By Jo Duggard. Last Updated 29th January 2024. If you’ve been injured at work, it’s important to be aware of your legal rights. In this guide, we’ll explain what they are and the steps you could take to claim compensation under personal injury law.

We’ll also answer certain questions people may have about making a workplace injury claim.

Questions we answer include whether it could affect your employment status and what types of employees could claim.

Additionally, contained within this guide is a compensation table. It gives rough figures on what amounts of compensation certain injuries may be awarded.

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If you’re looking for advice or other support on making a claim if injured at work, then we can help. Our team can assess your case for free. We can also answer questions quickly and easily, such as “if I get injured at work do I get paid?” and “what are my rights if I’ve been injured at work?”

You can contact us by phone at 020 3870 4868 or by telling us about your claim online. You can also contact us using our Live Chat service.

Services And Information

1. When Could I Claim For Being Injured At Work
2. How Do I Prove I Was Injured At Work?
3. How Much Compensation Could I Receive For Being Injured At Work?
4. Accident At Work Claim Time Limits
5. Make A No Win No Fee Accident At Work Claim
6. Other Information

When Could I Claim For Being Injured At Work?

While in the workplace and performing your work-related duties, you are owed a duty of care by your employer. This is set out under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Per their duty, your employer must take reasonable steps to help ensure your health and safety. This could include:

• Performing regular risk and hazard assessments.
• Ensuring all employees have received sufficient and appropriate training.
• Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) when needed.
• Regularly maintaining any workplace machinery and equipment.

If your employer were to fail to adhere to their duty of care, this could result in you being injured at work. To be eligible to make a personal injury claim for your workplace injury, you will need to be able to show:

1. Your employer owed you a duty of care.
2. They breached their duty of care.
3. You suffered an injury as a result of this breach.

To discuss your specific case today and receive free advice, you can contact our advisors. They could assess the eligibility of your case and potentially connect you with a solicitor from our panel.

How Do I Prove I Was Injured At Work?

If you’ve been injured at work and would like to claim, you must have evidence. It must show that a breach of duty of care caused your injury at work.

Examples of evidence in accident at work claims could include:

• The accident log book.
• CCTV footage.
• Witness contact details.
• Medical records.
• Photographs of the scene and/or your injuries.

This list only contains a few examples. Other forms of evidence could potentially help you with your claim. However, your injury at work claim could still be valid.

Additionally, you may wish to contact a solicitor that specialises in accident at work claims. They can help you gather the evidence required to support your injury at work claim.

Call our advisors if you’ve been injured at work due to employer negligence to find out if you could claim.

How Much Compensation Could I Receive For Being Injured At Work?

Compensation in an accident at work claim in the UK will be calculated based on the injury and the effect it has had on the person.

Your injury, and compensation, will be assessed under two heads of claim.

The first head is general damages, an amount of compensation awarded for the pain and distress your injury may have caused you. To show you examples of general damages in an accident at work claim in the UK, we have included a table of injuries and potential compensation as listed in the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG looks at past court awards for injuries and creates compensation brackets. Please note that the first entry of this table has not been taken from the JCG.

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Injury	Notes	Compensation
Multiple Serious Injuries And Special Damages	There are multiple serious injuries combined with multiple financial losses, like lost earnings and the cost of travel.	Up to £1,000,000+
Leg Injury	(a) Amputations (i) – Both legs have been amputated above the knee.	£240,790 to £282,010
Leg Injury	(c) Less Serious; (iii) – Soft tissue injuries or fractures to the fibula or tibia. This could cause dull aching and restricted leg movement.	Up to £11,840
Back Injury	(a) Severe (i) – The spinal cord and nerve roots have been damaged, causing serious back pain.	£91,090 to £160,980
Back Injury	(b) Moderate (i) – Crush or compression fracture of the lumbar vertebrae causing constant discomfort and pain.	£27,760 to £38,780
Amputation of Arms	(b) Loss of One Arm (ii) – One arm is amputated above the elbow.	£109,650 to £130,930
Other Arm Injuries	(b) Serious fractures to one or both forearms that result in a significant cosmetic or functional disability.	£39,170 to £59,860
Ankle Injury	(b) Severe – The ankle may need time in plaster or plates and pins may have been inserted. This will cause ankle instability.	£31,310 to £50,060
Ankle Injury	(d) Modest – Ligamentous injuries, sprains and undisplaced fractures. How much is awarded will depend on whether a full recovery has been made.	Up to £13,740
Shoulder Injury	(b) Serious – A dislocated shoulder that caused pain in the neck and shoulder with aching in the elbow.	£12,770 to £19,200

Compensation Claims For Injuries At Work – Examples Of Special Damages

Successful compensation claims for injuries sustained at work can also result in special damages. This compensates you for out-of-pocket expenses caused by your injuries.

