A rotator cuff injury can have a massive impact on your ability to carry out everyday tasks like driving, cooking and caring for your children. It can also reduce your ability to work. Importantly, you could be compensated for your pain and suffering if your injury was caused by somebody else.

In this guide to claiming compensation for a rotator cuff injury, we’ll look at how much compensation for a rotator cuff injury you could potentially claim and how the claims process works.

Our team can help if you have any questions about filing a claim. During a free consultation, they’ll review your claim with you, explain your options and give free advice about your next steps. If your claim has a reasonable chance of being won, we could appoint one of our personal injury solicitors. To help reduce your financial risks and stress levels, they’ll work on a No Win No Fee basis if your case is accepted.

If you’ve decided to claim compensation for a rotator cuff injury already, please call us on 0800 6524 881. Alternatively, please continue reading the rest of this guide for more information.

What Is A Rotator Cuff Injury?

The rotator cuff is the set of tendons and muscles surrounding your shoulder joint. They act to keep the shoulder working properly. Any sprain, strain or tear affecting the rotator cuff can be painful. While some rotator cuff injuries can develop over time, others can be sustained following an accident. Amongst other causes, our personal injury solicitors could help you to claim for an injury caused by:

Whatever type of accident or incident has led to your injury we may be able to help you claim compensation if you’re eligible.

Symptoms Of Rotator Cuff Injuries & Tears

The main symptoms of rotator cuff injuries and tears include:

• Only being able to move the shoulder in a limited range (because of the pain).
• A grating or clicking noise when moving your arm and shoulder.
• Feeling weak when moving or lifting your arm from the shoulder.

If you believe you should be paid compensation for a rotator cuff injury, call us to discuss your options with one of our specialist advisors today.

Am I Eligible To Claim Compensation For A Rotator Cuff Injury?

To determine your eligibility to make a compensation claim for rotator cuff injuries, a solicitor will verify that:

• The other party in your claim (the defendant) owed you a duty of care; and
• As a result of the defendant’s negligence, an accident/incident occurred; and
• You sustained a rotator cuff injury during the accident/incident.

You needn’t worry if you’re not sure if you were owed a duty of care as one of our advisors will check this when you call. It can usually be established quite easily though. For example, employers need to implement reasonable measures to keep their staff safe at work. Similarly, a supermarket operator must try to make sure customers, visitors, and staff are safe whilst on their premises.

Negligence That Might Result In Compensation For Rotator Cuff Injuries

Some examples of negligence that might enable you to claim rotator cuff injury compensation include:

• If you damaged the tendons in a shoulder injury at work after trying to move a heavy load and you’d not been properly trained how to do so correctly.
• Where you tripped on a broken pavement and tore a rotator cuff muscle during the fall.
• If your shoulder was damaged after you were injured in an accident in a company car caused by a driver that was not paying attention.
• If you injured your rotator cuff whilst participating in a sport because of an unsafe playing surface.
• Where items fell from height and struck you on the shoulder because they weren’t stacked properly in a warehouse accident, for instance.

Rotator cuff injuries can be painful and cause a lot of ongoing problems. They may also require physiotherapy, steroid injections or even surgery to help you recover. Therefore, you are well within your rights to make a claim if your injuries were caused by somebody else. To find out if we believe you’re eligible to claim rotator cuff compensation, call our free advice centre on 0800 6524 881 today.

How Much Compensation For Rotator Cuff Injury Could I Claim?

When making a personal injury claim for a rotator cuff injury, the amount of compensation a personal injury solicitor will aim to get for you is based on two types of damages. General damages are claimed to cover the physical pain you’ve endured and special damages aim to recover any costs incurred because of your injuries.

In general, you may be able to claim compensation to cover:

• The physical pain and suffering caused by your rotator cuff injury.
• Any loss of earnings resulting from your injuries.
• Psychological harm if your injuries have led to anxiety, stress, depression or similar conditions.
• Travel costs associated with your injuries.
• Care costs to cover the time a carer, friend or family member had to spend looking after you.
• Medical expenses including those for private physiotherapy for rotator cuff injuries in some cases.
• The cost of replacing items destroyed or damaged during your accident.
• Changes to your vehicle or home to help you deal with ongoing shoulder problems in the future.
• Long-term loss of earnings if your rotator cuff injury reduces your ability to work in the future.

Calculating the correct level of compensation for a rotator cuff injury is important so you should make sure everything is included. Our solicitors know what can and can’t be included through their training and experience in helping others. If they take on your claim, they’ll do all they can to ensure you receive the highest level of compensation possible.

Rotator Cuff Injury Settlement Amount & Compensation Calculator

The settlement for a rotator cuff injury is primarily determined by general damages. We give an example of what compensation might be awarded in this section. For other injuries please use our compensation calculator below.

• £12,770 to £19,200 compensation for a rotator cuff injury where there are persistent symptoms following surgery.

To help determine how serious your rotator cuff injury is/was and what settlement you should aim for, you’ll need a medical assessment during the claims process. This can usually be arranged locally and is not something to be concerned about. After an independent specialist has assessed your injury, they’ll write a report to explain your prognosis and send it to both parties involved in the claim.

Evidence To Support Your Compensation Claim

As with any compensation claim, you’ll need to supply evidence that shows how your accident happened, who caused it, and how you were injured. For rotator cuff injuries, this could include:

• Photographs of the accident scene to show how it happened. Ideally, these will include the root cause before it is removed.
• Contact details of anybody else who was present. Witness statements might be requested by your solicitor if the defendant doesn’t accept liability for the accident or your injuries.
• Accident report forms if details of your accident were recorded by the defendant. Legally, you can request a copy if you did not receive one when you reported the accident.
• X-rays and medical records from the hospital where your shoulder injury was diagnosed and treated.
• Footage of your accident from dashcam or CCTV cameras if any exists. You should ask for this quickly as it is often deleted within a matter of weeks.

If you are not sure if you have enough evidence to proceed with your claim, one of our specialists can check it for you, for free.

Time Limits For Claiming Rotator Cuff Injury Compensation

If you are going to claim compensation for your injuries, you’ll need to start the claims process within a 3-year time limit. This will either start on the date of your accident or, for injuries that develop over time, the date your doctor diagnosed your condition.

Although 3-years is a long amount of time, we’d suggest not waiting too long to start your claim. The claims process involves a lot of work so your solicitor will need as much time as possible to collect evidence and arrange for medical reports. Also, in some cases, if you are still suffering, your solicitor could ask the defendant to make an interim payment to cover the cost of private medical treatment.

Each claim is unique so it’s not easy to say how long yours will take. Some claims can be settled relatively quickly (6 to 9-months) if the defendant accepts the blame for your suffering straight away. Conversely, where liability is denied or further medical investigation is needed, your claim could take more than a year.

Starting A Rotator Cuff Injury Claim

If you’ve decided that you should be compensated for your rotator cuff injury, the easiest way to begin a claim asap is to call us on 0800 6524 881.

Remember, whatever happens, you’ll receive free advice and your claim will be assessed by a specialist. If it appears viable, we could partner you with one of our specialist No Win No Fee solicitors.

We hope this guide has explained how much compensation for a rotator cuff injury might be awarded, and if you have any extra questions, please connect with us via live chat to ask them.