A Guide To Manual Handling Injury Claims

By Lewis Hendrix. Last Updated 12th September 2023. Welcome to our online guide, where we will discuss manual handling claims for a manual handling injury sustained at work. We will also be providing free legal advice. Throughout this guide, we aim to discuss manual handling accident claims by outlining how a personal injury lawyer could be of assistance. And we also note how a high risk of injury at work from manual lifting is avoidable.

Have you recently been injured in a manual handling accident at work that was not your fault? If another party was responsible for your manual handling injuries, you could be entitled to make a manual handling accident claim for compensation. Trust Accident Claims UK to help you make your manual handling injury claim on a No Win No Fee basis. We are a trusted personal injury solicitor’s firm with an excellent track record of helping victims, such as you claim compensation for injuries caused by manual handling.

If you think you might be owed manual handling accident compensation, call Accident Claims UK on 0800 073 8801 for your free legal consultation to talk about your accident at work. If you have legitimate grounds for claiming compensation, we will estimate how much your manual handling injury claims could be worth and will provide you with an expert solicitor with plenty of experience handling manual handling accident claims to represent you.

Select A Section:

  1. What Are The Causes Of Manual Handling Accidents?
  2. Manual Handling Claims – What’s The Time Limit?
  3. Employee Manual Handling Injuries
  4. What Is The Best Way To Begin A Claim For A Manual Handling Injury?
  5. Manual Handling Accident Compensation Payouts
  6. No Win No Fee Manual Handling Injury Claims
  7. Useful Links Relating To Manual Handling Claims

What Are The Causes Of Manual Handling Accidents?

There are a number of different scenarios where manual handling injury accident claims could be made. In order to make a manual handling claim you will need to show that your employer owed you a duty of care, and that this duty was breached in some way, causing your injuries.

Employers are required to take reasonable steps to ensure their employees’ safety under the Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974. We have provided a few examples of how failure to take those steps can result in injuries here:

  • Inadequate manual handling training resulted in you attempting to lift a load that was well above the recommended limit. You suffered severe damage to your wrist as a result of this.
  • A badly designed working environment meant you had to perform repetitive twisting motions to move goods from one conveyor to another. This caused serious ligament damage to your shoulders.
  • Your employer failed to carry out the maintenance inspections on the warehouse pallet trucks. The lifting arm gave way as you were using the truck, and a heavy object fell onto your foot, crushing several toes. 

To get a free consultation regarding your eligibility to claim, contact our advisors today.

Manual Handling Injury

Manual Handling Claims – What’s The Time Limit?

After suffering manual handling injuries, it’s important that you take action within the appropriate time frame. You typically have three years from the date of the accident to begin a claim. We refer to this time as the limitation period.

In certain circumstances, the work accident claim time limit may be temporarily suspended. For example:

  • Claimants under 18 years old have from their 18th birthday to take action. That is unless a litigation friend claims on their behalf, such as a parent or family friend.
  • If someone does not have the mental capacity to claim, the time limit is suspended indefinitely unless they regain their mental capacity. Again, a litigation friend can claim on their behalf.

We are available to chat 24/7 and can answer any questions you may have on the manual handling claims process. Additionally, we can put you in touch with our expert solicitors. They have helped many clients successfully settle manual handling claims.

Employee Manual Handling Injuries

Employees who suffer a manual handling injury are entitled to make a workplace manual handling compensation claim if their employer is responsible for their injuries. According to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 employers are responsible for providing employees with a safe, hazard-free working environment. This includes conducting regular risk assessments and removing hazards that could endanger employees’ health and safety. What’s more, they are obliged to follow recommended guidelines and regulations on how manual handling activities are to be conducted.

If these regulations and guidelines are not followed, and it leads to you suffering a manual handling accident, your employer could be held liable for your injuries. In some circumstances, a building owner or equipment may be liable for your injuries. And if this is the case, you could file manual handling injury claims.

What Is The Best Way To Begin A Claim For A Manual Handling Injury?

