The medical term for tennis elbow is Epicondylitis and employers have a duty of care to their workforce to have in place the necessary health and safety regulations to protect this from happening. Importantly, if you have developed tennis elbow at work and believe it’s because your employer has been negligent, you may be eligible to make a tennis elbow compensation claim.

We have a team of specially trained advisors ready to help if you are considering claiming compensation for tennis elbow. They’ll review your claim and provide free advice during a no-obligation telephone consultation. Should you have the grounds to proceed, we’ll introduce you to one of our personal injury solicitors. They’ll handle your claim on a No Win No Fee basis if it is accepted.

To talk to us right away about a tennis elbow claim, please call our team on 0800 6524 881. If you’d like more information before contacting us, please feel free to read the rest of this guide.

What Is Tennis Elbow?

Tennis elbow is a type of repetitive stress injury, and according to the NHS, it occurs when the muscles near the elbow are overused or subjected to repetitive tasks. The most common symptoms of tennis elbow include pain when you:

• Bend or lift your arm.
• Try to grip small objects.
• Twist your forearm i.e. when trying to open a jar or turning a door handle.

Up to 3% of the population are said to suffer from tennis elbow every year and people in the age range of 35 to 54 years old are most at risk.

The NHS states that it can take up to 2 years to recover from tennis elbow and that a full recovery is usually made in 9 out of 10 cases.

Symptoms Of Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow symptoms do not manifest overnight. They develop slowly over an extended period of time. During the initial stages, the symptoms are so minor that they are often overlooked. However, the symptoms will almost certainly become progressively more severe and painful on continuing to perform the same repetitive tasks without taking corrective action.

Common symptoms of tennis elbow include:

• Tenderness and pain on the outside of the elbow;
• Pain in the forearm;
• Pain when bending, lifting, or extending the arm;
• Elbow feels stiff and painful when extended;
• Difficulty performing certain actions such as opening a jar;
• Difficulty and pain when gripping small objects such as a pen.

In the workplace, employers are responsible for protecting their workers from all types of risks, including those that arise from performing repetitive tasks. If your tennis elbow symptoms developed due to your employer’s negligence, you may have grounds to file a claim for compensation.

Am I Eligible To Make A Tennis Elbow Injury Claim?

Most tennis elbow injury claims are made against employers. They have a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to take reasonable steps to protect the welfare of their workers and staff. That means they must risk assess your role regularly and introduce measures to try and prevent you from being injured where necessary.

To check whether your tennis elbow claim can be taken on, one of our solicitors will check whether:

• Your employer breached their duty of care; and
• Their negligence resulted in you suffering from tennis elbow.

Has My Employer Breached Their Duty Of Care?

Your employer might have breached their duty of care leading to your tennis elbow if they:

• Failed to train you on how to do your job safely.
• Didn’t conduct regular risk assessments.
• Didn’t allow you to take regular rest breaks.
• Failed to consider using machines or equipment to make your role safer.
• Expected you to carry out the same repetitive task for prolonged periods.

It’s not just physical roles that can lead to tennis elbow. For example, office workers might be at risk which means employers should carry out regular workstation assessments (or hire an occupational therapist to do so).

If you believe tennis elbow can be attributed to your work, contact us today to see if we could help you start a tennis elbow injury claim.

Is It OK To Claim Compensation Against My Employer For Tennis Elbow?

Many people are concerned about claiming compensation against their employer for tennis elbow. However, you need not worry about your employer taking action against you if you start an honest claim.

Legally, you are not allowed to be dismissed, demoted, disciplined or singled out in any way for making a claim. Actions of this type could lead to a separate action for unfair or constructive dismissal.

Also, you should not be concerned about the impact of your claim on your employer’s profits. In most cases, claims will be processed and paid for by their liability insurance policy that most firms are legally obliged to have.

How Much Compensation For Tennis Elbow Could I Claim?

There isn’t a fixed settlement amount that is awarded by way of compensation for tennis elbow. However, any compensation paid would usually consist of two elements:

• General damages to cover your pain and suffering.
• Special damages to cover any costs incurred as a result of your injuries.

What’s the difference between general and special damages?

