In this guide, we will discuss when you could be eligible to make an accident at work claim for work injury post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For all personal injury claims, it is important to prove that you were owed a duty of care at the time of the accident, which was breached, causing you to sustain psychological damage, such as PTSD, and/or physical injuries. This is the definition of negligence, which forms the basis of these types of claims.
We will explain when your employer could be liable for work-related harm. Therefore, we will lay out the eligibility criteria that your claim must meet, including the relevant time limitations.
Following this, we will discuss how work injury PTSD could occur and the evidence you could provide to support a personal injury claim. Additionally, we will look at how an accident at work compensation settlement could be calculated.
Finally, we will explain how a No Win No Fee solicitor could provide potential advantages for you and your personal injury claim.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team at any time, you can get in touch using the contact details provided in this guide. Our advisors are available 24/7 to provide you with helpful advice regarding your potential accident at work claim that is both free and confidential.
Contact Us:
- Phone our claims team on 0800 073 8801
- Contact us online
- Connect with an advisor using the chat option below
Browse Our Guide
- Could I Claim For Work Injury Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
- How Could You Suffer Work Injury PTSD?
- Types Of Evidence Which Could Support Your Workplace Accident Claim
- What Could I Claim For Work Injury Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
- How Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me?
- Where Can I Read More On Work Injury Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Claims?
Could I Claim For Work Injury Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), your employer has a duty of care to perform reasonably practicable measures to ensure that you are safe while at work. For example, they must perform risk assessments and provide proper training. Failure to carry out these measures could lead to personal injury.
There are eligibility criteria that your case must meet for you to be eligible to claim personal injury compensation for work injury post-traumatic stress disorder. These are as follows:
- Firstly, your employer owed you a duty of care
- Secondly, they breached this duty of care owed to you.
- Finally, as a result of this breach, you sustained physical and/or psychological injuries.
This is the definition of employer negligence and must have occurred for you to have a potentially legitimate personal injury claim. However, it is also important for you to consider the limitation periods applicable to workplace personal injury claims. Please learn more about this in the following section.
Limitation Periods Which Apply To Work Related Injury Claims
Under the Limitation Act 1980, you generally have three years to begin legal proceedings for an accident at work personal injury claim. Certain exceptions can apply to this time limit.
If you would like to enquire about these exceptions in connection with your work injury post-traumatic stress disorder claim, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team today. They can also assess the eligibility of your potential accident at work claim for free.
How Could You Suffer Work Injury PTSD?
You could suffer from PTSD after witnessing or being involved in an accident at work.
If a serious incident in which you are a witness occurs at work, this could leave you suffering mentally, it could cause you to suffer from PTSD. Alternatively, if you suffer a severe and life-changing injury in the workplace, you could also suffer from PTSD in conjunction with physical injuries.
Physical injuries that you could suffer alongside PTSD may include:
- Limb amputations
- Paralysis
- A head injury
- Facial scarring
It is important to note that you may be eligible to make a personal injury claim whether you have suffered work injury post-traumatic stress disorder alongside or independently of any physical injuries.
Please speak to a member of our team for insight into whether you may have an eligible compensation claim.
Types Of Evidence Which Could Support Your Workplace Accident Claim
It is important to support your workplace accident claim by providing evidence that employer negligence has occurred. This could include:
- The copy of the report from the accident at work book
- Contact details for any potential witnesses
- Photographic evidence
- CCTV footage
- A copy of your medical records
- A diary that you have kept documenting the progression of your PTSD and any other injuries
To further discuss the steps you could take after suffering work injury post-traumatic stress disorder, please speak to a member of our team. If you choose to work with a personal injury solicitor, they can help you to gather evidence and present your case.
What Could I Claim For Work Injury Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
For a successful accident at work personal injury claim, you could receive up to two types of damages. These are as follows:
- General damages – This compensates successful claimants for any mental harm, such as PTSD, and/or pain and suffering caused by physical injuries. It considers the severity of the harm suffered and the impact it has on your quality of life.
