By Danielle Graves. Last Updated 4th December 2023. This article provides you with helpful information on serious injury claims. We’ll look at how you could be impacted by this kind of harm and the evidence you could gather to support your claim. We have also included a section on compensation to show how compensation for serious injuries is calculated.
In order to make a serious injury compensation claim, you need to show that you meet certain eligibility criteria. We will look at what these criteria are and when someone else has a responsibility with regard to your safety.
If you want to know more at any point or have questions, you can get in touch with our advisors. Not only can they answer your queries, but they may also be able to connect you with one of the No Win No Fee serious injury solicitors from our panel to begin your claim. There’s more than one way you can reach us:
- Make an online enquiry about your claim
- Call on 0333 000 0729
- Use the pop-up chat window
Serious Injury Claims Guide
Select A Section
- Eligibility To Make Serious Injury Claims
- What Accidents Could Cause A Serious Injury?
- What Are Serious Injuries?
- What Evidence Could Help You Claim For Serious Injuries?
- Estimated Payouts For Serious Injury Claims
- Start Your Claim With A No Win No Fee Serious Injury Solicitor
Eligibility To Make Serious Injury Claims
If you have suffered a serious injury, you have every right to see if you’re able to claim. All personal injury claims, including serious injury claims, must meet 3 main criteria in order to be valid. This is because, in order to make a serious injury claim, you need to prove that your injury was caused by third-party negligence.
- You must have been owed a duty of care- The party that owes you the duty of care will vary depending on the circumstances of the incident. To give an example, at work, your employer has a responsibility with regard to the safety of all their employees.
- This duty of care was breached – This is when whoever owes you a duty of care does not uphold it. This could be due to actions they take, or the failure to take certain actions.
- You were harmed as a result – You cannot claim compensation just because someone breached the duty of care they owed you. It must have caused you harm. For example, a breach of duty of care could cause a serious head injury that causes brain damage or a severe spinal cord injury that results in paralysis.
You can make a serious injury compensation claim for physical or psychological injuries or both.
What Is The Time Limit For A Serious Injury Claim?
The time limit for making a serious injury claim is 3 years. This means that legal proceedings must begin within 3 years of the injury being sustained. The limitation period can be found in The Limitation Act 1980. However, there are exceptions to this serious injury claim time limit.
You have three years from the date of your eighteenth birthday to claim for serious injuries if they are sustained whilst you’re a child. If you want to claim whilst under the age of eighteen, a litigation friend would need to claim on your behalf.
A litigation friend can also claim for people who lack the mental capacity to claim for serious injuries. In this instance, there is no time limit to claim – unless the person regains mental capacity. If this happens, they would have three years from that date to make a serious injury claim.
To learn more about serious injury compensation claims or the limitation period when claiming, please contact us for free using the above details.
What Accidents Could Cause A Serious Injury?
Below, you’ll find some example scenarios of how someone could sustain a serious injury due to negligence. This is to give you an idea of the types of accidents that could lead to you receiving serious injury compensation.
Road Traffic Accidents
You may be able to make a road accident compensation claim if the accident was caused by another driver’s negligence. In order to adhere to their duty of care, road users need to adhere to the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. They should conduct themselves in a way that prevents injury occurring to themselves and others.
An example of driver negligence could be if they do not obey the speed limit. This could cause them to crash into the back of your car due to not having sufficient time to slow down, inflicting injuries to the neck and spine. You could also suffer severe psychological injuries, like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Workplace Accidents
In the workplace, it is an employer’s responsibility to take all reasonable and practicable steps to prevent their employees from becoming injured. This is their duty of care, as stated in the Health and Safety at Work etc. 1974. If they breach this duty of care, causing you to suffer life-changing injuries, you may be able to make a serious injury compensation claim.
For example, your employer may have failed to train you on how to use a forklift in the workplace but asked you to do this anyway. You could then be involved in a forklift accident that resulted in a broken foot that was so severe it required a partial amputation.
Public Place Accidents
The duty of care owed by the party in control of a space can be found in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. They are required to ensure the reasonable safety of those who visit the space for its intended purpose.
You could trip and fall on a loose paving stone on a walkway the local council is responsible for, resulting in severe facial injuries and damage to the nerves in your legs. This could be an example of negligence on behalf of the council.
If you would like to speak with someone about your own circumstances, speak with a member of our team today. They could connect you with an experienced solicitor from our panel who could help you make a serious injury compensation claim.
What Are Serious Injuries?
This section will provide you with a better idea of what serious injuries are. Serious injuries are permanent or life-changing injuries that can greatly impact your everyday life. Due to this, it’s completely understandable why you may want to make a serious injury claim if you have experienced one.
Serious medical injuries that you could suffer include:
- Multiple or complex fractures
- Amputation
- Spinal injuries
- Head or brain injuries
- Severe burns
- Severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Injuries to internal organs
- Fatal injuries
If you have suffered catastrophic injuries, our panel of serious injury lawyers can determine how much compensation they think the injury could be worth. Contact us for free advice using the details above.
Learn How You Make A Serious Injury Claim
What Evidence Could Help You Claim For Serious Injuries?
You need evidence when making a serious injury claim. This evidence could come in different forms depending on how or where you were injured. We’ve included a short list below of some examples:
- CCTV footage – You can request CCTV footage if you appear in it. If your serious injury was sustained in a road traffic accident, it can also be worthwhile looking into whether the incident was caught on a dashcam.
- Medical evidence – Your medical records will detail your injuries as well as the treatment you receive.
