Broken Ankle Compensation Claims In The UK

By Jo Duggard. Last Updated 2nd September 2024. Have you sustained a broken ankle in an accident? Was the accident caused by someone else breaching their duty of care towards you? If so, you could be owed broken ankle compensation for the pain and suffering you have experienced.

Breaking any bone can be a painful experience. And when your ankle is fractured, it can have a serious impact on your quality of life. You may not be able to walk while your injury heals, which could impact your ability to walk or care for yourself.

Personal injury compensation can help you. It aims to get you back to the position you were in before your injury, as much as is possible. This guide will explain the process of claiming compensation, as well as looking at how compensation is calculated and the damages you could be owed.

If you would like to know more about claiming after reading this guide, or if you would like to start your claim for compensation today, why not get in touch with our team? You can get in touch by:

Services And Information

    1. What Are Some Common Causes Of A Broken Ankle?
    2. Broken Ankle Compensation – How Much You Could Be Awarded
    3. Bodily Injury Claim Time Limits
    4. I Suffered An Ankle Injury, What Should I Do?
    5. Claim Broken Ankle Compensation With A No Win No Fee Lawyer
    6. Our Related Guides

What Are Some Common Causes Of A Broken Ankle?

There are a number of ways that someone could fracture their ankle in an accident. If the accident that caused your injury was the result of someone else breaching their duty of care to you, you could be eligible to claim compensation. For example:

  • You could be involved in a car accident because another driver breached their duty of care as outlined in the Highway Code. For instance, if another driver runs a red light and collides with you at a junction, causing a fracture to your ankle.
  • An accident at work could occur as a result of your employer breaching their duty of care to you according to the Health and Safety at Work etc Atc 1974. This piece of legislation says that your employer needs to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure your safety at work. For example, you may experience a slip, trip or fall because you weren’t provided with safety shoes, resulting in an ankle fracture.
  • An accident in a public place could result from a breach of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. This piece of legislation states that the person in control of a space (the “occupier”) needs to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the safety of those who use the space for the intended purpose.

If you’ve suffered a broken ankle because of someone else’s negligence, why not speak to our team today? They could offer you free legal advice about making a claim for broken ankle compensation.

Broken Ankle Compensation – How Much You Could Be Awarded

One of the main questions our advisors get about these claims is “How much compensation for a broken ankle will I get?”

While our advisors can give detailed information that is curated to your case, it’s important to note that there’s no average payout for broken ankle injuries.

For example, you could receive more broken ankle compensation than someone else if you:

  • Suffered further injuries on top of the broken ankle.
  • Sustained serious and long-term damage.
  • Missed out on being able to do things you normally enjoy, which is known as loss of amenity.
  • Experienced financial loss as a direct result of your injuries. We cover this in more detail in the next section.

Any broken ankle compensation payout will feature general damages compensation. What this means is that you’ll get a payment that aims to compensate you for physical pain and mental harm stemming from your accident.

Medical evidence could help those involved in the calculations to value the general damages element of your payout. They might also refer to suggested compensation brackets found in a document called the Judicial College Guidelines, or JCG.

Compensation Brackets

Here are some examples we’ve put together using JCG figures. Only the top line doesn’t come directly from the document. Still, as we mentioned before, there is no set payout and every case differs.

  • Compensation addressing more than one serious injury, including a broken ankle, coupled with financial losses like missed earnings or home adaptation costs, could reach or surpass £100,000.
  • The suggested payout range for very severe ankle injuries is £61,090 to £85,070.
  • In severe ankle injury cases, the JCG suggests a payout in the range of £38,210 to £61,090.
  • Moderate ankle injuries, for example fractures giving rise to less serious disabilities, could attract a payout of around £16,770 to £32,450.
  • A payment for modest ankle injuries could be up to £16,770.
  • The JCG suggests that, for a serious foot injury, the award is in the region of £30,500 to £47,840,
  • Tendon severance and other most serious forms of Achilles tendon injury could attract a payment in the region of £46,900.
  • Meanwhile, a serious Achilles tendon injury could lead to an award of £30,500 to £36,720.
  • The JCG’s recommended range for moderate Achilles tendon injuries is in the area of £15,370 to £25,710.
  • Finally, the suggested bracket for minor Achilles injuries is £8,870 to £15,370.

