Accident at Work Claims Guide – How Much Can I Claim?

By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 24th November 2023. If you have been injured in an accident at work, you may be eligible to make a personal injury claim for compensation for a work injury. However, for your case to be valid, you will need to prove that your injuries were caused by your employer breaching their duty of care.

In this guide, we will discuss the duty of care you are owed by your employer and the eligibility requirements you must meet in order to make an accident at work compensation claim. Furthermore, we also look at accidents at work compensation examples. Lastly, this guide will discuss some of the benefits of making a personal injury claim with one of our experienced No Win No Fee solicitors.

If you have any questions about making a personal injury claim for your work injuries and the compensation you could be entitled to, you can contact our advisors. Our friendly team is available to help 24/7, and can be reached by:

accidents at work compensation examples uk

How to claim compensation for an accident at work

Choose a Section

  1. Am I Eligible to Make A Workplace Injury Claim?
  2. Time Limits For Making Accident At Work Claims
  3. What Evidence Do I Need To Make An Accident At Work Claim?
  4. Accidents At Work Compensation Examples
  5. Claiming For An Accident At Work With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

Am I Eligible to Make A Workplace Injury Claim?

If you have had an accident at work in the UK caused by a negligent employer you may be eligible to claim personal injury compensation. However, your claim must meet specific eligibility criteria to be valid.

Per the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), your employer owes you a duty of care. They must take reasonably practical steps to protect your health and safety at work.

Depending on your work or workplace, the steps they may take could include:

  • Providing relevant training
  • Risk assessing the workplace and removing any hazards possible
  • Signposting hazards that may not be removable
  • Providing you with personal protective equipment where it is identified there is a need for it.

So in order to have a valid personal injury claim following an accident at work you must be able to prove that:

  •       At the time and place of the accident your employer owed you a duty of care.
  •       Your employer failed to uphold health and safety legislation therefore breaching their duty of care.
  •       Due to this breach you were involved in an accident where you suffered an injury.

Read on to find more information about accidents at work, compensation examples, and how our solicitors could assist you. If you have any questions, please contact an advisor.

Time Limits For Making Accident At Work Claims

If you meet the criteria to make an accident at work compensation claim, you must also ensure that you start the claiming process within the correct time limit. The Limitation Act 1980 states that you will have 3 years to start a personal injury claim for compensation for a work injury. This time limit runs from the date the accident occurred.

There are certain exceptions to this limitation period. For example, the time limit is suspended indefinitely for those who lack the mental capacity to make a claim for themself. During this time, a litigation friend could make a claim on their behalf. If a claim has not been made, and the injured party was to regain this mental capacity, they will have 3 years to start a claim from the date of their recovery.

For those injured under the age of 18, the time limit is paused. From their 18th birthday, they will have 3 years to start their claim. However, prior to this point, a litigation friend could make a claim on their behalf.

To learn more about making a personal injury claim for your work injuries and the compensation you could be awarded, you can contact our advisors. They can also inform you whether you are within the time limit to claim.

What Evidence Do I Need To Make An Accident At Work Claim?

To make an accident at work claim, it’s important to gather evidence that supports your case and show that you meet the eligibility criteria. You’ll need evidence confirming your injuries and evidence that shows how negligence by your employer contributed to the accident in the workplace that caused you harm. Evidence to support your work injury claim may include the following:

  • Medical records of your injuries and the treatment you’ve received for them.
  • The contact details of any witnesses who can provide a statement supporting your account of how you were injured.
  • Any video footage available, such as CCTV footage, which shows your accident at work.
  • Photographs of the accident scene and your injuries.
  • A copy of the report providing details on your accident and injuries from your employer’s accident book.

If you have a solicitor supporting your claim, then they can assist with gathering evidence. For more advice on gathering evidence or to ask about other aspects of work injury claims, such as accident at work compensation examples, please contact our advisors for free today.

Accidents At Work Compensation Examples

If you’re considering claiming compensation for a work injury, it is natural to be curious about how much you could receive. You may have looked for a compensation calculator to give you an approximate figure. However, it’s worth considering that such tools only provide very rough estimates. They cannot assess the facts and circumstances of your case, which could significantly impact your compensation. 

