Suffering a crush injury can have a significant impact on your life. Broken bones, ligament damage, and, in the most serious of cases, limb amputation can all alter your life forever. If you were injured because of someone else’s negligence, then you could be entitled to claim personal injury compensation. This guide will consider all aspects involved in a crush injury compensation claim.

Given the significant impact crush injuries can have on your enjoyment of life and ability to earn, we will discuss how compensation for these injuries is calculated. Prior to this, we will explain the duty of care owed to you in various situations and give you some examples of eligible claims. We also discuss how long a claim may take.

Finally, we discuss the benefits of appointing a solicitor from our panel to handle your claim under a No Win No Fee agreement.

Read on to learn more, or discuss your crush injury compensation claim now by:

• Calling us on 020 3870 4868
• Talking to us about your claim online
• Use the pop-up live discussion window below.

Browse Our Guide

1. What Is A Crush Injury?
2. Can I Make A Crush Injury Compensation Claim?
3. What Should I Do After Suffering A Crush Injury?
4. How Long Will A Crush Injury Compensation Claim Take?
5. How Much Compensation For A Crush Injury?
6. What Is A No Win No Fee Crush Injury Claim?
7. Read More About How To Make A Personal Injury Claim

What Is A Crush Injury?

A crush injury can affect any part of the body that is trapped and compressed against another surface. Typically, the area of the body most prone to a crush injury might be the extremities,  such as the toes and feet, fingers, hands and arms.

In addition to the pain and damage caused by soft tissue, muscle and bone being crushed, a condition called compartment syndrome can occur. This is when there is too much pressure inside a muscle which restricts the blood flow, causing pain. Treatment could include surgery called fasciotomy, which can reduce the pressure. The effects of compartment syndrome can be life-altering.

If you have suffered a crush injury at work, you can contact our advisors for a free, no-obligation case assessment.

Can I Make A Crush Injury Compensation Claim?

The starting point for a compensation claim after a crush injury is to show how a third party breached their duty of care to protect you from harm. A duty of care can apply in various areas of life, and we look at two places where crush injuries might commonly occur:

Accidents At Work

All UK employers owe a duty of care to their workers. Legislation called the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HASAWA) requires them to take practicable and reasonable steps to make sure that employees are protected from harm whilst working. This obligation to health and safety regulations can be met in a number of ways, including:

• Carrying out regular inspections of the workplace to ensure tools and machinery are safe to use.
• Ensuring that staff are correctly trained and provided with the personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to work safely.
• Carrying out risk assessments to identify potential risks or hazards that could be mitigated

With this in mind, it could be possible for a crush injury to arise in the following ways:

• Packaging machinery in a recycling plant was not correctly maintained and a worker’s hand and arm were crushed by a defective machine.
• Metal boxes were stacked incorrectly in a warehouse and they collapsed onto a worker, causing multiple crush injuries.
• A door in an office was faulty and despite being aware of the problem, management failed to repair it. An employee suffered a severe crush injury to their fingers as a result.

Road Traffic Accidents

All drivers are obliged to operate vehicles in a way that minimises the risk of harm to themselves and others. To properly meet their duty of care, they must adhere to the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the obligations detailed in the Highway Code. Here are some examples of how that duty of care may be breached and give rise to a potential claim:

• Crush injuries were sustained when a drunk driver collided with other vehicles, a cyclist or a pedestrian and caused them harm.
• A motorist failed to pay attention at a junction, and a significant collision resulted in crush injuries to a passenger in a car.
• A cyclist was crushed by a bus attempting to pass them when it was unsafe to do so.

If you would like to check your exact accident circumstances, please reach out to our team for a free, no-obligation case assessment and see if you can make a crush injury compensation claim today.

What Should I Do After Suffering A Crush Injury?

Whilst recovery and rehabilitation should be at the forefront of your mind after a crush injury, it is important to think of the evidence you might need to support your personal injury claim. To assist with this, we have listed some examples of evidence that is useful:

• Workplace CCTV footage, or the dashcam and helmet cam footage if it was a road accident.
• The contact details for anyone who witnessed the accident. Should you decide to appoint a solicitor to help with your claim, they can approach these people for supporting statements at a later date.
• Take photos of the injuries and the scene of the accident/cause of the injury.
• Always report an accident at work. Obtain a copy of the workplace accident report.
• Get copies of medical records that detail the injuries, such as X-rays or scans. You can also request copies from a psychiatrist or any other specialist who treated you.

Why not see if a solicitor from our panel could help you collect evidence? Simply connect with our advisors on the contact options above to see if they can direct you to excellent legal representation.

How Long Will A Crush Injury Compensation Claim Take?

