Knee injuries can cause a lot of pain, discomfort and make you become unstable on your feet. They commonly happen during sports (most commonly football), in accidents at work, and slips, trips and falls. One of the most common is a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). They can occur if your knee is twisted or if you plant your foot into the ground at speed.

A torn ACL will often require surgery and could cause problems for quite some time. Even after treatment, your knee might not return to the way it was prior to the accident. Therefore, if the accident in which you injured your knee was caused by somebody else’s negligence, you may want to seek compensation for your suffering.

If you’ve suffered a torn ACL due to somebody else’s negligence, we can support you through the compensation claims process. At the start, we’ll review everything with you to see if you have the grounds to claim. You’ll receive free legal advice and we could connect you with one of our personal injury solicitors. If they take your compensation claim on, you’ll benefit from our No Win No Fee service. As a result, you won’t pay any upfront solicitors’ fees and you won’t pay if your case fails.

If you’d like to find out more about when you can claim, and how much compensation for a torn ACL you might be due, please carry on reading. Alternatively, please call 0800 6524 881 if you’d like to begin the claims process right away.

Eligibility To Claim Compensation For A Torn ACL

The following checklist will give you some idea of whether you can claim compensation for a torn ACL. If you can answer yes to the following three questions, we may be able to help you claim:

1. Did the defendant in your claim owe you a duty of care (typically yes)?
2. Were they negligent and cause an accident to happen?
3. Did you tear your ACL as a direct result of that accident (causation)?

As you can see, claiming for an ACL injury caused by a poor tackle playing football, for example, might be tricky. That’s not to say you can’t claim but we’d advise you to speak to our team for free legal advice. If you’ve injured your knee at work, in a road traffic accident, or following a fall, proving duty of care should be much simpler. For example, if you fall and tear your ACL at work because of a damaged safety rail, you could have grounds to claim against your employer.

To help prove negligence and causation, obtaining as much evidence as possible is a good start. Therefore, we’ll look at this in the next section.

Evidence That Can Help Support Your Compensation Claim

To help support a personal injury claim for a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament, you could use the following:

• Medical notes. This is a key piece of evidence. Your medical records can be used to prove your initial diagnosis, the treatment you endured and your medical prognosis.
• Accident reports. Proving that the accident occurred is also important. Therefore, you should report the incident wherever possible. Your copy of an accident report can be used to prove the location, date and time of your accident.
• Witness information. You needn’t ask witnesses for a statement right away. It is enough to take down their contact details. If a statement is required, your solicitor will contact them.
• Photographic evidence. A picture of the accident scene can make it easier for others to see how the incident occurred. Therefore, try to capture images on your phone as soon as possible.
• CCTV images. If the incident was recorded by cameras, ask for a copy. This should be done ASAP as some recordings are wiped quickly.

Once you have as much evidence as you can retrieve, why not call our team for a free case review?

Accidents That Might Result In Torn ACL Injuries

While it’s possible to sustain an ACL injury in any type of accident, some of the more common include:

• Sporting incidents where the knee is twisted suddenly or involved in a collision.
• Road traffic accidents where the sudden force of a collision causes the knee to be put under heavy pressure.
• Accidents at work where your foot hits the ground at high speed or is trapped and causes heavy twisting of the knee.
• Slips, trips and falls – these can happen in many different ways, from falling off ladders to tripping on pavements.

Don’t worry if we’ve not listed your type of accident here. So long as your torn ACL resulted from somebody else’s negligence, you could be entitled to claim compensation.

Types of Torn ACL Injuries

There are three grades of ACL injuries:

• Grade 1: There is stretching of the ligament fibres but they do not tear. This can cause tenderness and swelling of the knee.
• Grade 2: Where the ligaments stretch too far and tear. This is likely to be very painful and swelling will be obvious. Your knee might not be able to take your weight.
• Grade 3: A rupture (complete tear) that results in severe pain and swelling.

As part of the claims process, you might need an independent medical assessment. This is something that can usually be arranged locally. During the meeting, a medical expert will review your injuries and discuss how you’ve been affected. Their report, which goes to both parties, will detail your injuries and your prognosis.

Treating ACL Tears

Treatment for your ACL injury will depend on its grade. While surgery might be required, it’s also possible that non-surgical options might be possible. For example, physiotherapy could be used in less serious cases. According to the NHS, full functionality might not return in around 20% of cases. In this scenario, future suffering is something that will need to be factored into your compensation claim.

Importantly, if the defendant admits liability for your torn ACL, your solicitor may ask them to pay for the cost of private medical treatment. This could benefit both parties as you could recover sooner from your injuries.

To find out how one of our personal injury solicitors could help you, please get in touch today.

How Much Compensation For A Torn ACL?

If you make a personal injury claim for a torn ACL, the amount of compensation claimed will be based on:

• Pain, suffering and loss of amenity. This is called general damages. Loss of amenity is where a value is placed on things you can’t do (even temporarily) because of your injuries. For example, if you used to play football regularly but can’t any longer due to a reckless tackle, this could be factored into your claim.
• Financial costs, losses or expenses. Special damages could be claimed to recover any lost earnings, medical costs or travel expenses linked to your injuries.

Head over to this page for more information on general and special damages.

What’s The Average Settlement For A Torn ACL?

The average settlement for a torn ACL is primarily based on general damages. Therefore we’ve used figures (for general damages) advised by the Judicial College to demonstrate potential payouts below.

• £14,840 to £26,190 compensation for a torn ACL resulting in some minor instability, weakness, wasting, or other mild disability in the future.
• Up to £13,740 compensation for a torn ACL with some minor disability. (Compensation is not likely to be higher than £6,020 where there’s complete recovery, or likely to be complete recovery.)

If your claim includes other injuries such as a meniscus tear, a broken kneecap etc, these could also be calculated into your claim. Your solicitor will be able to provide a more personalised estimate of what settlement you might receive once your case has been assessed properly.

Time Limits For Torn ACL Compensation Claims

You will need to claim compensation for a torn ACL within the allowable time limits. In most cases, this is 3 years from the date of your accident. If your injury was caused by medical negligence, for instance, the time limit might not start until your injuries were diagnosed.

As mentioned above, beginning your claim early could allow your solicitor to secure payment for private medical treatment. This could mean you’re back on your feet much sooner. Also, claiming earlier rather than later should give your solicitor plenty of time to gather evidence to corroborate your claim.

Please call today if you’d like to check how long you’ve got left to take action.

Why Make A Torn ACL Compensation Claim Using A Personal Injury Solicitor?

The claims process for a knee injury can be tricky. Firstly, you’ll need to prove why the defendant caused your accident. Secondly, you’ll need evidence that the injury to your ACL was sustained during the accident and nowhere else.

Our solicitors can make the injury claims process much easier and, we believe, could improve your chances of being compensated correctly.

If you decide to work with us, and your claim is taken on, your solicitor will:

• Review everything with you to get a good understanding of how you’ve been affected.
• Collect supporting evidence.
• Arrange for an independent medical assessment.
• File the claim with the defendant’s insurers and handle all aspects of communication.
• Provide you with regular updates about what’s happening.
• Answer any queries raised by the defendant and provide additional evidence if any objections are made about liability.
• Try to ensure you are compensated at the maximum level possible.

If you’d like us to review your chances for free, call us on 0800 6524 881 today. If suitable, your claim could be passed to a personal injury solicitor to begin work right away, and they’ll be able to better inform you of how much compensation for a Torn ACL you could receive.