Instead, we have created a table using figures from the  Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a publication that provides guidance for compensation payouts for claims in England and Wales based on previous cases. The figures below are from the April 2022 release of this publication. 

Solicitors can use these figures to help them accurately value the general damages portion of your claim alongside other resources, such as medical evidence. General damages seek to compensate for the pain and suffering caused by your injuries. The first entry in this table is not taken from the JCG.

Edit
Injury Notes Compensation
Multiple Severe Injuries Severe injuries, when combined that result in significant pain and suffering as well as financial loss, such as lost earnings, travel expenses, and home adaptations. Up to £100,000+
Arm Injuries (b) One or both forearms have suffered serious fractures that result in a permanent cosmetic or functional disability. £39,170 to £59,860
Injuries to the Elbow (a) A severely disabling elbow injury. £39,170 to £54,830
Fractures of Jaws (i) The person will require prolonged treatment due to multiple fractures in the jaw. This will cause severe pain with a restriction in eating. £30,490 to £45,540
Very Severe Facial Disfigurement (a) Usually applicable to younger claimants in their teens to early 30s, where the psychological reaction and cosmetic disfigurement is severe. £29,780 to £97,330
Serious Hand Injuries (e) The hand will have been reduced to 50% capacity, and several fingers may have been amputated. £29,000 to £61,910
Severe Shoulder injury (a) Usually associated with a neck injury with the brachial plexus being damaged, which will cause serious neck and arm symptoms. £19,200 to £48,030
Moderate Knee Injuries (i) Weakness and wasting with minor instability in the knee due to a dislocation or a torn meniscus/cartilage. £14,840 to £26,190
Moderate Foot Injuries (f) Continuing symptoms and a permanent deformity due to suffering displaced metatarsal fractures. £13,740 to £24,990

These figures are only guides and other resources will be considered when valuing your claim. As part of your claim, you may need to have a medical assessment. An independent medical professional would examine you and document the findings. The medical report they provide can provide insight into the nature of your injuries.

For information on typical payouts for personal injury in the UK, call our team.

What Else Can Work Accident Compensation Payouts Include?

As we have stated above, when claiming compensation for an injury at work, you should receive general damages if your claim is successful. However, when making a claim for a work accident, your compensation settlement may also include special damages.

Special damages aim to compensate you for the financial losses you have suffered due to your injury. Some of the financial losses that special damages could compensate you for include:

  • A loss of earnings, both past and future, if you’ve required time off work.
  • Medical costs.
  • Any home adaptations you may have required to help cope with your injury.
  • Travel expenses.

To be able to successfully claim these losses back, you will need to provide evidence of them. Evidence could include payslips, invoices, receipts and bank statements.

Contact our advisors today for further injury at work advice. They could also provide you with more information about various accident claims, and how much compensation you may be entitled to.

Claiming For An Accident At Work With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

If you’re interested in making a claim for an injury at work, you may want to seek support from a solicitor who has previous experience handling this type of case. After discussing your claim with one of our advisors, they could connect those with a valid claim with one of our solicitors, who have years of experience handling various workplace accident claims. Additionally, one of them may offer to work with you on a No Win No Fee basis with a Conditional Fee Agreement.

When claiming with a No Win No Fee solicitor, you won’t have to pay any upfront legal fees. You also won’t have to pay your solicitor for their services if your case fails. Instead, a success fee is paid to your solicitor should your claim prove successful. The success fee is a legally capped percentage subtracted from the compensation awarded to you.

For more advice on claiming compensation for an accident at work with a No Win No Fee solicitor, you can contact our team. They are available 24/7 to offer you free advice and answer your questions.

You can contact an advisor by:

Helpful Links On Injury At Work Claims

Here are some helpful links that you can follow after reading this guide on how to make personal injury claims against employers:

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read our accident at work claims guide. Now, we hope you have learned a lot about how to make personal injury claims against employers.