Personal injury claims vary in how long they take to settle. This is because various factors can affect the duration of the claim. For example:

• How complex the injuries are, what treatments are required and how much medical evidence is needed.
• Whether the defendant admits liability or disputes your claim.
• The defendant makes a low offer of settlement, and court proceedings are necessary.
• The workload of the court involved.

Crush injury claims will always vary. To obtain a better idea of the strength of your personal injury claim after crush injuries at work or on the roads, speak to our advisory team. They could connect you to a solicitor from our panel to offer personalised legal advice.

How Much Compensation For A Crush Injury?

It is possible for crush injury compensation claim amounts to comprise two types of loss, referred to as general and special damages. General damages relate to the pain and suffering caused by the physical injuries themselves, as well as any mental health harm caused. The length of recovery of any permanent disability can be reflected in this award also, as can other loss of amenity.

To apply a value to your general damages, those who undertake the calculation can refer to medical reports. If a solicitor acts on your behalf, they can arrange a medical assessment with an independent specialist to create a full report of your injuries.

A publication called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) may also be used to guide calculations. This publication (in its 17th edition) lists award bracket guideline amounts for a variety of injuries. They are only guidelines, but we have compiled an excerpt below to illustrate common crush injuries. Please note that the first entry in the table does not come from the JCG:

Compensation Guidelines

• Severe Multiple Injuries – Cases of multiple crush injuries and the related special damages award for lost income, care expenses and medical bills – Up to £1 million plus.
• Leg Amputations of Both Legs – £293,850 to £344,150
• Hand Injuries (Cases of Total or Effective Loss of Both Hands) – £171,680 to £245,900
• Leg Amputation of One Leg above the knee – £127,930 to £167,760
• Severe arm injuries (a) – Cases that are almost as serious as amputation and leave the person little better off – £117,360 to £159,770
• Very Severe Foot Injuries (c) – Cases of severe pain and permanent disability –  £102,470 to £133,810
• Serious damage to both hands – Causing permanent loss of function and cosmetic deficit – £68,070 to £103,200
• Very Serious Leg Injuries – Injuries that create permanent mobility issues for the person – £66,920 to £109,290
• Very Severe Ankle Injuries (a) – Unusual fractures and soft tissue damage that causes deformity –  £61,090 to £85,070
• Severe Injury to the Toes (c) – Crush injuries that lead to the amputation of one or two toes – £16,770 to £25,710

Can I Claim For Care Costs Caused By Crush Injuries?

The second head of loss is called special damages. These reimburse the person for the financial harm they suffered because of the crush injuries. Special damages cannot be claimed on their own as physical or psychological harm must always be the root cause of the financial harm.

If you feel that special damages should form part of your claim, you will need documented evidence to include these amounts. With this in mind, you could have evidence to include the following:

• Wage slips that show a drop or loss of earnings because of the injuries.
• Proof of medical costs for treatment.
• Evidence of tickets and taxi fares for travel to essential appointments.
• Receipts and invoices that relate to the costs of adaptations needed at home or to your vehicle.
• Amounts paid to others for domestic help (cooking, cleaning and shopping).

To discuss the losses you wish to claim as part of your crush injury compensation claim, please reach out to our team.

What Is A No Win No Fee Crush Injury Claim?

A solicitor from our panel could help you through the claims process by using a type of No Win No Fee contract. They typically offer a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which allows eligible claimants to access excellent legal representation without the need to pay any upfront or ongoing fees for the solicitor’s services. In addition to this, there are no solicitors fees owed for their completed services should the claim fail.

A personal injury claim that succeeds means that the solicitors are paid a success fee. This is a percentage deducted from the compensation after the claim has been settled. Importantly, the success fee percentage size is subject to a legislative cap, which means the person claiming benefits first and foremost.

If you would to explore this further, please connect with our advisors to discuss your options. If you meet the criteria that we discussed above, they could connect you to a solicitor from our panel to begin a No Win No Fee claim:

• See if you can make a claim by calling the team on 020 3870 4868
• Start a claim online.
• Also, for general guidance on the crush injury claims process, why not ask the live support window a question?

Read More About How To Make A Personal Injury Claim

For more reading around similar topics, please read these articles from our website:

• Read about making a leg injury at work accident claim.
• Here we explore slip, trip and fall personal injury claims.
• This guide discusses how you can prove employer liability in a claim.

External help:

• Read about crush syndrome from the NHS.
• Check you symptoms with this resource from the NHS as well.
• Lastly, read advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about how to avoid trapping and crushing injuries on mobile platforms at work.

Thank you for reading our guide on making a crush injury compensation claim.