No matter what precautions are put in place, accidents at work can and do happen under varying circumstances. Injuries caused by work accidents and employer negligence can range in severity from minor lacerations and sprains to broken bones, amputations, severe burns and sometimes sadly, even fatalities. Importantly, if you’ve been injured in an accident at work and you believe your employer was in some way to blame, you may be eligible to make an accident at work claim for compensation.
Our team of claims advisors are always available if you have any questions about claiming compensation for an accident at work. If you contact them by phone, email, or live chat, they can provide free advice and review what’s happened to you. If there are enough grounds to proceed, they could forward you on to one of our personal injury solicitors to start your claim on a No Win No Fee basis.
Please continue reading to learn more about the accident at work claims process and your options. For additional information or free advice, feel free to contact our team on 0800 6524 881.
Table of contents
- Am I Eligible To Make An Accident At Work Claim?
- What Can I Make A Work Accident Claim For?
- Common Injuries At Work Compensation Could Be Claimed For
- How Much Compensation For An Injury At Work Could I Claim?
- Accident At Work Claim Calculator
- Evidence To Support Accident At Work Claims
- Time Limits For Claiming Accident At Work Compensation
- How Long Does An Accident At Work Claim Take?
- Accident At Work Solicitors
- Caveat To Making A Work Accident Claim
Am I Eligible To Make An Accident At Work Claim?
In the UK, employers and business owners are legally responsible for the welfare and safety of their staff and any visitors to their premises. The legal clause states that all businesses must compulsorily hold insurance (Employers’ Liability Insurance) and conform to Health & Safety regulations to ensure that they meet those guidelines.
Therefore, if you can prove that your employer failed to meet their legal responsibilities and negligence has led to you being injured at work, you can claim compensation by filing an accident at work claim. If your claim for a workplace injury is successful the compensation would be paid from the employers’ liability insurance.
In certain circumstances, even if you contributed to your own accident at work, you may still be able to claim injury compensation if your employer is deemed to have been the main instigator of your personal injury at work.
Can I Claim If I Was Partly To Blame For My Injury?
As mentioned above, you may still be able to claim compensation for an accident at work even if you were partly to blame. However, any compensation awarded may be reduced to reflect the extent to which you were responsible for the accident.
For example, you were injured when you fell off a ladder. The ladder had a broken rung, but you still decided to use it, which contributed to the accident. After an investigation, it was found that you were 25% responsible for your fall due to your decision to use the ladder, and your employer was 75% responsible for failing to repair or replace the ladder. In this case, you may still be able to claim compensation for your injuries, but the compensation amount would be reduced by 25% to account for your contributory negligence.
Please contact us if you were partly to blame for an accident at work for free advice.
Can I Be Fired For Claiming Compensation Against My Employer?
Many claimants worry about being fired if they claim against their employer after being injured at work. However, employers are not allowed to discriminate or retaliate against employees who make an accident at work claim for a legitimate reason. If your employer does sack you for making a claim, it could be considered an unfair dismissal, for which you could take legal action against them.
However, we’d advise discussing your work accident with a solicitor on our team who can advise you based on your specific circumstances and any potential legal implications of making a claim against your employer.
What Can I Make A Work Accident Claim For?
You may have a valid basis for a work accident claim if you are injured at work for example for any of the below-mentioned reasons and have suffered a personal injury:
- Slip, trip or fall.
- Dangerous practices and procedures in the workplace.
- Defective or poorly maintained equipment.
- Dangerous machinery at work.
- Falls from height.
- Noxious environment or toxic substances.
- Falling objects.
- Non-adherence to Health & Safety regulations.
- Negligence of work colleagues.
- Insufficient or improper training.
- Assault at work.
- Accident while operating a forklift.
- Faulty lifting and manual handling practices brought on by lack of training.
- Industrial injuries such as hand-arm vibration syndrome or vibration white finger.
Please feel free to call/contact us if you want further advice or are indeed looking for accident-at-work solicitors to handle a claim that you feel you may have.
Common Injuries At Work Compensation Could Be Claimed For
There is of course an almost endless list of injuries at work that an employee could suffer directly due to the negligence of their employer. However, some of the most common work injuries that compensation is often claimed for include:
If your injury is listed above (or even if it isn’t) and you think your employer was in some way to blame, please contact us if you’d like to discuss taking legal action.
How Much Compensation For An Injury At Work Could I Claim?
How much compensation you might be able to claim for an injury at work varies due to various different factors. These will include how severe your work injury is, do you need to take time off from work to recover, and if you do for how long, who else may be affected by your work injury such as family members and so forth.
The best way to get a good idea of the amount of compensation you might receive is to have a free initial consultation with one of our solicitors or trained advisors by phone so that we can assess your situation properly.
We can also advise you of exactly what our fees will be if you want us to take your claim on, which would be on a No Win No Fee basis. However, we have listed below various workplace injuries and the advised levels of compensation.
Accident At Work Claim Calculator
As with any personal injury claim, the amount of compensation awarded will vary from one accident at work claim to the next so it is never possible to calculate 100% accurately what compensation amount your accident at work claim might be awarded.
However, there are brackets for which various degrees of injury will fit into which are set out by the Judicial College. These compensation payouts can be used as a guide by accident-at-work solicitors to provide early estimates on various kinds of accidents at work.
