A broken ankle is likely to cause a lot of pain, suffering and inconvenience and is the sort of injury that can affect many aspects of your life. With a broken ankle, you might not be able to carry out daily tasks like collecting your children from school, you might not be able to work, and you may struggle to participate in your hobbies. If your broken ankle was caused as a result of another person’s negligence, you may be eligible to claim compensation for your suffering.

Our team of personal injury claims advisors are ready to help if you’d like to take action. They’ll begin by providing an initial telephone assessment of your case. During the call, you’ll be given advice on whether you have (in their professional opinion) the grounds to proceed. If they decide your broken ankle claim is good to go, we could pass it on to a personal injury solicitor from our team who all work on a No Win No Fee basis.

To learn more about the claims process, and how much compensation for a broken ankle you could be due, please read the rest of this guide. However, if you’d like to discuss claiming right away, please get in touch with our team today by calling 0800 6524 881.

Eligibility To Claim Compensation For A Broken Ankle

Before you can claim compensation for a broken ankle, a solicitor will need to check whether you have a reasonable chance of being compensated. To do this, they’ll review your case with you to find out if:

• You were owed a duty of care by the party you’re claiming against (typically yes); and
• They caused an accident due to an act of negligence; and
• You suffered a broken ankle in the accident.

Duty of care is something we’ll review when you contact our team. It’s usually something that can result from government legislation. For example, if you’re hurt in a motorcycle accident and break your ankle, the Road Traffic Act 1988 could be used to establish a duty of care for the other driver. The next two elements can be proven with evidence. Therefore, the following section will look at what you can use to support your case.

Evidence To Help Support Your Claim For Compensation

When making a personal injury claim for a broken ankle, evidence will always be needed. In most situations, you’ll need to show how the accident happened, who was responsible, and that your injuries were sustained during the incident and not in any other way. To do so, you could use:

• Photographic evidence. Photographs are a great way of showing the aftermath of an accident. They can help to establish how the incident occurred and why you suffered a broken ankle. Therefore, where possible, ask somebody to capture a few images from various angles.
• Medical evidence. As we’ve mentioned, a broken ankle will need to be treated professionally. Your notes can be requested from the hospital to help prove the extent of the damage done and the treatment required.
• Camera footage. CCTV cameras and/or dashcam footage can be particularly strong evidence. Therefore, try to secure any footage as soon as possible.
• Witness details. Your solicitor may need to contact any witnesses if liability for your accident is denied. A statement could help to establish whose version of events is correct.
• Accident reports. When a company is made aware of an accident on its premises, it must record it in an accident report book. You can request a copy to help prove when and where your accident occurred.
• Financial evidence. If you have to spend any money because of your broken ankle (for medication or travel etc), keep a copy of your receipts as evidence.

Don’t be afraid to ask our claims advisors if you have enough evidence, we may be able to secure whatever evidence might be needed.

Accidents That Might Result In A Broken Ankle

We couldn’t possibly list every accident or incident that could result in a broken ankle here. But, for your information, we’ve added a few common examples that could result in a claim below:

• Slips, trips and falls. An example in this category might include if you break your ankle after tripping on cables trailed across a walkway without warning signs.
• Workplace accidents. Your employer has a duty of care to protect you whilst you’re working. If they are negligent and you break your ankle as a result, a compensation claim might be possible.
• Bicycle accidents. An ankle injury can be easily sustained in many types of bicycle accidents. For example, a car could easily break a cyclist’s ankle if they were to run over it while the cyclist is waiting at traffic lights.
• Football injuries. You could claim against an event organiser if your ankle is broken due to an unsafe pitch or facilities, or an opposing player if you’re ankle is broken in a dangerous or illegal tackle.
• Car accidents. An ankle injury could be sustained in virtually any type of RTA. For example, a car passenger could be injured if their ankle is crushed, or a motorcyclist could suffer if their ankle is trapped after being knocked off their bike.

Don’t worry if the cause of your broken ankle isn’t listed above. As long as the injury resulted from somebody else’s carelessness or negligence, you could be entitled to compensation

Types Of Ankle Fractures

Ankle fractures, breaks and cracks are all ways of describing a complete or incomplete break of the ankle joint. Some of the types of ankle fractures you could sustain include:

• Lateral, medial or posterior malleolus fractures.
• Bimalleolar fractures.
• Trimalleolar fractures.
• Pillion fractures (tibia).
• Lateral malleolus fractures (fibula).

Fractures can be classed as stable or unstable fractures. Stable ankle fractures mean the ankle is well-positioned and so can be treated with a boot or cast. Unstable fractures will usually require some form of surgery to reposition the ankle bones to allow them to heal properly.

While some ankle fractures will result in a recovery period lasting a matter of months, others can require complex surgery involving pins, plates and screws. These injuries may continue to cause problems even after treatment has ended. In these cases, it’s important that any broken ankle compensation claim is calculated properly. That’s because it will need to factor in any ongoing pain, suffering, and disability. Our solicitors specialise in personal injury claims and will always try to ensure your claim is fully assessed before it’s filed. Please call today to find out more.

How Much Compensation For A Broken Ankle?

When claiming compensation for a broken ankle, or any other type of injury, your solicitor will use two different ‘heads of loss’ to calculate the amount you should get:

• General damages are claimed to compensate for the pain, suffering, and loss of amenity your injuries have caused. You can read more on what loss of amenity means here.
• Special damages are used to try and recover any expenses, costs or losses caused by your injuries. These could include medical expenses, travel costs or lost income amongst other things.

This page provides more information on what general and special damages compensate for.

What’s The Average Settlement For A Broken Ankle?

General damages are the primary factor when looking at the average settlement for a broken ankle. By referring to the Judicial College compensation guidelines for fractured ankles, we can demonstrate what compensation may be available:

• £50,060 – £69,700 compensation for the severest kind of broken ankle.
• £31,310 – £50,060 compensation for a severely broken ankle.
• £13,740 – £26,590 compensation for ankle fractures deemed a moderate injury.
• Up to £13,740 compensation for a broken ankle deemed a modest injury.

To help establish how serious your broken ankle is/was, you might be asked to attend a medical assessment as part of the claims process. Your ankle will be reviewed by an independent medical expert who’ll provide a report detailing your prognosis.

Time Limits For Broken Ankle Compensation Claims

All personal injury claims have time limits in the UK. For broken/fractured ankles, you’ll have 3-years to claim from the date the accident took place, or the injury was diagnosed. If a child has broken their ankle, this time limit does not apply. A litigation friend can claim on their behalf at any point so long as it’s made before the child’s 18^th birthday.

It’s advisable to try and begin your claim as soon as possible. That’s because if your recovery could be aided by private medical treatment, your solicitor might be able to request that the defendant pays for it by way of an interim payment before your case is settled if liability has already been agreed upon.

Why Make A Broken Ankle Compensation Claim Using A Personal Injury Solicitor?

The claims process of an ankle injury won’t always be easy. If it’s not done right, you could miss out on compensation for a broken ankle or face a lower than expected settlement.

For that reason, we’d suggest taking on legal representation using one of our personal injury solicitors. If they make the claim for you, we believe the claims process will be a lot easier and could result in a higher settlement amount.

To prevent you from having to answer difficult legal or medical questions, your solicitor will handle all communication during the claim. They’ll tell you how your case is progressing, though, by sending regular updates.

Are you ready to claim for a broken ankle? If so, please do call our team for free legal advice on 0800 6524 881. They’ll be in a better position to discuss how much compensation for a broken ankle you could receive, and any claim that’s taken on by our solicitors will be managed on a No Win No Fee basis.