Serious Head Injury Claims – How To Claim Compensation

This guide will explain when serious head injury claims could be made. We will first do this by laying out the eligibility criteria for a personal injury compensation claim. A duty of care is owed to you on the road, at work and in a public place. So, if a third party has breached that duty and caused an accident where you suffered a serious head injury, you could have grounds to seek compensation.

Before providing information about up to two heads of claim that could make up your personal injury settlement, we will give insight into the evidence that often supports a claim.

We will then tell you how your valid personal injury claim could receive expert legal support from our solicitors. In doing so, the guide will outline the No Win No Fee terms our solicitors work under, where you would only pay a fee in the form of a success fee if your claim succeeded. 

If you are interested in learning more about serious injury compensation claims, you can speak with our dedicated advisors. They can assess your case for free and put you in touch with our solicitors if your claim has grounds to proceed. Our team can be reached by:

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Serious Head Injury Claims

Select A Section

  1. What Are The Eligibility Criteria For Serious Head Injury Claims
  2. Time Limits On Serious Head Injury Claims
  3. What Evidence Could Help You To Claim Compensation
  4. Payouts For Serious Head Injury Claims
  5. Learn More About No Win No Fee Serious Head Injury Claims

What Are The Eligibility Criteria For Serious Head Injury Claims

When you are out and about, be it when working, travelling or spending time in a public place, a third party often owes a duty of care to keep you reasonably safe. There is legislation that outlines the responsibility third parties have in different spaces. If they breach their duty by not taking reasonable precautionary steps to ensure safety, an accident could result. And if such accidents cause head injuries, there could be ground for head injury claims to be made.

Any personal injury claim must meet these eligibility criteria:

  • A third party owed a duty of care;
  • This duty of care was breached;
  • An accident resulted from the breach and caused physical and/or mental harm.

To find out more about the process of making serious head injury claims call our advisors now for free advice or continue to read this guide. 

Road Accident Head Injury Claims

If you are involved in a road traffic accident, whether you could make a personal injury claim for a serious head injury would be determined by who is at fault for the incident. Road users have a duty of care to each other, and they must ensure they navigate roads in a way that protects themselves and others from harm. To achieve this, they need to follow the laws and guidance covered by the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. If this duty of care was breached by a driver, then they could be liable if any injuries resulted. 

  • An example of the duty of care being breached is a cyclist being hit by a speeding driver and suffering a subdural haematoma, as well as other serious injuries.

Head Injury At Work Claims

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 explains that employers have a duty of care towards their employees. Employers can meet this duty by taking reasonably practicable steps to ensure safety, such as providing PPE and performing risk assessments. If the duty of care is breached, an accident at work could ensue.

  • For example, a building site employer does not provide personal protective equipment PPE such as safety helmets to the employees, and an employee is hit by falling debris. They end up sustaining deep head wounds.

Public Place Accident Claims

Occupiers of public spaces must ensure the reasonable safety of visitors and prevent an accident in a public place wherever possible. This duty of care is set out by the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. Occupiers could include local authorities, businesses or landowners.

  • In a case where a member of the public trips on a trailing power lead in a supermarket and suffers a fractured skull, the owner of the supermarket could be liable as trailing cables are a clear tripping hazard. 

Time Limits On Serious Head Injury Claims

The Limitation Act 1980 notes that claimants wanting to make a personal injury claim generally have three years from the accident date to start their claim. However, there are exceptions which can apply in certain cases.

A person who is mentally incapable of claiming does not have a time limit. A trusted litigation friend could be appointed by the courts to claim on their behalf, however. Should the injured person recover without a claim having been started by the litigation friend, a three-year limit would apply from their recovery date.

A person under 18 would also need a litigation friend as minors cannot pursue their own claim, at least not until their 18th birthday. From this point, the three-year time limit would come into effect if no claim had been made by the litigation friend. 

If you would like to know more about the time limits that can apply to serious head injury claims, please call our advisors.

What Evidence Could Help You To Claim Compensation

Serious head injury claims centre around proving that a third party has breached their duty of care. Evidence highlighting the cause and effect of an accident is very useful in this regard, so you could gather:

  • Witness contact information.
  • Medical records 
  • A diary recording your symptoms and treatment.
  • Photographs of the accident scene and, where possible, visible injuries sustained.
  • CCTV or dashcam footage of the incident.
  • A copy of the entry in your work accident book if you were involved in a workplace accident.

Our solicitors will collect the evidence needed to support a claim if you opt to instruct them as your legal representative. Please get in touch with our advisors if you are interested in learning more about the services that can be provided.

Payouts For Serious Head Injury Claims

Settlements for serious head injury claims may feature up to two heads of claim, which are:

  • Special damages: compensation for financial losses directly resulting from injuries. An example is a loss of earnings from missing work, which you could prove by providing payslips.
  • General damages: compensation is awarded for injuries.

Legal professionals assign value to injuries using medical evidence and figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG.) We have also appropriated the JCG to assemble a table of guideline compensation brackets for serious head injuries.

Please only use the table as a guide.

Compensation table

Edit
INJURY COMPENSATION NOTES
Multiple Injuries – Serious Up to £1,000,000+ Various kinds of serious injuries with monetary losses.
Very Severe Head Injury £282,010 to £403,990 Included in the bracket are injuries where the injured person is in a vegetative or barely conscious state.
Moderately Severe Head Injury £219,070 to £282,010 Injuries cause the injured person a serious level of physical or cognitive disability.
Moderate Head Injury (i) £150,110 to £219,070 The affected person has no employment prospects due to the extent of their injuries.
Injuries Involving Paralysis (a) £324,600 to £403,990 This bracket refers to cases of tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia.
Injuries Involving Paralysis (b) £219,070 to £284,260 Paraglegia cases are covered in this bracket.
Established Grand Mal Epilepsy £102,000 to £150,110 Grand mal fits are otherwise known as tonic-clonic seizures
Established Petit Mal Epilepsy £54,830 to £131,370 Various factors will affect the award, including the level of success that medication has in controlling attacks.
Loss of Earnings Up to £100,000 and above Compensation to reimburse any lost income from taking time off work due to your injuries. This may be permanent or temporary time off.

Learn More About No Win No Fee Serious Head Injury Claims

Serious head injury claims can be difficult to navigate, particularly if you are recovering after an accident. The dedicated guidance of a specialist personal injury solicitor can be invaluable.

Therefore, if you have a valid claim, you could feel the benefits of legal representation on a No Win No Fee basis.

Our solicitors offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis using an arrangement called a Conditional Fee Agreement. As part of this contract, you would not pay solicitor fees:

  • Upfront.
  • During your case.
  • If your case does not succeed.

If your case wins, however, your solicitor will take a percentage of the compensation. The percentage is legally capped in line with the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, assuring you of most of the compensation going your way.

Contact Us

Our advisors can answer any questions you might have about serious head injury claims. On top of this, they can assess your potential case for free. You could be referred to one of our solicitors if the assessment shows a valid claim.

We are ready to help, so all you need to do is:

Where To Read More

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Thank you for reading our guide about serious head injury claims.