There is a work accident compensation calculator provided below that will help you get a rough idea of various compensation payout amounts for different types of injuries at work.
*Please note that the accident at work claim calculator should be used as a guide only and not be taken as a fact that your claim if successful would be awarded the same amount of compensation as shown in the table above.
Evidence To Support Accident At Work Claims
For an accident at work claim to be successful it’s important to gather and preserve evidence to support your claim. Evidence will help with establishing the facts and circumstances surrounding the accident and proving that you are entitled to compensation for your injuries.
Some key types of evidence that may be useful for an accident at work claims:
- Medical records. These can help with proving the extent and nature of your injuries sustained in the work accident and the impact they have had on your physical and mental health.
- Accident report. If you reported the accident to your employer, the report should contain details about the accident, including the date, time, location, and cause of the accident. Request a copy of the accident report from your employer or their representative if you haven’t already done so.
- Witness statements. Statements from witnesses who saw the accident or its aftermath can provide valuable evidence in support of your claim. Collect names, contact information, and statements from any colleagues or other individuals who witnessed the accident or can testify to the conditions that led to the accident.
- Photographs and/or videos. If possible, take photographs or videos of the work accident scene, any hazardous conditions, or any equipment, tools or machinery involved in the accident. Visual evidence including CCTV footage can help establish the circumstances of the accident and provide a clear understanding of the conditions that contributed to your injuries.
- Employment records. Your employment records, including your job description, training records, and any relevant policies or procedures, can be useful in establishing the duties and responsibilities of your role, as well as any training or safety protocols that should have been followed.
- Correspondence. Keep copies of any correspondence, such as emails or letters, related to the accident or your injuries. This may include communication with your employer, insurance company, and any other relevant parties.
- Financial records. Keep records of any financial losses you incurred as a result of the accident at work, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and other out-of-pocket expenses. These records can help establish the financial impact of the accident and the compensation for special damages you are entitled to.
It’s important if you’re able to, to gather evidence as soon as possible after the accident, while the details are fresh in your mind and the evidence is readily available. If you are unsure about what evidence you may need or how to gather it, a personal injury solicitor on our team who specialises in workplace accidents can advise you accordingly.
Time Limits For Claiming Accident At Work Compensation
In the UK there is a standard 3-year time limit for filing an accident at work claim. If you have not initiated legal proceedings within 3 years of suffering your injury at work, your case may be considered to be time-barred and you may not be entitled to any compensation.
The 3-year deadline commences from the date that the accident occurred, or from the date on which you realised that your injury was associated with the workplace accident. The second clause is particularly useful in cases that have involved exposure to asbestos. This is because you might not find out for several years after exposure to asbestos that you have contracted mesothelioma, an asbestos-related disease.
In the case of fatal accident claims, the 3-year limitation commences from the date of death. In case the death was due to mesothelioma, the 3-year deadline would commence from the date of the post-mortem as the mesothelioma may have gone undiagnosed until they died and it was only discovered during the post-mortem.
If the claimant passes away while in the process of dealing with their work accident case, the 3-year deadline begins from the date of their death to allow their family time to continue with the claim.
Every personal injury compensation case has its own circumstances and will proceed differently depending upon these circumstances and the reactions of the employers. While some personal injury at work cases are settled amicably and within a matter of months, others can take several years.
How Long Does An Accident At Work Claim Take?
The length of time it takes to settle an accident at work claim can vary depending on various factors, such as:
- The severity of the injuries sustained.
- The evidence involved.
- The willingness of the defendant to admit liability.
- Negotiating a settlement.
It’s not possible to give a definitive answer for how long a claim will take, but the process can typically take a few months for fairly straightforward cases to a year or more for more complex cases.
Please contact us if you’d like a solicitor to assess the specific circumstances of your case and provide an estimate of how long the process may take.
Accident At Work Solicitors
When filing a work accident claim, it is always recommended you contact a reputed and experienced solicitor to give you the proper accident claims help and advice to get started, such as ourselves.
Once you have found a solicitor (if you don’t have one already), they can then take up your case as their experience can make a tremendous difference to the success or failure of your claim and also to the amount of compensation you receive.
If you don’t know where to start in looking for a reputable solicitor then we’d of course certainly recommend getting in touch with ourselves today.
Our experienced work accident claims solicitors have been dealing with accidents at work claims for many years, and if you do indeed have a claim then we can get started on filing your compensation claim immediately.
Unlike some other companies, we won’t refer you to one solicitor and then another and keep messing you about. We deal directly with your work accident claim and also do most things electronically so you won’t always be waiting around for paperwork to arrive in the post.
All of our accident at work claims are taken on as No Win No Fee and any fees that we charge are highly competitive.
Caveat To Making A Work Accident Claim
As with all kinds of accident compensation claims, the most important aspect of filing a work accident claim is being able to prove that your accident at work injury was caused as a consequence of negligence.
Even if it was a straightforward accident in a factory, for example, caused clearly by your employer’s negligence, it may sometimes be difficult to prove it in court. This is when (in our opinion) it is important to appoint a personal injury solicitor who will assist you in assembling all the evidence for your accident at work claim and presenting it convincingly.