Can My Broken Ankle Claim Payout Cover Financial Loss?

As well as general damages, you can also claim special damages as part of your broken ankle compensation claim. Special damages cover any out-of-pocket expenses that you have incurred as a direct result of your injury. These can include:

  • Loss of earnings 
  • Care costs
  • Travel costs to hospital appointments and meetings with your solicitor
  • Adaptations to your home, for example, a stairlift or ramp to make access to your home easier

You can use receipts, statements and bills to prove these expenses that you have incurred. Without proof, you may find it difficult to claim back special damages.

Because of the potential long-term effects of an ankle injury, especially if it restricts work opportunities and enjoyment

Contact our advisors today for further guidance about claiming broken ankle compensation.

Bodily Injury Claim Time Limits

There are time limits that apply to personal injury and medical negligence claims. Generally, you have three years from the date the incident occurred or the date that you became aware that your injuries were a result of negligence. The latter is known as the “date of knowledge”. There are some exceptions to this, however.

For instance, if you are under 18 at the time you are injured because of someone else’s negligence, then the 3-year time limit is suspended until you turn 18. This is because you cannot pursue your own claim while you’re underage. Before this, a litigation friend can claim on your behalf.

Similarly, a litigation friend can pursue a claim for someone who lacks the mental capacity to claim themselves. In the event that they regain the mental capacity to claims, they have 3 years from their recovery to claim on their own behalf; while they lack the capacity to claim, the time limit is suspended indefinitely.

For more information on the time limits to making a claim, and the exceptions that apply, get in touch with our team today.

I Suffered An Ankle Injury, What Should I Do?

Ankle injury compensation amounts can depend on the evidence you are able to provide to support your claim. Evidence must show that a breach of a duty of care resulted in your suffering. This also applies in medical negligence claims; the evidence must show that unnecessary harm occurred because of a breach of the duty of care.

Evidence to support claims for ankle injury settlement amounts in the UK could include:

  • Photos of the ankle injury.
  • Medical records.
  • Mobile phone, dashcam or CCTV footage.
  • Witness contact details.
  • Photos of the accident scene.

The above list is not exhaustive. At this stage, you may wish to seek legal advice. A No Win No Fee solicitor would be able to help you gather the evidence needed to support your claim.

Call our advisors for more information about the ankle injury settlement amounts in the UK or why we cannot provide a figure for the average payout for an ankle injury.

Claim Broken Ankle Compensation With A No Win No Fee Lawyer

There are many reasons why working with a personal injury lawyer could help you, including:

  • A professional taking away much of the stress of the process by helping you handle every step.
  • Having someone on your side with knowledge of the average payout for a broken ankle.
  • Getting support in negotiating the best possible broken ankle compensation payout.
  • Being kept updated throughout the claims process.

Our panel’s lawyers work under a Conditional Fee Agreement. If you sign this agreement, your lawyer agrees to take no payment either upfront or during your case. Furthermore, if the case fails, you won’t be out of pocket for their work at all.

Winning the case means they get a payment called a success fee. Rather than asking you to pay, they instead collect a small percentage of the compensation awarded to you. It’s worth noting that, thanks to The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, there’s a strict limit to this percentage.

For more guidance, including how much compensation for a broken ankle you might be able to get and if a specialist lawyer could take your case, simply contact us today.

Our Related Guides

We appreciate the time you have taken to read this guide. We hope that it has been of use to you. If you need any help at all on this subject, don’t hesitate to get in touch:

In addition to the information in this guide, we have included the following guides that you may find useful.

Thank you for reading our guide on claiming broken ankle compensation.

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