If you have an accident at work claim why instruct a Solicitor? Firstly, because they have the specialist knowledge and experience to deal with your personal injury claim. Secondly, because they know your rights and will obtain the maximum payout of compensation for you. Thirdly, because they will help you obtain any private treatment you need for your rehabilitation to help you recover.
What is an accident at work claim?
An accident at work is an accident which happens at your place of work which can include someone else’s premises, house, factory, car/wagon or any premises over which your employer has control.
What happens if I work someone where my employer does not have control how do I claim for an accident at work?
If your employer does not have control over your workplace but just pays your salary, such as if you are an agency worker or self-employed, depending on the connection between you and the person who owns the place where the accident occurred i.e. the occupier of those premises, then it maybe that person not your ‘employer’ who is responsible for your accident. You may have a claim against them under the Occupiers Liability Act rather than the Workplace Legislation.
How can I make an accident at work claim if I work for someone else?
In certain circumstances, you can claim against them rather than your ’employer’ if they are responsible or in control of the work you are doing.
How can I start an accident at work claim?
First of all, you need to prove that someone was negligent and secondly that their negligence caused your injuries. To prove someone was negligent, you need to prove that someone was legally responsible for your injuries. Just because you have had an accident at work does not mean that you have a claim.
For example, if I walk outside my office and trip over my own feet which causes me to fall and break my wrist, I cannot claim against my employer because the reason for my fall was my own fault. However, if I trip over a box of paper that had been left there by a co-worker, who has not tidied it away properly, I may be able to make a claim. If my co-worker has carelessly left it in a workplace walkway, I may be able to make a claim against my employer or the person who owns the walkway. It all depends on who is responsible for leaving the paper in the walkway.
How do I claim for an accident at work if it was partly my fault?
If the accident was partly someone else’s fault and partly your fault you may still receive compensation. What will happen is that your total amount of compensation may be reduced by a percentage, say 25%? So, instead of receiving all your compensation, you will receive 75%. This is because you were 25% to blame for your own accident. In the example above of the box of paper in the walkway it may be that the box of paper was so big and brightly packaged that I should have seen. As a result I am partly to blame for not looking after my own safety. I should have been watching where I was going as I walked along the corridor or walkway. This is called contributory negligence because I have contributed to my own accident. Why? By simply not taking care of myself even though someone else is also at fault. A court may determine that my compensation should be reduced by 25% so I only received 75% of the full amount.
How can this happen as it does not seem fair?
There are occasions when this can happen at work if you have not followed your training. For example, if you are a construction worker and you stand too close to some equipment/machine, and you have been trained not to do so, then your claim may be reduced by a certain percentage. The law does this because it says that you should have taken more care of yourself and therefore your injuries are not the total fault of your employer. If that were the case you would not get 100% of your compensation.
What types of accident at work are there?
According to the Health and Safety Executive in 2022, there were 565,000 non-fatal injuries in 2021/22 and the most common type of workplace accident were:
- Slip trips and falls.
- Handling, lifting or carrying
- Struck by a moving object
- Acts of violence
We act for people in all kinds of accident at work claims as you can see from our case studies and success stories. No two accidents are the same:
- Assaults at work
- Back injuries
- Building site accidents
- Crane accidents
- Dangerous practices and procedures
- Injury on dangerous premises
- Falling objects
- Farm accidents
- Forklift truck accidents
- Inadequate training
- Lack of personal protection equipment
- Ladder accidents
- Machinery accidents
- Scaffolding accidents
- Slip, trips and falls
- Vehicle accidents.
This is not the total list of work accident claims we deal with and just because your accident is not listed here, don’t worry as we deal with all types of accident at work claims as all accident circumstances are different.
What are the most common types of injuries from an accident at work?
- Head and Injuries to the Face, such as brain injuries or scarring.
- Shoulder Neck and Back Injuries, such as broken vertebrae and soft tissue injuries.