No two claims are exactly the same but if your tennis elbow compensation claim is won, your settlement could cover:

• The physical pain you’ve suffered because of the tennis elbow.
• Any psychological impact your injury has caused.
• Compensation for loss of earnings if tennis elbow stopped you from working.
• Care costs to cover the time of a family member or carer who helped you while you were recovering.
• Fuel costs, parking fees or other transport costs linked to your injuries (to attend medical appointments for example).
• Private medical or rehabilitation costs.
• Future loss of income for longer-term cases that will reduce your earnings.
• The cost of aids or devices to help you cope with any long-term disability in more serious cases of tennis elbow.

Before filing your claim, you should fully consider how you’ve been affected by your tennis elbow injury. Your employer will only have to compensate you once if you win your case and you can’t ask for further payments later on once the claim’s settled. If you work with one of our personal injury solicitors, they’ll do everything possible to ensure that you are awarded the maximum compensation possible to cover all of your sufferings.

Tennis Elbow Compensation Payout Amounts

We’ve added some compensation payout amounts below for tennis elbow in relation to general damages. The data is based on the Judicial College’s latest guidelines.

• £39,170 to £54,830 compensation for a severe and disabling tennis elbow injury.
• £15,650 to £32,010 compensation for less severe tennis elbow causing impairment but not requiring major surgery.
• Up to £12,590 for minor/moderate tennis elbow where injuries recover after 3 years but surgery may be required or some symptoms may persist.
• £6,500 for minor moderate tennis elbow with most symptoms lasting 18-24 months.
• £3,530 compensation for a minor tennis elbow injury fully resolving in around 12 months.

Compensation levels are based on how severe your symptoms are. Therefore, as part of the claims process, you should provide an independent medical report.

Our solicitors arrange local appointments with medical experts for most claimants so that their injuries can be reviewed without much hassle. The expert will examine you, discuss the impact of your tennis elbow and refer to your medical notes. Then they’ll write a report detailing your injuries and prognosis. This report will be sent to both parties involved in your claim.

Supporting Evidence For Tennis Elbow Injury Claims

Providing evidence is important if you’re to win your tennis elbow injury claim. Without it, your employer’s insurer might not compensate you or they may pay less than you could be entitled to. Therefore, we’ve listed some evidence you could use to support your claim below:

• Medical records. Notes from your GP or a specialist can be used to prove that you’re suffering from tennis elbow. They can be obtained by you or your solicitor at any point.
• Photographs. As tennis elbow is an injury sustained over a prolonged period of time, there is no accident scene as there would be in other workplace accident claims. However, photographs of your workplace could be used to demonstrate your working conditions.
• Witness statements. You may wish to give details of your work colleagues to your solicitor. They might be asked to provide a statement about the ways in which you were expected to work.
• Occupational health reports. If your employer asked for an occupational health specialist to assess your working environment, a copy of their report could be requested to show if any problems were identified.
• Correspondence. You could also supply emails or letters you sent to your employer if you raised concerns about your welfare. Any responses you received could also be used as evidence to support your case.

If you’re unsure whether you have enough evidence to continue with a tennis elbow compensation claim, please call our team for free legal advice.

Time Limits For Claiming Tennis Elbow Compensation

As you might already know, there is a 3-year time limit for personal injury claims here in the UK. If you’re involved in an accident at work, the limitation period will usually start from the date of the accident. However, for tennis elbow compensation claims, your 3-year time limit will begin from the date your injuries were diagnosed by your doctor.

Rather than waiting, we believe it’s best to start the claims process as soon as you can. This will mean your solicitor will be able to arrange for a medical assessment and collect evidence with plenty of time to spare. In some cases, it may also mean your employer will pay for private medical treatment by way of an interim payment to help you recover before your claim has been finalised.

Starting A Tennis Elbow Compensation Claim

Our team is ready to help if you’ve decided to claim compensation for your tennis elbow injury. To begin a claim, simply call our advice centre on 0800 6524 881 today.

Remember, if your claim is taken on, one of our personal injury solicitors will represent you on a No Win No  Fee basis. As a result, you’ll only have to pay them for their work if you are awarded compensation.

For more information on tennis elbow compensation claims, please use live chat to get in touch.