If you spill hot liquids onto your skin, it can cause a lot of pain and suffering. On some occasions, burns and scalds caused by hot drinks can also lead to permanent scarring which could result in long-term psychological harm as well. Whether you’ve been burned as a customer or as an employee, if the burns were caused by somebody else, you may be eligible to claim compensation for your suffering.

Our team is able to help with hot drink burn compensation claims. At the start of the claims process, a claims advisor will review your case, for free, to establish your options. They’ll explain the likelihood of you winning your case and, if your claim is strong enough, could connect you to one of our in-house personal injury solicitors.

In our experience, having legal representation will make the process a lot less stressful and could increase your chances of receiving a fair compensation settlement. Furthermore, to reduce your financial risk, our solicitors provide a No Win No Fee service for all accepted burn injury claims.

Our team is ready to help you right away so please call 0800 6524 881 if you have any questions or if you’d like to start your claim. Alternatively, to learn more about claiming for scalds or burns caused by hot drink spillages, please continue reading.

Am I Eligible To Claim Compensation For Hot Drink Burns?

To check your eligibility to claim compensation for hot drink burn injuries, a personal injury solicitor will have to assess whether:

• Legally, the defendant owed you a duty of care; and
• An accident happened because the defendant was negligent; and
• You were burned or scalded by a hot drink during the accident.

Your solicitor will use different pieces of legislation to help establish the duty of care. For example, if your claim is against your employer, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 may apply.

Evidence To Support Hot Drink Burn Compensation Claims

In the next section, we’ll look at some scenarios of accidents that could lead to compensation for hot drink burns and scalds. Before we do, let’s review what things you could do following an accident to improve your chances of claiming. They include:

• Take photographs/video. It’s a good idea to capture the accident scene and any visible burns on your phone or camera.
• Get treatment. As part of a burn injury compensation claim, medical records can help establish the extent of your injuries. Therefore, you should always seek advice from a minor injuries unit or an A&E department.
• Report the accident. Businesses and employees are obliged to keep a record of all accidents. You are entitled to a copy of the report and this could help prove that the accident took place if liability is denied.
• Get witness details. In some claims, the defendant’s insurers will typically try to deny liability for the accident or your injuries. When that happens, your solicitor could ask witnesses to describe what they saw happen to help corroborate your accusations.
• Camera footage. If the accident happened in an area covered by CCTV footage, you could request a copy of the footage.

For a free review of the evidence you’ve gathered, or to see what we can do to get additional evidence, please call our advice line today.

Common Accidents Leading To Hot Drink Burn Compensation Claims

Here are some scenarios that could lead to a hot drink burn injury claim:

• If you’ve been burned in a restaurant because waiting staff spill a hot drink over you while transferring it to your table.
• Where a member of staff is scalded in an accident because of tiredness due to a lack of rest breaks.
• If you burned yourself whilst carrying a hot drink because you slipped on a wet floor where no warning signs were used.
• Where you were preparing a drink in a coffee shop but were burned because of faulty kitchen equipment.
• If you burned your mouth on a drink that was too hot because of a faulty thermostat.

Common Injuries From Being Burned By A Hot Drink

The most common injuries associated with hot drink burns include:

• Swollen and blistered skin.
• Skin peeling away (top layers).
• Redness, soreness and pain in the area affected.
• Dry white charred skin.

We haven’t provided details of every injury or accident caused by hot beverages that might result in a compensation claim. Therefore, if you’re not sure whether you have the grounds to claim, please get in touch. We could help you claim against a café, restaurant, bar, pub, coffee shop, supermarket, etc.

Our claims service is for both customers and members of staff who’ve been burned because of a spilt hot beverage.

How Much Compensation For Being Burned By A Hot Drink Could I Claim?

After checking whether you have a valid claim, your solicitor will establish how much compensation you should be paid for burns or scalds from a hot drink. To do this they use two different heads of loss to try and ensure you’re compensated properly. These are:

• General damages. This is the part of your claim that focuses on the pain and suffering caused by your burn injury. It also covers the loss of amenity too. This is where a financial figure is placed on the loss of enjoyment of things your injuries prevent you from doing. For instance, if a burned hand stopped you from playing tennis like you normally do, this could be factored into your claim.
• Special damages. Here, you concentrate on financial losses caused by your burns injury. This element could cover medical costs, travel expenses or any loss of earnings caused by your injuries.

To help establish the extent of your injuries, your solicitor might have to book a medical assessment for you. This is not something you should worry about and it can usually be arranged locally.

Compensation Amounts For Burns From A Hot Beverage

To help you get a rough idea of compensation amounts for burns caused by hot beverages in relation to general damages, we’ve added some compensation amounts below. It is based upon amounts listed in the Judicial College Guidelines. These guidelines for general damages are used by insurers and solicitors to help determine compensation awards.

• £29,780 – £97,330 in compensation for hot drink burns causing very severe facial scarring.
• £17,960 – £48,420 for hot drink burns causing less severe facial scarring.
• £9,110 – £30,090 in compensation for hot drink burns leaving significant facial scarring.
• £3,950 – £13,740 for burns resulting in less significant facial scarring.
• £1,710 – £3,530 compensation where burns have left minor scarring on the face.
• £7,830 – £22,730 where burns have resulted in scarring to a leg/s, hand/s, back, chest, or arm/s.

Typically no two claims for hot drink burns/scalds are ever the same. Therefore, it’s best to consider the amounts listed here as examples only. Once your claim has been properly assessed, your solicitor should be able to provide a more accurate compensation figure.

How Long Do I Have To Claim Compensation?

One thing you should consider before starting a hot drink burn injury claim is how long you actually have to make the claim. For personal injury claims and accident at work claims, you’ll have 3-years to start. This will commence from the date you were injured.

One exception to this rule is when a child suffers a hot drink burn injury. In this scenario, the 3-year limitation period will not apply. Instead, a litigation friend can claim at any time before the child’s 18^th birthday. If that doesn’t happen, once they reach 18 years of age they’ll instead have three years to claim themselves.

We believe the earlier you begin your claim the better. We say that because your solicitor will need to carry out a number of tasks before filing your claim. Therefore, the more time they have the better. Furthermore, you’ll inevitably find it much easier to recall how you were affected when starting the claim early.

To check how long you have to claim or to ask any other questions, please call our team of specialists today.

Benefits Of Using A Solicitor To Make A Hot Drink Burn Compensation Claim

Whether you make a hot drink burn claim against a restaurant, café, coffee shop, or your employer, it is more than likely going to be handled by an insurance company. Unless they are given clear evidence as to why their client caused your injuries, they will not compensate you. Therefore, we believe you’re more likely to win your case when using a personal injury solicitor.

If your claim is accepted, your solicitor will try to do everything for you. That includes:

• Gathering evidence.
• Arranging a medical assessment.
• Dealing with the defendant’s insurers for you (so you won’t need to answer any complex questions).
• Dealing with any objections raised over liability.
• Trying to secure the highest amount of compensation possible for you.

Importantly, if an offer of compensation is received, it will be carefully considered and discussed with you. If it does not appear to be fair, your solicitor will try to negotiate a higher amount.

If you would like to find out whether we could help you claim, please call today on 0800 6524 881. Your case will be reviewed for free and you’ll get legal advice whatever you decide to do. If you do want to proceed, and your hot drink burn injury compensation claim is accepted, your solicitor will provide a No Win No Fee service.