Injury At Work - Are You Eligible To Claim?

Are you wondering if you are eligible to make an injury at work claim? Were you harmed because of missing or incomplete health and safety arrangements and feel unsure who is responsible? Perhaps you think the accident was entirely your fault, or that it’s too difficult to prove your employer was to blame?

Injury at work claims guide

At Advice, we offer the clarity and information to help you start an injury at work claim. Our unique service means we could connect you with a member of our panel of personal injury lawyers to assess your claim and suggest a way forward. They are experts in this field and ready to help. It’s free to get in touch so why not find out more by reading on or:

Calling our team for help with your injury at work claim on 0161 696 9685
Requesting a free ‘call back‘
Or accessing help through the ‘live support’ option

Select A Section

Who Was At Fault If I Was Injured At Work?
Were You Injured?
Are There Time Limits To An Injury At Work Claim?
What Evidence Do I Need?
Injury At Work Claim Calculator
Discuss Your Injury At Work Claim

Who Was At Fault If I Was Injured At Work?

Fault and liability for workplace accidents and injuries will need to be established if you want to make a personal injury claim. So as you approach a compensation claim, it is important to have a clear idea of who legally owes you a duty of care for protecting your health and safety at work. The Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974 is the core legislation that lays out this duty and three key questions can help you be clear right at the start about fault :

Did your employer actually owe you a ‘duty of care’?
Did they breach that health and safety duty in some way through action or inaction?
Were your injuries a direct result?

Health and safety requires an array of actions such as the removal or reduction of risks in the workplace. Therefore, determining eligibility for an injury at work claim may need you to gather evidence. Speak to our friendly advisors now and they can help you sift through the events and guide you to the most appropriate next step.

Can I Make An Injury At Work Claim If I Was At Fault?

If you are completely at fault for the accident at work then you will not be able to make a personal injury claim. However if you are only partially at fault you may still be able to make a claim. But there needs to be proof that negligent actions contributed to the accident in which you were harmed.

This means being able to demonstrate that there was a breach under the duty of care to protect your safety and wellbeing at work.

Here we look at an example were both parties are responsible – you may have become injured because you were running in an area where that was not allowed. But if you slipped on a wet floor that was not clearly marked (as it should be) there could be a responsibility on your employer’s part too.

Split liability for a personal injury claim at work may be appropriate in such a case and you could receive a reduced percentage of compensation even if partially at fault for a workplace accident. Speak to our team for more help with this.

Can I Claim If I Do Not Know Who To Blame?

A personal injury solicitor can help you better understand where liability lies and help to calculate your compensation accurately. Their expertise can help clear up any confusion about the limits of the health and safety law or other third parties who may be at fault.

Were You Injured?

There needs to be actual physical or mental injury to have taken place to launch a personal injury claim for an accident at work case against your employer. An accident in and of itself is not sufficient to support a personal injury claim for compensation.

When you make a personal injury claim, the first initial damages you will be assessed for are the pain and suffering as well as loss in life quality you were caused because of your injury. This is known as the general damages head of a personal injury claim. If there has been no injury then the claim would not be valid.

If you have suffered an accident at work that caused property damage such as broken spectacles but no injury then there is a different way you may be reimbursed for this expense.

Are There Time Limits To An Injury At Work Claim?

Under the terms of the Limitation Act 1980, there is normally a time limit on starting a personal injury claim of three years. This period can start from the date of the accident itself or the time that you first became aware of the injuries it caused.

There are also some exceptions if you are wishing to launch a claim and are under the age of 18. Minors cannot represent themselves so if they want to claim while still a minor they would need a litigation friend. However, they can wait till they turn 18 when the three-year time period starts, giving a claimant until they are 21 to start the personal injury claim. There are other exceptions please call our advisors for more information.

What Evidence Do I Need?