- Witness contact details – This is so that they can provide a statement later.
- Photographs – Document the hazards that caused your injuries. You could also take photographs of any visible injuries.
Get in touch today to find out more about the claims process when trying to make a successful serious injury claim. Our panel of serious injury solicitors could help you claim compensation for any catastrophic injuries you have suffered.
What Is The Serious Injury Claim Process?
If you are eligible to make a serious injury claim, you may like to seek legal advice to help you through the claims process. At Legal Helpline, we’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help with catastrophic injury claims.
We can evaluate your personal injury claim for free as well as provide advice. To help ensure we’re offering you the right support, we may ask you about:
- Information about the accident to help us assess liability.
- When the accident occurred. This is to help ensure that you are within the time limit.
- Where it occurred to make sure you are filing the correct sort of claim.
- What evidence you have obtained or think you could gather. We’ll also advise you on how you could collect more.
- Your injuries. Knowing the nature of your injuries can help us provide an estimation of your personal injury compensation.
- Information about the medical attention you received and whether treatment is still ongoing or when it ended. We may also ask if you have any letters from your GP or the hospital or access to your medical records (these can be submitted to support your claim).
- Time you’ve needed off work due to your injuries. We’ll also need a general idea of your loss of earnings. This is to help us provide a more accurate valuation.
- Any costs related to your injuries. You may be able to recover some of these costs as part of your claim.
Additionally, if you are eligible, we can connect you to one of the personal injury solicitors from our panel. Our panel typically offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis. Contact us using the details at the top of the screen.
Estimated Payouts For Serious Injury Claims
This section can answer important questions, such as “How much compensation for a serious injury?”
Potential redress from serious injury compensation claims is calculated on an individual basis. In a serious injury claim, there are two potential heads of claim that could lead to you receiving compensation.
The head of a claim that accounts for your pain and suffering is known as general damages. When legal professionals are calculating this figure, they use resources such as medical evidence to help them alongside the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Below are a few compensation brackets from the latest JCG guidelines.
This table can help give you a better idea of how much you could receive if you have suffered a serious injury. The values shown should only be used as a guide to indicate what you could receive from a serious injury claim.
| Injury | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries | Multiple serious injuries with special damages to compensate for monetary losses. | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Quadriplegia | Paralysis that affects the ability to move both arms and legs. | £324,600 to £403,990 |
| Brain/Head | Moderately severe - The disability will be very serious. The dependence on others will be substantial. | £219,070 to £282,010 |
| Sight | Complete blindness. | In the region of £268,720 |
| Hearing | Complete deafness. | £90,750 to £109,650 |
| Kidney | Both kidneys lost or damaged in a serious and permanent way. | £169,400 to £210,400 |
| Epilepsy | Established Grand Mal. | £102,000 to £150,110 |
| Epilepsy | Established Petit Mal. | Up to £131,370 |
| Chest | Complete removal of a lung, and/or heart damage of a serious nature. | £100,670 to £150,110 |
| Bladder | Control and function is completely lost. | Up to £140,660 |
| Special Damages | Lost earnings | Up to £100,000 and Above |
There is a second head of claim called special damages. They can be awarded to cover costs and losses that have been caused by your injury. Examples can include:
- Medical expenses.
- Loss of earnings.
- The cost of walking aids and prosthetics.
- Travel costs.
- The cost of extra care at home.
Evidence that could help you claim for special damages include payslips, bank statements and receipts. You would only be able to claim for special damages in serious injury compensation claims if you can prove that your injury was caused by negligence.
Get in touch today to see if you’re able to make a serious injury claim. Our serious injury claims solicitors have years of experience and can help you claim.
Start Your Claim With A No Win No Fee Serious Injury Solicitor
There are many benefits to using No Win No Fee serious injury solicitors from our panel to claim compensation. They have years of experience and can:
- Help you gather evidence.
- Answer any questions you may have.
- Explain legal jargon.
- Value your claim.
If you work with a solicitor on our panel, they could offer to do so on a No Win No Fee basis. No Win No Fee means they work your claim using a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). With a CFA in place, you can access a lawyer’s legal services without paying any upfront costs. You also don’t pay them anything as the claim progresses.
Instead, your solicitor takes a success fee from your settlement once your claim is over. However, this fee is only taken if your claim is successful, and it’s in the form of a legally capped percentage. If you don’t receive serious injury compensation, you won’t have to pay your solicitor for their legal services.
Contact Our Team To See If You Can Make A Serious Injury Claim
Get in touch today if you want to know more about how to claim if you’ve suffered a serious injury. You can reach our advisors on a 24/7 basis. If they feel you have a valid case, they can connect you with serious injury lawyers from our panel who can work your case on a No Win No Fee basis.
You can:
- Make an online enquiry about your claim
- Call on 0333 000 0729
- Use the pop-up chat window
Learn More About Serious Injury Claims
Thank you for reading our guide on serious injury claims. We’ve included some links to additional resources below. You may also find these useful.
More of our guides:
- Personal injury compensation – Read more about the amount of compensation you could receive.
- Paralysis injury claims – Find out about claiming for this specific kind of injury.
- How to make a neck injury claim – Another of our helpful guides.
- How much compensation per stitch – This guide can help you find out the compensation amounts that you could be owed for every stitch you got.
Information from other sources:
- Paralysis – Information from the NHS.
- Litigation friends – Government information on appointing someone to claim on another’s behalf.
- Amputation – Another NHS guide.
