The functions provided by the shoulder joint are not something you think about until your shoulder is injured. Any damage to the shoulder can affect your ability to lift, pull, push and reach and can also be very painful. Importantly, if you suffer a shoulder injury as a result of somebody else’s negligence, you could be eligible to make a shoulder injury claim for compensation for the suffering that results.

Our team specialise in personal injury claims and will offer free legal advice about yours if you call for a no-obligation consultation. If the grounds for your claim appear to be strong enough, we’ll refer you to one of our personal injury solicitors. Should they take your shoulder injury claim on, you’ll gain access to their legal expertise on a No Win No Fee basis. That means that you won’t pay for their work unless you are awarded compensation.

To discuss a shoulder injury claim with us today, please call on 0800 6524 881 right away.  Alternatively, please carry on reading to learn more about your options.

Am I Eligible To Make A Shoulder Injury Compensation Claim?

As most personal injury solicitors provide their services on a No Win No Fee basis, they’ll need to check that there’s a reasonable chance of being compensated before accepting a shoulder injury claim. To do this, they’ll look at whether:

• You were owed a duty of care by the defendant in your case; and
• That duty was breached by negligence and led to an accident; and
• You injured your shoulder as a result of that accident.

Proving a duty of care is something your solicitor will do by looking at legislation like the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Occupiers Liability Act 1957 and other laws if applicable. Therefore, you won’t need to spend too long looking into this. Instead, you could help increase the chances of winning your shoulder injury compensation claim by collecting supporting evidence. We’ll explain more about this later on.

Common Causes Of Shoulder Injury Claims

You cannot claim compensation for shoulder injuries that are due to natural causes but you may be entitled to compensation for shoulder injuries that are caused due to any of the following reasons:

• Broken shoulder bones resulting from a motorbike accident that was due to no fault of yours.
• Repetitive shoulder injury due to doing continuous repetitive work involving the shoulder.
• Dislocated or broken shoulder resulting from a slip, trip or fall in the supermarket, on the pavement, in a hotel or any other public place, whether indoors or outdoors.
• Broken or sprained shoulder resulting from a cycling accident.
• Being struck on the shoulder by an object falling from height.
• Strains and sprains caused by lifting heavy objects at work without being trained in manual handling techniques.
• Shoulder injuries to a child that has fallen from a damaged climbing frame in a school playground accident.
• Shoulder pain caused by whiplash following a road traffic accident.

Common Types Of Injuries To Shoulders

Some common shoulder injuries that might lead to a compensation claim include:

• Shoulder strains and sprains.
• Rotator cuff injuries and tears.
• Shoulder dislocations.
• Ligament and tendon damage.
• Acromioclavicular joint injuries.
• Frozen shoulder.
• Broken collarbone and upper arm injuries.

This, of course, is not a full list of shoulder injuries you could claim compensation for so don’t worry if your scenario is not included. Instead, please feel free to explain how you were injured to one of our advisors and they’ll explain your options for free.

How Much Compensation Do You Get For A Shoulder Injury?

The severity of your shoulder injury and the prognosis for your recovery are two main elements of your claim that will influence the amount of compensation for a shoulder injury that you could be awarded as your settlement. Overall however you’ll usually claim for general damages and special damages. This means you could be compensated for:

• The pain your shoulder injuries and any subsequent treatment has caused.
• Any impact on your hobbies and social life (compensation for loss of amenity).
• Earnings you’ve lost as a result of your injured shoulder.
• Medical expenses including private rehabilitation treatment.
• Costs linked to the time a relative or friend spent caring for you during your recovery.
• Travel expenses.
• Future lost income if you suffer long-term shoulder injuries that will reduce your capacity to earn.
• The price of changing your home to help you cope with any long-term disabilities.

If you decide to work with one of our personal injury solicitors, they will review the impact of your shoulder injury with you fully to try and ensure you are fully compensated.

Shoulder Injury Compensation Payout Amounts

We’ll now look at shoulder injury payout amounts for general damages. You can also use our compensation calculator further below to get some idea of potential payout amounts for other injuries you may have also sustained.

