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Being burned or scalded by a hot drink can be an incredibly painful and distressing experience. Whether it happens in a café, restaurant, or workplace, these accidents often occur without warning and can leave both physical and emotional scars. If you’ve been injured because someone failed to handle or serve a hot beverage safely, you may have grounds to pursue a hot drink injury claim. Those affected can seek compensation for their pain, suffering, and any financial losses.
Key Takeaways
- According to the Children’s Burns Trust, approximately 30 babies and toddlers are treated in hospital every day for hot drink injuries.
- Hot drink injury claims can help you recover compensation if you’ve been injured because of someone else’s negligence in a café, restaurant, workplace, or public venue.
- Common causes of hot drink injuries includes spillages by staff, defective machines, poor safety procedures, and a lack of proper training.
- Compensation in hot drink injury claims can cover pain and suffering, medical treatment, visible scarring, psychological distress, and loss of earnings.
- Proving a hot drink injury claim requires strong evidence such as medical records, witness statements, CCTV footage, and accident reports.
- Our No Win No Fee hot drink injury solicitors can help you pursue your claim without paying upfront fees, making it easier to seek justice and financial recovery.
At Advice, our friendly advisory team work around the clock to provide the best personalised service to people just like you. Following a free case check, you could also be connected with one of our expert No Win No Fee solicitors to start your claim. To speak with our team today, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I Make A Hot Drink Injury Claim?
- How Are Burn And Scald Injuries Assessed For Severity?
- Hot Drink Burn And Scald Compensation Calculator
- What Can I Claim For Aside From My Burn Or Scald Injury?
- What Are The Most Popular Hot Drinks In The UK?
- What Are The Most Popular Coffee Shop And Fast Food Chains?
- No Win No Fee Compensation Claims For Burns And Scalds Caused By A Hot Drink
- Where To Get Further Advice And Information
Can I Make A Hot Drink Injury Claim?
Yes, you could make a hot drink injury claim if your injury was caused by the negligent act of someone else. Below we further discuss the criteria that must be met to have a valid personal injury claim:
- You were owed a duty of care
- A third party breached this duty of care
- You suffered hot drink injuries as a result of the breach
This is otherwise known as the principle of negligence. Depending on where your hot drink injury took place, a duty of care may have been owed to you by another party. As such, please keep reading our helpful guide to learn about how a duty of care is owed at work and in public places.
Hot Drink Burn Accident At Work Compensation Claims
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA) sets out the legal obligations that all employers should follow. As such, employers have a duty of care to their employees to take reasonable and practicable steps to ensure their safety. Therefore, employers should provide staff with personal protective equipment (PPE) and conduct regular machinery checks as part of their legal duty.
If you’ve suffered hot drink injuries due to your employer’s inability to ensure your safety, you could therefore make an accident at work claim. For instance, your employer could fail to fix a defective coffee machine at work despite being aware of the danger. You could therefore suffer burns to your hand, as well as psychological injuries.
Advice On Claiming For A Hot Drink Burn Accidents In A Public Place
As per the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, occupiers in control of public spaces owe a duty of care to all visitors of their premises. In doing this, occupiers should take the necessary steps to ensure the reasonable safety of visitors; this could be fixing broken machinery and cleaning up spills to prevent falls.
Therefore, if an occupier failed to ensure your safety and you suffered hot drink injuries as a result, you could make a public liability claim. For example, a server at a restaurant could accidentally drop your coffee while trying to place it on the table. The hot liquid could then spill onto your foot, causing third degree burns.
Claims For Children Burned And Scalded By A Hot Drink
If your child has suffered hot drink injuries, they could wait until their 18th birthday to make a claim themselves. Alternatively, you could make a claim straight away on your child’s behalf by assuming the role of a litigation friend.
In doing this, your role is to prioritise your child’s best interests throughout claims process, keeping them as informed as you possibly can. Moreover, your job is to assist in evidence-gathering efforts and consult with solicitors. In most cases, the child will then be able to access their compensation pay-out upon turning 18 years old.
Litigation friends are typically close family members, parents and even solicitors. To learn more about how you could claim on behalf of a loved one, please contact our friendly team today.
How Are Burn And Scald Injuries Assessed For Severity?
Hot drink injuries are usually assessed for severity by doctors adopting a systematic approach. It’s not always easy to predict the impact that a burn will have in the future, so it’s vital that you seek medical help to learn the full scope of your injuries.
The following key steps will be followed to determine the severity of a burn:
- Looking at the size and depth of the burn
- Cleaning the affected area
- Evaluating the patient’s overall condition such as pain levels and any other related injuries
- The Burn Degree Chart and the Rule of Nines will be used to calculate the total affected surface area of skin.
Following this, a doctor will classify the burn as one of the following:
- A first-degree burn (epidermis only)
- A second-degree burn (damaging the epidermis and some of the dermis)
- A third-degree burn (damaging all skin layers and potential underlying tissue)
To discuss hot drink injury claims in further detail, please contact one of our friendly advisors today.
Hot Drink Burn And Scald Compensation Calculator
In successful hot drink injury claims, you will be awarded general damages as part of your compensation. In all, general damages will compensate you for any physical and mental pain and suffering you experienced due to your injuries.
In most personal injury claims, the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) will be used by a solicitor with your medical report when valuing your general damages. The JCG publication is often referred to by legal professionals as they contain compensation guidelines for many injuries and severities.