- Hand and Arm Injuries, such as broken wrist, hands or fingers.
- Leg and Foot injuries, such as broken hips, toes and ankles.
There are many other types of workplace injuries not listed in the above list.
How is my compensation valued?
Your compensation claim is split into 2 parts which together make up the total amount of your compensation.
General Damages
This means compensation for your injury and loss of amenity.
What are general damages?
These are the part of your pay out which compensate you for your injury. If you instruct a Solicitors they will arrange for an independent medical expert to produce a report which will comment on whether your injures were caused by your accident.
How can they not be you might ask? Sometimes, you may have pre-existing injuries from an earlier accident and the specialist will be able to determine whether these have been made worse by your current accident. Alternatively, you have injuries from which you are not getting symptoms but your accident has brought these injuries forward by a certain number of years, e.g. arthritis in that wrist we mentioned above. So, from the example above, when I fell over the box of paper in the walkway and broke my hand, if the accident has brought forward my arthritis by 2 years and that means that I can no longer work as I cannot type then I may get 2 years loss of earnings.
What is loss of amenity?
Loss of amenity is a form of compensation that compensates you for how much your injuries have affected your way of life. For example, there may be a hobby that you have not been able to pursue because of the injuries caused by the accident. You may play golf but because you have broken your hand so you have not been able to play for several months or permanently and this has affected your quality of life. So, in the example above, if I cannot crochet or play golf, because I now have arthritis in my hand, then I may receive an extra amount of compensation as I cannot pursue a hobby I loved.
Compensation for a hand injury varies according to many factors
How much could you claim for your Hand Injury?
To make a claim for a hand injury, the accident must have been caused by the negligence of another person. Compensation can be used to cover hospital bills, rehabilitation and loss of earnings and is dependent on severity of the injury
| Total Loss of or use of both hands: | £100,000.00 |
| Loss of of, or loss of use of one hand: | £65,000.00 |
| Injury to one hand, dependant on severity and
recovery time (measure in weeks): |
£500 to £50,000 |
| Involving one or more broken bones with
some permanent residual problems: |
£10,000 |
Special Damages
These are the part of your payout which compensate you for any financial losses or monetary losses, such as loss of earnings, payment for damage clothing, prescription charges, travelling expenses, they also include compensation for the hours and weeks that a relative or friend may have had to look after you following an accident.
Both special and general damages are added together to give you the amount of compensation pay out you would receive.
How much is my injury claim worth?
That depends. Have a look at our accident at work compensation calculator for a guide to what the payout for your general damages could be but remember that in addition your payout would include compensation for your financial losses too. Each claim is different and so it is always better to speak to an experienced personal injury Solicitor who can give you more information.
What is the accident at work claims process?
- If you consult a solicitor they will want to know all about your accident to determine if your claim is going to succeed and whether they can help you.
- If you decide to go ahead with a solicitor they will write a letter of claim or Claims Notification Form (CNF) and submit it to your opponents.
- If you opponents admit legal responsibility for your accident because they believe it is their fault that your accident occurred then your solicitor will gather all the information they need to value your compensation claim
- It’s as simple as that.
How much will all this cost me?
Most solicitors will act on a no win, no fee basis. What is that you might ask? That means that there are no upfront charges for you to start your claim but if you are successful there is a legal success fee of up to 25% to be deducted from your compensation claim. Some solicitors also advise you to take out an After the Event Insurance which will also be deducted at the end of your claim.
What is the accident at work time limit?
If you bring a claim in England and Wales, you have 3 years from the date of the accident at work unless you were a minor when your accident occurred. It aht is the case you have 3 year from your 18th birthday. There are also other special circumstances where this period can be extended.
Procrastination is the thief of time
Don’t delay in bringing your claim as records can get lost and memories fade. Please contact us or call us today FREE on FREEPHONE 0800 0747 644 and speak to one of our experienced Accident at Work Personal Injury Solicitors.
What to do after a workplace accident?