- Special damages – This compensates successful claimants for the monetary losses they suffered as a result of their physical injuries or mental harm, such as loss of earnings, care costs and travel expenses. It is important that you provide evidence to claim for special damages. This could include payslips, travel tickets and invoices.
In the following table, we have included guideline compensation brackets as a guide to general damages. To create the table, we used the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), which can also be referred to by solicitors when valuing accident at work claims.
Compensation Table Of Guideline Brackets
Type of Harm | Severity | Details on this Harm | Guideline Compensation Brackets |
---|---|---|---|
Arm Amputation | Loss of Both Arms (a) | A fully aware person is reduced to a state of considerable helplessness. | £240,790 to £300,000 |
Arm Amputation | Loss of One Arm (b)(i) | The person’s arm has been amputated at the shoulder. | Not less than £137,160 |
Paralysis | Paraplegia (b) | The award will consider whether the person feels pain and to what extent, depression the age of the person and their life expectancy. | £219,070 to £284,260 |
Leg Injury | Amputation (a)(i) | The loss of both legs above knee level or one leg lost at a high level above the knee and the other below the knee. | £240,790 to £282,010 |
Leg Injury | Amputation (a)(iii) | One of the person’s legs is amputated above the knee. | £104,830 to £137,470 |
PTSD | Severe (a) | The person will suffer from permanent effects, which prevents them from functioning anywhere near the level they did before the trauma. | £59,860 to £100,670 |
PTSD | Moderately Severe (b) | With the help of a professional, the person will have a better prognosis than in the bracket above. | £23,150 to £59,860 |
PTSD | Moderate (c) | The person will have largely recovered. Any persisting impacts will not be grossly disabling. | £8,180 to £23,150 |
PTSD | Less Severe (d) | The person makes a virtually full recovery in 1-2 years. Persisting past this time will only be minor symptoms. | £3,950 to £8,180 |
Facial Disfigurement | Very Severe Scarring (a) | The person will be relatively young, the cosmetic effect will be very disfiguring, and the psychological reaction will be severe. | £29,780 to £97,330 |
Please consider this table a guide. If you would like a personal injury compensation estimate tailored to the details of your accident at work claim, call one of our advisors.
How Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me?
Have you often wondered what is meant by the term No Win No Fee solicitor? There are types of No Win No Fee agreements that a personal injury solicitor could offer. A popular one of these, which our specialist solicitors can offer, is known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
Upon entering into a CFA with your solicitor, you could generally receive the following potential benefits:
- No solicitor service fees to be paid upfront or whilst your claim is ongoing.
- No solicitor service fees will be charged to you at any time in the event that your work injury claim is unsuccessful.
- Your solicitor can take a small success fee from the compensation in the event that you make a successful claim for work injury post-traumatic stress disorder. This is a small percentage that the law caps.
- Your solicitor will discuss all fees relating to the agreement before you enter the arrangement.
Call our helpline and allow one of our advisors to evaluate your accident at work claim for no cost. Should you have a valid claim for compensation, they may connect you with our No Win No Fee accident at work solicitors.
Contact Us For Assistance With Your Case
If you would like to discuss your potential work injury case today, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a member of our team. They are available 24/7 and will not hold you to any obligations to further your potential work injury claim with us.
Contact Us:
- Phone our claims team on 0800 073 8801
- Contact us online
- Connect with an advisor using the chat option below
Where Can I Read More On Work Injury Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Claims?
Find more guides relating to accident at work claims on our website:
- £325,000 Compensation Payout For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- What Are My Legal Rights After An Accident At Work?
- How Much Compensation Can I Claim for Stress at Work?
In addition to these guides, please take a look at some other resources that may be of help to you when making an accident at work claim:
- NHS – Mental Health
- GOV.UK – Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – Health and Safety Statistics
If you have been left with any queries relating to your potential work injury post-traumatic stress disorder claim, please use the contact details provided to speak to an advisor.