To make an injury at work claim it’s important to assemble as much evidence as you can to prove that the duty of care owed was breached. So, with this in mind, it’s a good idea to collect as many of the items listed as you can:

Gain access to your medical records
Ask any witnesses for their contact details
Take photos of the scene or your injuries
Request CCTV footage of the event if possible
Report the accident in the workplace book

In addition to this, you can keep a diary of events to back up your injury at work claim.

Injured At Work Claim – Mediation and Arbitration

Pre-action protocols are procedures that both parties need to complete before using the last resort of going to court. In practice, most personal injury claims do not go to court and mediation and arbitration can be an effective way of helping both sides to reach a settlement amount deemed fair and appropriate.

The two options differ slightly. Mediation is a ‘without prejudice’ decision. Arbitration is when a third party may decide the dispute.

Injury At Work Claim Calculator

To calculate the amount of compensation for an injury at work claim, it’s necessary to look at two main areas. General damages use the results of a medical appointment and assessment that reflects the pain or loss of amenity inflicted upon you by the injury to come to a value. The chart below illustrates amount brackets from a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines

Area of injury	How bad?	JC Guideline amount	Notes
Head	{c) Moderate brain damage (iii)	£40,410 to £85,150	Concentration or memory issues that reduce capacity to work
Shoulder	(c) Moderate	£7,410 to £11,980	Limited movement, or soft tissue issues for 2 years
Elbow	(b) Less severe injury to the elbow	£14,690 to £30,050	Impaired function, but no surgery needed
Wrist	(b) Serious wrist damage	£22,990 to £36,770	Creating permanent disability in that wrist
Fingers	(j) Fracture of index finger	£8,550 to £11,480	A fracture that mends quickly but leaves an impaired grip
Back	(b) Moderate (ii)	£11,730 to £26,050	Injuries that create backache and make a pre-existing condition worse.
Leg	(c) Less serious leg fractures (i)	£16,860 to £26,050	Generally good recovery but loss of sensation, a limp or impaired gait.
Knee	(a) Severe (iii)	£24,580 to £40,770	Limited movement, pain, discomfort
Foot	(f) Moderate	£12,900 to £23,460	Cases where displaced metatarsal fractures cause permanent deformity
Toes	(d) Serious toe injuries	£9,010 to £12,900	Crush fractures to the great or other toes, resulting in a permanent disability

Essential to point out here is that these amounts are not to be relied upon as absolutely certain. They merely provide the courts with a sum considered reflective of that injury type.

The next area of compensation can take into account the financial damages associated with your injuries. For example, you may experience a sudden influx of bills. Special damages, as they are called, can be claimed back in successful cases. With this in mind, it can be possible to request:

Recognition of your loss of earnings
Medical costs for treatments that may not be freely available
Domestic care costs from family, friends, or paid carers
Changes to your home or car to accommodate a new disability or injury

It’s important to keep all the bills or receipts that prove how you needed to pay money out because of what happened. You could be reimbursed for them. Have a chat with our team to see what other expenses of yours may be eligible.

Discuss Your Injury At Work Claim

If you feel ready to launch a personal injury case for an injury at work our panel of solicitors can help. Simply contact our team on the details below and after a brief and informal assessment, our advisors can assess eligibility and connect you with a solicitor to take up your case on a No Win No Fee basis.

No Win No Fee arrangements offer a financially convenient way for a claimant to access expert legal representation at no upfront charge or any as their case develops.

There are no fees owed to a solicitor working in this capacity if the claim fails.

In fact, only a maximum 25% deduction from the settlement award becomes due if the case wins. This is to cover the solicitor’s time and efforts in winning the case. Start your injury at work claim in this way by:

Calling us on 0161 696 9685
Requesting a ‘call back‘
Or discuss your eligibility to make an injury at work claim through the ‘live support’ option

Injury At Work Claim – References

Below, you can find links to lots more guides on accidents at work:

Do you need help with Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)?
Or are you concerned about the costs of self-funded care?
Lastly, more on how to prevent slips or trips at work

Page by FS

Published by AL.

Accident At Work Claims

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Medical Negligence Claims

Personal Injury Claims

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Injury At Work – Are You Eligible To Claim?