Accident at work compensation claims
If you or a loved one has been injured at work, we’re here to support you to explore the possibility of making a claim for compensation.
Contact Our Team
Injuries at work can have devastating, even fatal consequences, leaving families changed and facing financial difficulty.
If someone else was partially or wholly responsible for that accident or injury, you may be eligible for compensation to help you cope with the after-effects.
Contact us to discuss the circumstances of your injury and discover if you have a claim. If you do have a basis to seek compensation we’ll support you every step of the way and will answer all your questions and concerns around the process.
Can I claim injury at work compensation?
If you’ve been injured at work, an existing injury or illness has been aggravated at work or a loved one has suffered this or even died as a result of a workplace injury, you may have a valid compensation claim.
An injury at work can lead to long term repercussions for your life, impact potential earnings and create ongoing or future needs for specialist care or treatment. Claiming compensation will help to offset those issues and ensure you still get to live the life you deserve.
If you have suffered harm as a result of your work, whether due to the actions of someone else, faulty machinery, an out-of-control animal, poor health and safety procedures or any other circumstance, pursuing a claim may be the only way to offset and cope with some of the harm done.
Cases we’ve supported or can support include workplace accidents that led to:
What work accidents is it possible to claim compensation for?
When you are at work your employer has a duty to ensure health and safety guidelines are followed and you are well protected.
If a workplace is unsafe, even if you are a self employed contractor, you may well be able to claim for compensation.
The most common types of reported non-fatal injuries at work, according to the health and safety executive (HSE) , are:
- Slips, trips and falls (29%)
- Handling, lifting or carrying (20%)
- Struck by a moving object (10%)
- Acts of violence (8%)
- Falls from a height (8%)
In 2019/20 92 members of the public were killed due to work related activities, the HSE recorded. The figures included:
- Falls from a height (29)
- Struck by moving vehicle (20)
- Struck by moving object (18)
- Trapped by something collapsing/overturning (15)
- Contact with moving machinery (11)
Whatever the workplace injury there may be a claim for compensation. Our injury at work solicitors are here to advise whether you have a claim and help you to decide whether to proceed with one. All circumstances are different and it’s important for us to understand what happened to you or your loved one to decide.
Your employer has a duty to ensure you’re:
- properly trained and surrounded by others that are too
- properly protected with personal protective equipment (PPE)
- in an environment where healthy and safety guidelines are followed
- in an environment where working systems and procedures are safe
How much compensation can work injury solicitors secure?
Workplace injuries are extremely wide-ranging and the compensation achieved is similarly so.
Compensation is usually made up of two elements – general damages and special damages.
Generally damages are usually limited by guidelines and previous cases. They are intended to compensate for the pain and inconvenience that you’ve been through.
Special damages are more personal to you and can elevate claims to very high figures depending on the nature of the injury suffered and level of need it creates going forward. In the case of a very serious injury, if someone needed an adapted home or lifelong care as a result of their injury, for example, special damages may be extremely high. This may be the case in spinal injury claims, for example.
Find specifics of some of the general damages guideline payments via serious injuries claims.
Is there a time limit on instructing workplace injury solicitors?
Broadly the time limit to bring a personal injury or workplace injury claim is usually within three years of the injury being suffered, but there are exceptions.
For example, in a case where someone does not have the mental capacity to manage their own affairs, such as if a brain injury was suffered, the time limit does not apply.
It’s best to speak to a solicitor as early as possible after your accident for advice. If you’re unsure if the time limit on your claim has expired we’re happy to advise you. Contact us for a free consultation.
How long do injury at work claims take?
We can usually advise very quickly if you may have a valid accident at work compensation claim on a quick phone assessment.
Our specialism is in dealing with complex and serious injury cases, which take time to bring to settlement. It is usual for these cases to take two to three years to settle, but whenever possible we’ll seek financial support to assist you in your life and recovery from the beginning of the claim.
During the course of a claim we’ll be helping you to understand your level of long term need and what support you can and want to access. All of this will form part of your claim for compensation.
We have no win no fee agreements to protect you from financial harm and will always seek interim payments from your employer or whoever is responsible for your injury to support you in the short term whilst your claim is being settled.
We also support with claims where someone has died.
Will I lose my job if I make a work injury claim?
You cannot be dismissed for making a claim against your employer for injury in the workplace.
It’s illegal for an employer to sack you due to a claim or even to treat you differently because of it.
Some people are worried that their claim will harm company finances but employers have insurance to cover such claims and the compensation will come from them.
Making a workplace injury claim may not only be vital for you or your loved one in terms of securing a fulfilling and rounded future despite your injury, it can protect others at your own workplace and other workplaces from going through the same thing.
Can a self employed person claim for an injury at work?
Injuries at work claims are usually brought against employers but there are circumstances where self employed people have a justifiable claim.
If you were a self employed contractor or freelancer within a workplace and suffered an injury, for example.
Anyone who has suffered harm or injury due to something that was not entirely their own fault, may have a claim.
Contact us to discuss the circumstances and allow us to advise you further.
Can I claim compensation for a workplace accident that was my fault?
If the accident was truly entirely your fault you cannot claim, but it is important to be aware that sometimes blame can be shared.
You may feel you are to blame or partly to blame for an accident but if you’ve suffered the consequences of it, it is important to consider if the blame was partially shared. If you made a mistake due to being tired because you did not have appropriate breaks or you were operating machinery incorrectly because you hadn’t had proper training, for example, there may still be a basis for a claim.
A specialist serious injury lawyer like the ones in our team will be able to help you understand if your employer was partly at fault for the accident, and if that means you are able to make a claim. If you feel at fault it can be difficult to think about making a claim, but we can help you find out what went wrong, and whether you should have been receiving more support from your employer. Compensation claims help people to live more full lives after suffering harm or injury and provide support and security to families too. It’s important not to feel that it is morally wrong to make a claim if you were only partly responsible for what happened. Businesses have to have insurance in order that claims can be dealt with and individuals supported when things go wrong.
Agricultural workplace claims
The agricultural workplace is one of the most hazardous places of employment, with industrial equipment, livestock and outdoor working all contributing to the risk factor. The Health and Safety Executive reports that it has the highest rate of fatal injuries of all the industry sectors.
If you’ve been injured by a tractor or combine harvester, while repairing a farm building, or by out-of-control animals, you may be entitled to accident at work compensation. Contact us now to find out more.
Why should I choose Enable Law’s injury at work solicitors?
We’re highly experienced in personal injury and mental capacity law, especially in dealing with serious injury, complex cases.
We pride ourselves on being genuine, expert and supportive. We’re here to help put lives back together and back on track. We understand that compensation claims are not something people want to be involved in, rather a necessity and ensure a sensitive, friendly approach throughout.
Find out more about Enable Law, what Chambers UK and our clients say about us via our why choose us page.
We acted for a lady whose husband had a devastating and unfortunate accident whilst working as a roofer on a site which was not adequately provided with health and safety equipment.
Compensation after husband died in roofing accident
We acted for a lady whose husband had a devastating accident whilst working as a roofer and was not adequately provided with health and safety equipment. The site did not have a safety net which ultimately resulted in his tragic death.
We represented the family at the inquest and then pursued a claim. We negotiated an award of more than £100,000 for ‘loss of dependency’ (loss of the benefit of her husband’s income) for the remaining five years of his working life.
All names have been changed to protect the identities of the individuals
