Due to the dangers of electricity, there are strict regulations relating to electrical wiring in the home, at work and on commercial premises. That’s because if wiring is damaged, exposed or installed incorrectly, there is a risk of electric shock injuries or death through electrocution. Importantly, if you or a loved one have suffered because of a wiring fault caused by the negligence of your landlord, your employer or other parties, you may be eligible to claim compensation.

This guide on faulty wiring injury claims will explain your options, review the claims process and show how much compensation for faulty wiring injuries might be awarded.

We are here to help if you are going to claim. Our advisors are specially trained to review your case and provide free legal advice. If they believe there’s a fair chance you’ll be compensated, they’ll connect you with one of our personal injury solicitors who could process your claim on a No Win No Fee basis.

To find out more about faulty wiring claims, please read on. Or, if you’re ready to talk to us right away, please call us on 0800 6524 881 today.

What Are The Risks Of Faulty Wiring?

Where wiring needs to be installed or replaced, it should always be done by a qualified electrician. If it’s not, somebody who comes into contact with faulty wiring could suffer:

• Electric shock injuries.
• Internal and external burn injuries.
• Muscle spams which can cause secondary injuries i.e. head injuries or broken bones after hitting a wall or floor.
• Breathing problems.
• Electrocution.
• Cardiac arrest.

Whether you’ve suffered these or any other injuries due to faulty wiring, please get in touch and we’ll let you know if we could help you to claim compensation.

Am I Eligible To Claim Compensation For An Injury From Faulty Wiring?

Our solicitors will always try to help anybody injured by faulty electrical wiring. However, so that they don’t waste your time, they’ll only accept your claim if they believe it is strong enough. The criteria they’ll check when assessing a faulty wiring injury claim include:

• Were you owed a duty of care by the defendant in your case; and
• Was the defendant negligent in some way; and
• Were you injured by faulty wiring because of the defendant’s negligence?

If your claim meets all of the criteria set out above, you could be entitled to compensation for your injuries. You needn’t worry too much about checking for a duty of care as your solicitor will use legislation like the Homes (Fitness for Habitation) Act 2018 or the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to do this for you. You can still help though by collecting other evidence to support your claim. We’ll look at this in more detail later on.

Negligence Leading To Faulty Wiring Injury Claims

Looking at the criteria listed in the previous section, faulty wiring claims must be based on some form of negligence by the defendant. Therefore, let’s take a look at some scenarios where negligence could be to blame for electric shock injuries:

• If you’re a tenant injured due to your landlord failing to deal with a report of faulty wiring in a reasonable timeframe and you were injured as a result.
• If you were not provided with suitable PPE when working with electrical equipment at work.
• Where wiring was exposed in a nursery school but not dealt with and your child suffered an electric shock.
• If an unqualified electrician was used by your employer to save money but a member of staff was electrocuted because the wiring was incorrectly installed.
• Where a customer suffered an electric shock in a supermarket after a leak was allowed to drip onto a freezer’s power supply.
• If your employer failed to maintain electrical devices and you suffered an electric shock at work as a result.

As you can see, there are various forms of negligence that could lead to faulty wiring claims (and many are not listed here). If you believe that you or a loved one have been injured by faulty wiring, please call our team today to see if we could help you to claim compensation for your suffering?

How Much Compensation For Injury Due To Faulty Wiring Could I Claim?

There is no fixed amount that is awarded to faulty wiring injury victims. Compensation can vary widely from one case to another, depending primarily on the severity of the injuries sustained (general damages) and actual expenses and losses (special damages). More information on general and special damages can be found on this page.

Based on the above, if you win your claim, compensation could cover:

• The physical pain caused during the accident and throughout your recovery.
• Mental trauma caused by the incident (distress, PTSD, anxiety etc).
• Any negative effect your injuries have on your hobbies or other usual activities.
• Any earnings lost while you were injured.
• The time somebody else spent supporting you while you were injured (friends, family, carers etc).
• Medical expenses.
• Travel costs.
• The cost of replacing personal items damaged by the accident.
• Future loss of earnings if you’ll be affected by your injuries in the future.

Additionally, if a faulty wiring injury causes permanent disability, you could claim for the cost of changes to your home that might improve your quality of life.

Faulty Wiring Injury Compensation Calculator

You can use our compensation calculator below to get an idea of what levels of compensation are advised by the Judicial College with regard to general damages. The compensation calculator does not include compensation for special damages as your solicitor would need to calculate these based on your expenses.

When you make a faulty wiring injury claim, you’ll need a medical assessment to help determine your prognosis. This is something that your solicitor will usually arrange locally with an independent medical specialist. Before writing their report, they’ll discuss your injuries with you, examine you and check your medical records. Once your solicitor has received the report, they’ll be able to estimate a settlement figure.

Evidence To Support A Faulty Wiring Injury Claim

Whether you’re claiming against your landlord, employer or a business, you’ll usually end up dealing with their insurance company. They will probably deny liability for your injuries from the outset so you will need to prove exactly how their client was responsible for the faulty wiring that led to your injuries. The types of evidence that could prove useful here include:

• Accident report forms. When you report an accident at work or in a public place, you should receive a copy of the accident log. This could be used to show when and where the accident occurred.
• Details of any witnesses. In some cases, witness statements can help if it’s not clear how the accident happened. Therefore, you should collect the contact details of anybody else who saw you get injured.
• Medical records. For any electric shock injury, you should seek professional medical advice. After your injuries have been treated, your solicitor could request for any relevant medical notes to be forwarded to them.
• Photographs. If you can do so safely, it’s a good idea to take pictures at the accident scene before the cause of your accident is repaired or replaced. Also, take photos of any visible injuries.
• Camera footage. If you suffered injuries because of faulty wiring in a shop accident, at work or anywhere else covered by CCTV cameras, you should ask for a copy of any footage of your accident.

We’ll review any evidence you’ve managed to collect so far during your free initial consultation and your solicitor will help to collect more if your claim is accepted.

Faulty Wiring Injury Claim Time Limits

The time limit for claiming compensation for injuries caused by faulty wiring in the UK is:

• 3 years from the date of your accident, or the date your injury or psychiatric condition was diagnosed (if you’re aged over 18);
• Any time before a child turns 18 years old if a litigation friend files a claim on their behalf (or 3 years from their 18^th birthday if a claim isn’t made before then).

Please get in touch if you’d like to check how long you’ve got left to claim.

Fatal Injury Claims

Although compensation won’t make things any better following the death of a loved one caused by faulty wiring, it might help you deal with any financial implications relating to their death. Our solicitors could help you to claim compensation if you were financially dependent on them or to help you claim back expenses such as funeral costs. Please get in touch if you’d like free support and no-pressure guidance on how to make a fatal accident claim.

Starting The Faulty Wiring Injury Claims Process

Thanks for reading our guide on faulty wiring injury claims. If you’ve decided to seek damages for your injuries, please call our team on 0800 6524 881 today for free advice about your options.

If your claim is accepted, you’ll only pay legal fees if your claim is won because of our solicitor’s No Win No Fee policy. Knowing that will usually make the faulty wiring injury claims process much less stressful.