• The shoulder injury compensation payout for minor shoulder soft tissue injuries that heal almost completely within 3 months would range from a few hundred pounds to £2,450.
• If the above minor injuries last to 1 year, the shoulder injury compensation may amount to between £2,450 and £4,350.
• If the above minor injuries last to 2 years, the compensation amount may range between £4,350 and £7,890.
• The compensation amount for a frozen shoulder that lasts no more than 2 years, ranges from about £7,890 to £12,770.
• For dislocations, fractures, injured nerves and other serious shoulder injuries that affect you in the long-term, you may be awarded average compensation in the range of £12,770 to £48,030.

* The amounts shown above and in our calculator are guideline compensation amounts. The settlement you might actually receive may vary based on the merits of your specific shoulder injury and any other injuries you’ve suffered.

Evidence To Support A Shoulder Injury Claim

If you claim compensation for a shoulder injury, the defendant will usually ask their insurance company to deal with the case on their behalf. That means you’re unlikely to be compensated a penny unless you can prove how the accident occurred, the extent of your injuries, and importantly, why the defendant was liable. Therefore, providing as much evidence as possible to support your shoulder injury claim can help immensely. Evidence could include:

• Photographs of the accident scene. These can be a good way of proving what caused the accident in which you suffered a shoulder injury to happen especially if taken before the accident scene is cleared.
• Medical records from the hospital or minor injuries unit that treated your shoulder injury. These can help to prove the severity of your injuries.
• Accident report forms. If you suffered a shoulder injury at work, report it. Your accident report form could therefore be used to establish the date, time and location of the incident in which you were injured.
• Statements from witnesses that saw your accident occur. These can be requested by your solicitor in cases where the defendant denies that the accident occurred or that they were to blame for it.
• Security camera footage of the accident taking place. Legally, you’re allowed to ask for any relevant CCTV footage of yourself but you must act quickly as it’s usually deleted within a month.

Keeping a diary during your recovery can also be used to help you to remember how your shoulder injury has affected you. For example, you could keep track of any costs you’ve incurred because of your injuries. Also, you could note any dates when you couldn’t work or attend family events.

Time Limits For Claiming Shoulder Injury Compensation

There is a 3-year time limit for claiming compensation for a shoulder injury in the UK. It’s important to claim within this period otherwise your claim could be refused and you might miss out on any compensation you’re entitled to. Legally, the limitation period begins from:

• When your accident occurred and you injured your shoulder; or
• When your injuries were diagnosed by a medical professional (this is more likely in RSI type injuries that take a while to develop).

We suggest that you begin your shoulder injury compensation claim sooner rather than later to give you and your solicitor plenty of time to collect evidence and arrange for medical reports to be sent.

Shoulder injury claims for children do not have the same time limit as those aged 18 and above. In these cases, parents (and other adults) can claim (if they’re approved as a litigation friend) at any time before the child’s 18^th birthday.

Why Use A Solicitor To Claim Compensation For A Hurt Shoulder?

Most of the time, when a compensation claim is made for a hurt shoulder, it will be against some kind of insurance policy. If this is the case you will therefore need to persuade the insurer that their client was in some way negligent, caused an accident or incident, and is accountable for your shoulder injury. If you can’t, you might not get anything. We firmly believe that having a personal injury solicitor on your side will give you the best opportunity of getting the compensation you deserve.

If you decide to proceed with a claim for a shoulder injury using one of our solicitors they’ll start by reviewing the details, gather evidence, and then present your case professionally, all on a No Win No Fee basis. If you’re not sure what this means there’s no need to worry. Before any work on your claim starts you’ll be sent a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to read through. The CFA will show you what work your solicitor will do and when you’ll need to pay them for their work.

If there is a positive outcome to your case, a success fee will be deducted from your compensation by your solicitor to cover the cost of their work. Legally, this cannot be higher than 25% of any settlement you receive. If your case fails, you won’t pay anything.

Starting The Shoulder Injury Claims Process

If you are ready to start the shoulder injury claims process, the easiest way to begin a claim is to call our advice centre on 0800 6524 881. There’s no risk in calling as you’ll be given free legal advice during a no-obligation consultation regardless of what you choose to do next.

If your case is strong enough, one of our solicitors could begin working on it right away. If they do, you’ll benefit from their No Win No Fee service.

We’re here day and night via live chat or on the phone if you have any further questions about making a shoulder injury compensation claim.