All entries in the list below, aside from the first figure, have been taken from the JCG. Please note that they are merely guidelines and do not guarantee how much compensation you could receive.
- Multiple severe injuries with financial losses – More than one form of serious injury with special damages such as lost earnings, travel expenses and medical costs – up to £500,000+
- Burns Covering 40% or More of the Body – Factors such as the percentage of the affected body area and the thickness of the burns will be considered – Likely to exceed £127,930
- A Number of Noticeable Disfiguring Scars – Injuries typically include a laceration scar to the arms, legs, hands and chest – £9,560 to £27,740
- Scarring With No Significant Internal Injury – A scar or disfigurement is caused but without an internal injury – In the region of £10,550
- Several Superficial Scars – This may also include a single noticeable scar of the hands, arms and legs with some minor defects – £2,890 to £9,560
- Very Severe Facial Scarring – Injuries with a disfiguring cosmetic defect with severe psychological reactions – £36,340 to £118,790
- Less Severe Facial Scarring – Cases with a substantial disfigurement and significant psychological effects – £21,920 to £59,090
- Significant Facial Scarring – Where the worst effects may have been reduced by cosmetic surgery, and scarring may still be visual at a conversational disturbance – £11,120 to £36,720
- Less Significant Facial Scarring – The overall effect of the scarring may not affect the appearance and can be hidden or camouflaged – £4,820 to £16,770
- Trivial Facial Scarring – Where the scarring has a minor effect – £2,080 to £4,310
To receive a personalised compensation value after a hot drink burn injury, please contact our advisory team today.
What Can I Claim For Aside From My Burn Or Scald Injury?
Aside from general damages, you could also claim for financial losses you may have experienced due to your hot drink injury. This is otherwise known as the award of special damages. For instance, you may have paid expenses out of your own pocket for long-term counselling sessions after a severe scald injury.
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You could include the following special damages in hot drink injury claims:
- Loss of current or future earnings. This can also include a loss of a bonus, a loss of overtime pay and a loss in workplace benefits such as pension schemes.
- Medical expenses such as private medical appointments and prescription costs such as antibiotics, burn creams, ointments and bandages.
- Care costs such as carer costs you may have incurred whilst you recovered from your hot drink injuries. This can include cooking, cleaning, dressing and nursing.
- Travel expenses from travelling to and from medical appointments. This can include public transport or fuel costs.
It’s crucial that your special damages are supported with evidence, which may include:
- Receipts
- Invoices
- Payslips
- Bank statements
To learn more about special damages, please contact our friendly team today.
What Are The Most Popular Hot Drinks In The UK?
Undoubtedly, hot drinks are extremely popular in the UK, especially throughout the winter months. As such, the most popular hot drinks in the UK are:
- English breakfast tea
- Green tea
- Matcha green tea
- Black coffee
- Lattes
- Cappuccinos
- Fruit tea
- Earl grey tea
- Camomile tea
- Mint tea
- Hot chocolate
- Mochas
To discuss the hot drink injury claims process in further detail, please get in touch with our advisory team today.
What Are The Most Popular Coffee Shop And Fast Food Chains?
The most popular coffee shop and fast food chains in the UK include the following:
- Starbucks
- Costa Coffee
- Mcdonalds
- KFC
- Subway
- Burger King
- Pret A Manger
- Café Nero
- Taco Bell
- Greggs
Please note that the above list is not exhaustive. To discuss your personal experience further, please contact one of our helpful advisors today.
No Win No Fee Compensation Claims For Burns And Scalds Caused By A Hot Drink
Our friendly team of advisors are dedicated to providing the best customer service to people just like you. Our advisors also work 24 hours, 7 days a week to answer questions and give advice to people looking to claim. If your case is strong, you could also be connected with one of the specialist No Win No Fee solicitors to help you start your hot drink injury claim. Using a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), the following advantages could be available to you:
- No requirement to pay any solicitor service fees at the beginning of your case or as it progresses
- You won’t pay any solicitor fees if your claim is not a success
- If your claim is a success, you’ll be required to pay a success fee to your solicitor. The percentage of this fee is capped by law and will be deducted from your compensation. Therefore, you’ll always be awarded with the majority of your settlement.
The solicitors here at Advice provide the following services under No Win No Fee terms
- Assistance with evidence-gathering
- Explanations of legal terminologies
- Help with signing legal documents
- Regular claim updates so you know where your case stands
- Arrangement of an independent medical assessment to confirm your injuries
- Negotiation with the third party to achieve a settlement that best reflects your pain and suffering
To discover more about the benefits of a Conditional Fee Agreement, please contact our helpful team today.
Contact Our Advisors Today
To learn more about hot drink injury claims, please don’t hesitate to contact our team:
- Call us on 0161 509 2856
- Contact us by filling out our online form
- Use the live support option below
Where To Get Further Advice And Information
To learn more about personal injury claims, please see some of our other guides:
- Learn how to make a pedestrian crossing accident claim
- Get help with making a serious paralysis injury claim
- See the following advice on making a foot injury at work claim
Additional external resources:
- Learn how to treat burns and scalds from the NHS
- See the following advice about the maintenance of work equipment from HSE
- Get help with applying for statutory sick pay from Gov.UK
Thank you for reading our helpful hot drink injury claims guide.