Examples of losses that could be compensated for in a successful injury at work claim could include:

• Loss of income – if your injuries have meant you have needed time off work, you could claim back these lost earnings.
• Care costs, if you have required care at home because of your injuries.
• Medical expenses- these could include the cost of prescriptions or over-the-counter painkillers, for example.
• Travel expenses- you may have incurred travel costs due to your injuries, such as the cost of taxis to medical appointments.
• The cost of home adaptations- if your injuries have meant you need adaptations to use your current home, you could be compensated for the cost of these adaptations. Such as the cost of installing a ramp.

Providing evidence of these losses could help support your claim. For example, bank statements, payslips and receipts could be used as proof of these losses.

Evidence that could support a claim for special damages if you’ve been injured at work could include payslips, receipts and bank statements.

If you have been injured at work and would like to know if you could make a personal injury claim, you can contact our advisors. They may also connect you with a solicitor from our panel who could help you with your case.

Accident At Work Claim Time Limits

Have you been injured at work due to employer negligence? If so, you only have a certain amount of time to start an accident at work claim. The time limits for making a claim if you have suffered an injury at work in the UK can be found in the Limitation Act 1980.

These time limits are generally:

• 3 years from the date you were injured.
• 3 years from the date of knowledge. This means from the date you first realised your injury was caused by negligence.

However, there are also exceptions to these time limits. For example:

• If the claimant is a minor who was injured at work, they will have three years to start their claim once they turn 18. Before this point, the time limit is frozen.
• For people who lack the mental capacity to make a claim, they will have 3 years if this mental capacity returns. The time limit is suspended indefinitely otherwise.

Alternatively, a litigation friend could make a claim on behalf of a minor or someone who lacks the mental capacity before they are able to do so themselves.

You can contact one of our advisors today if you are unsure whether you are within the time limit to start your claim. They could also help answer any questions you may have about accident at work claims, such as ‘If I get injured at work, could I get paid compensation?’

Make A No Win No Fee Accident At Work Claim

If you would like to claim compensation for an accident at work, a personal injury solicitor from our panel may be able to help. Our panel of accident at work solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis by offering their services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

When you work with a solicitor under this kind of No Win No Fee agreement, you generally aren’t expected to pay any upfront or ongoing fees for their work. Similarly, unsuccessful claimants won’t be asked to pay their solicitors for their services.

In the event of a successful claim, your solicitor will take a success fee. This fee is taken directly from your compensation as a percentage, though the percentage is limited by law. The legal limit helps you keep the majority share of what you receive.

Our team of advisors are here to help if you’d like to learn more about claims for workplace accidents. They can evaluate your accident at work claim for free and can offer more guidance surrounding the claims process. If they find your claim to be valid, they may put you in contact with an accident at work solicitor from our panel.

Get In Touch To See If You Can Claim

Remember, there’s more than one way to reach us. Our advisors are standing by 24/7 to help you. If you have been injured at work, our panel of solicitors can work your case on a No Win No Fee basis. Contact us at a time that suits you using the below details.

• Call us on 020 3870 4868 or by
• Tell us about your claim online
• Use the pop-up chat window in the corner

Other Information

Looking for more information on work accident claims or your employer’s obligations to protect your health and safety? You can check out the links below for more useful information:

• Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): This page tells you what you are currently entitled to receive if you are eligible for statutory sick pay. It also explains certain ways your SSP may be affected.
• Pay and Work Rights Helpline: You can use the helpline on this gov.UK page if you’re looking for advice regarding your pay and work rights. It’s also useful if you wish to make a complaint against your employer.
• Cycle Accident : For information about how to make a claim for a cycling injury.
• Holiday Accident: For information on how to make a claim for a holiday accident.
• Making A Claim Against A Former Employer: Here is one of our guides that will inform you on whether or not you can sue an employer who you no longer work for.

Other Guides You Can Check Out

• Who Should Be Informed If A Fatal Accident Occurred At Work?