If you wish to make a personal injury claim for a manual handling injury you experienced that was not your fault, Accident Claims UK can help you claim the compensation for your injuries that you are entitled to. To help your solicitor build a strong case, you can collect evidence to support your manual handling accident claim.

Here are some ways to collect evidence to support your personal injury claim:

  1. Take photographs: If you can take photographs of the hazard that caused your injury and any physical effects your injuries had on your body (such as bruises or swelling) to serve as evidence of your injury and the defendant’s liability.
  2. See a doctor: It is wise to be seen by a doctor as soon as possible for the sake of your health. A doctor will also give you a full medical report, which will serve as evidence for making your manual handling accident claim.
  3. Keep records of your expenses: You will be able to claim back any expenses associated with injury as part of your special damages. These expenses will also serve as evidence in your manual handling injury claim.

Manual Handling Accident Compensation Payouts

If you were looking for a claims calculator to give you a specific amount that you would receive in compensation, this would simply not be possible. Every single claim is assessed on its own merit. The circumstances and facts of each accident must be assessed, and the level of injury suffered would dictate the amount of compensation you receive. During your compensation claim, you would need to go to see an independent medical expert. The expert would take details of your injury and examine you, asking questions about how you had suffered. Once they had assessed you, they would write a medical report which courts and lawyers could view alongside the Judicial College Guidelines to ascertain an appropriate value for your claim. The table below contains figures from the Judicial College Guidelines, to give you a rough idea of how much you could claim. The figures below relate to general damages, which include the loss of amenity, suffering and pain you have experienced.

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Injury type Severity Settlement band Notes
Back injuries Severe (i) £91,090 to £160,980 Broken back or other more serious and permanent injuries.
Back injuries Moderate (i) £27,760 to £38,780

 

 Injuries to the muscles or connective tissues.
Back injuries Minor (iv) Up to £2,450 A full recovery is made by three months.
Knee injuries Severe (i) £69,730 to £96,210 Serious fractures or breaks in the knee. Injuries will be long-term.
Knee injuries Moderate (i) £14,840 to £26,190 Victim may experience some temporary loss of function.
Ankle injuries Severe (b) £31,310 to £50,060

 

 Longer-term injuries and loss of function.
Ankle injuries Moderate (c) £13,740 to £26,590 May include more simple breakes or fractures which can be fully recovered from.
Ankle injuries Modest (d) Up to £13,740 May include more mild or minor soft tissue injuries.

Special Damages For Manual Handling Injury Claims

When it comes to claiming compensation, manual handling claims could involve special damages too. These are designed to compensate you for out-of-pocket expenses you have sustained due to your injuries and accident. They could include loss of earnings, as well as travel and medical expenses and even care costs. If you would like to speak to us about what special damages you could be eligible for, please contact our team.

No Win No Fee Manual Handling Injury Claims

If you’re making a manual handling injury compensation claim, you may consider getting a solicitor to help you. 

A solicitor with experience in handling such claims could assist you in gathering relevant evidence. They could ensure your claim is as strong as it could be and negotiate a settlement on your behalf. 

If you’re considering using a solicitor to help you claim for manual handling injuries, you might be pleased to learn that you may not have to pay them for their work until the end of your claim.

One of our solicitors could offer to take on your claim under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). The CFA is a No Win No Fee contract that offers claimants some highly desirable benefits. So you would not have to pay your solicitor upfront or throughout your claim. Instead, they would deduct a small success fee from your payout. 

If your claim didn’t result in compensation, you would not typically have to pay the solicitor for their work. 

To check your eligibility to claim with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

  • Call 0800 073 8801 for free advice or to begin your claim.
  • Contact us online, and we will call you back.
  • Use Live Chat to connect with an advisor.

Useful Links Relating To Manual Handling Claims

Check out more of our guides below:

Thank you for taking the time to read our guide on manual handling injury claims. We hope you have learned a lot about manual handling claims.