factors which may be taken into consideration when making a claim.
How Special Damages Are Considered
The wider financial impact that the burn injury has had on you may also be taken into consideration. This type of compensation is called special damages.
Financial losses which may be considered in special damages include:
- Loss of earnings and income. Severe burn injuries may have required you to take time off work while recovering.
- Medical treatment and related expenses. You may have had to pay for medical treatment, medication or other related costs.
- Home care. You may have required domestic care and help with everyday tasks whilst recovering or following your injury.
- Additional make up costs that hide your burn if you are self conscious about its appearance.
You could also claim compensation for the cost of travelling to attend a medical appointment. To claim for these or any other related expenses you must provide evidence. Admissible evidence may include payslips, invoices, receipts or bank statements.
Our team of advisors could help answer the question, “How much is my burn claim worth in the UK?”. Please contact us today.
Causes Of Burn Injuries That Lead To Claims
There are many different potential causes of burn injuries in which someone may be eligible to claim compensation.
Burns injuries may include those caused by fires, scalds caused by hot liquids, chemical burns caused by hazardous or corrosive substances or electrical burns.
There are four degrees of burns. These are:
- First-degree burns (superficial burns)– Affecting only the outer layer of the skin. Symptoms may include redness and swelling.
- Second-degree burns (superficial partial thickness burns) – Extending into the second layer of the skin. Injuries may be blistered, red and very painful.
- Third-degree burns (deep partial thickness burns) – The epidermis and dermis are destroyed. Deeper tissue may also be affected. The skin may be white, leathery and charred. Nerve damage may mean such injuries are less painful.
- Fourth-degree burns (full thickness burns) – Burns extend deeper into fat, muscle and even bone. They may be life threatening.
Potential causes of burn injuries may include:
- Accidents in the workplace. For example, a laboratory worker suffered chemical burns on their arms when a container of hazardous chemicals was spilt. The employer may be at fault if they had not provided the worker with adequate personal protective equipment or necessary workplace training.
- Road Traffic Accidents. A van driver fails to pay due care and attention when approaching a red light. They fail to stop and crash at high-speed with the rear end of a stopped vehicle. The impact could cause a rupture in the fuel tank and a fire. This results in burn injuries for the vehicle’s occupants.
- Accidents In A Public Place. A restaurant has failed to properly maintain kitchen equipment, this leads to a grease fire which spreads to the customer area, causing a nearby customer to suffer burns and harm from smoke inhalation.
Burns Caused By Faulty Products
Burns could be caused by faulty products, such as a faulty hair straightener. The straightener may malfunction during use, overheating, causing burn injuries to the person’s hand(s).
In this scenario, the straightener had a manufacturing defect which caused them to exceed a safe operating temperature. The manufacturer had not tested the product for this defect and no warning about overheating had been provided with the product.
Under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, the injured consumer may make a personal injury claim. You could make a burn injury compensation claim If you or a loved one have suffered a burn injury caused by someone else’s negligence. Please contact us for further information.
How To Make Burn Injury Claims
So far in our guide, we have looked at the criteria claims must meet, how much compensation may be awarded and circumstances in which accidents could occur. In this section, we explain the personal injury claims process.
Gather Evidence – Medical Records, Witness Statements, And More
It is crucial to gather evidence to show how your accident occurred and how another party was at fault for your burn injuries.
Evidence which could help you claim compensation:
- Photographs of your burn injury.
- Video footage (such as from a CCTV) that shows the accident taking place.
- Medical records. These should highlight whether you suffered permanent scarring and whether you suffered a serious injury. You could obtain a copy of your health record from your hospital or GP.
- The contact details of any witnesses to your accident.
One of the personal injury solicitors from our panel could help you to gather evidence to prove your burn injury claim.
How Long You Have To Begin Your Claim
Personal injury claims should (generally) be started within a three year period of the accident taking place or of your discovering the accident caused you harm. The Limitation Act 1980 sets out this time limit.
Exceptions to this time limit may be made where the person who was harmed was under the age of eighteen or lacks mental capacity at the time of the accident. Those under 18 have three years to start a claim from their 18th birthday. The time limit for those lacking capacity will only start to run if they recover the ability to handle their own claim, and they have three years to start a claim from that point.
A litigation friend may claim whilst a time limit is paused (i.e. for someone under 18 or someone lacking sufficient capacity). A litigation friend is a suitable adult appointed by the courts to act on the claimant’s behalf.
How Long It Takes To Get Burn Injury Compensation
As each and every claim for compensation is unique there is no set time in which claims must be concluded. This means that we can not say how long it could take for you to get burn injury compensation without assessing your case.
Factors which could affect how long your claim takes may include:
- What burn injury you suffered.
- How long it takes you to recover and your degree of recovery.
- What evidence is available to support your claim.
- Whether the other party (the defendant) admits fault.
- The complexity of any legal issues in your case.
You can get legal advice by contacting one of our advisors and being connected to a solicitor from our panel.
How Our Panel Of Solicitors Can Support Your Claim
One of our panel of personal injury solicitors could help you make a successful burn injury claim. The solicitors who make up our panel are experienced in helping people to make various different types of claims, such as burn injury claims.
They could help you,
- Gather evidence
- Explaining legal terms and jargon.
- Make sure that you claim for any special damages (as outlined above).
- Negotiate with the other party to get the best possible settlement.
If you choose to claim with a solicitor from our expert panel they could help you to do so by using a Conditional Fee Agreement (also known as a CFA). This allows them to work on your case on a No Win No Fee basis. By doing so they could work on your case without the need for you to make any payments for their work prior to the end of your claim.
Under a CFA:
- You generally do not need to pay solicitors fees before your case begings
- Nor do you have to pay solicitor fees as your case progresses
- There an no solicitor fees if your claim is unsuccessful
If you are awarded compensation, your solicitor will deduct a (legally capped) success fee from this. You will keep the majority of the compensation.
Learn more about how much you could claim for a burn injury by:
- Dialing 0333 000 0729.
- Using our online chat.
- Contact us using our form.
More Information
Below, you can find additional information on how to make a compensation claim and what claims you could make.
- If you suffered a chemical burn injury at work you could claim compensation.
- Find out what loss of amenity is in a personal injury claim and when it may be awarded.
- Learn more about making a claim for a chemical burn at work in this guide.
Here, we include burn injury references.
- You can read about using chemicals at work in this resource from the Health and Safety Executive, the regulator for health and safety in the workplace.
- Read more about acid and chemical burns in this NHS guide.
- Check how to request CCTV footage of your accident in this guide from the government.
Thank you for reading our guide about burn injury claims. Please contact our team for an assessment of your case.
