Should I Take The First Compensation Offer After A Workplace Accident?

At first glance, receiving an offer for compensation following a workplace accident can seem like a lifeline. It could alleviate any financial stress and signal an end to a burden you did not want in having to deal with an injury claim.

There are reasons to accept it, but there are also ways an initial offer taken can work against you. Because it’s a settlement, once it’s accepted it can’t be renegotiated. If more costs arise after the settlement or the injury leads to later complications, you wouldn’t be able to claim more compensation.

Before you make a decision, you should examine and assess every facet of the accident and the injury it caused you and seek advice on what a settlement process might, and should, entail.

An adviser can talk to you regarding your own situation. Our advisers offer free consultations, can discuss your case and potentially connect you to our panel of solicitors. Our panel can give you information about initial compensation offers, whether you should accept it and any benefits you could gain through further negotiations.

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Choose A Section

Should I Take The First Compensation Offer?
Typical Situations For Work Accidents
What Can I Do If I Get Hurt At Work?
Determining The First Compensation Offer For My Accident
Can I Appoint No Win No Fee Lawyers For Injury Claims Against My Workplace?
Extra Information About A First Compensation Offer

Should I Take The First Compensation Offer?

Before deciding on whether or not you want to take the first offer of compensation, take into consideration everything about your situation and what you personally want out of it.

If your priority is a fast resolution, you could contact a legal professional to consult the Judicial College Guidelines first. They’re guidelines, set out by the body responsible for the training of judges, on potential awards for various injuries. The legal professional could assess it against your case.

If the offer is less than the one recommended for the injury you suffered, you might be under settling.

The two factors to remember are:

There’s no obligation for the defendant or their representatives to offer you the full amount.
Injuries do not always end at the point of the accident. Neither do the associated costs.

An injury that leads to later complications may only have been compensated for the initial injury. What starts as a fracture could develop into a non-union fracture, meaning you would’ve received compensation for a short-term affliction instead of a debilitating injury that requires surgery.

It’s important to understand everything you can about your case before making any decision on this.

Typical Situations For Work Accidents

A key factor to consider before making any decisions on a compensation offer is liability.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is a primary piece of legislation in regard to occupational health and safety laws. The Act establishes a duty of care an employer has towards their employees. Protecting a worker’s welfare and safety is the employer’s responsibility to a reasonable extent.

Some of the duties they can be held to under the legislation include:

Conducting risk assessments of the environment, and
- informing employees of any risks found
- attending to any risks or hazards

Providing proper training for any activities that might impact their employees’ health, including
- manual handling training
- equipment

Ensuring any equipment provided for use is
- in safe and working order
- regularly checked and maintained

The duties are in place to ensure all that can be done within reason to ensure a worker’s safety is protected. A lack of provision of any of the duties could mean your employer was in violation of the legislation.

If a lack of provision of these duties caused your accident, then your employer could be held liable for your injury.

Before making a decision on any compensation offer, you should examine liability. Was everything that was reasonably possible done to assure your safety?

You can talk to our advisers for any information on employer liability and how it could relate to your case. It’s also helpful to note that your employer cannot discriminate against you or dismiss you for filing an honest claim against them.

What Can I Do If I Get Hurt At Work?

The recommended first step is always to seek medical attention after an accident at work. The evidence you gather is important, but the priority is always your health, and any medicine or treatment you received at the time can be used as evidence in your claim.

After treatment, you could:

Note the accident in your work report book.
Take pictures of the scene.
Speak to any witnesses and get their contact information.
Try and keep detailed notes of any symptoms you experience following the accident and any financial costs stemming from it.

Not having taken any of the recommended steps will not invalidate a claim you’re eligible to make.

Our panel of solicitors can talk you through what collecting evidence in a claim should entail and how it could influence the compensation amount you are offered.

Determining The First Compensation Offer For My Accident

You could seek compensation for up to two heads of claim. The first head of claim is general damages. It compensates you for your physical and psychological pain and suffering.

Solicitors can value general damages by checking your injuries against the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is a publication used for valuing injuries.

We’ve created a compensation table below that contains figures taken from the JCG. This is for illustrative purposes.

Type Of Injury	Notes	Award
Work-Related Upper Limb Disorders: (b)	Continuing, but fluctuating and unilateral symptoms.	£13,970 to £15,330
Hand Injuries: (j) Fracture of Index Finger (Musculoskeletal disorders)	Fracture has mended, but impairment/pain persists.	£8,550 to £11,480
Shoulder Injuries: (c) Moderate (Upper Limb Injury)	Limitation of movement and discomfort with symptoms persisting for about two years.	£7,410 to £11,980
Neck Injury: Minor (i)	Recovery takes place within a period of about one to two years.	£4,080 to £7,410
Severe Leg Injuries: Moderate	Fractures that could lead to later further damage.	£26,050 to £36,790
Back Injuries: Minor (i)	Wherein you recover or recover to nuisance level within two to five years.	£7,410 to £11,730
Lung Disease: (d)	Breathing difficulties requiring fairly frequent use of an inhaler.	£29,380 to £51,460
Brain Damage: Very Severe	Some ability to follow basic commands.	£264,650 to £379,100
Deafness/Tinnitus	Total loss of hearing in one ear.	£29,380 to £42,730
Psychiatric Damage Generally: Moderate	The prognosis will be good.	£5,500 to £17,900

Before deciding whether or not the compensation amount is fair, it is important to remember that you can be awarded even more to cover the costs you incur because of your injuries. Compensation for financial loss associated with your injuries is known as special damages. This is the second head of claim.

Special damages can include:

Costs towards treatment e.g. travel to and from appointments or medical equipment
Care & assistance costs
Changes you have to make to your home due to the injury
Loss of earnings or loss of future employment opportunities

Any offer for compensation should first be assessed against both the Judicial College Guidelines and what costs you yourself have already incurred. You should have full knowledge of the injury and an idea of the future impact it will have on you (both financially and physically).

If you want to discuss your own case and what potential award you could claim, our advisers can offer insight into what you can and can’t claim.

Can I Appoint No Win No Fee Lawyers For Injury Claims Against My Workplace?

You don’t have to use the services of a lawyer to claim. However, having a legal professional by your side throughout the claim can be beneficial.

Personal injury lawyers can offer experience in negotiating work accident claims. They can assess your case, value your claim accurately and offer insight into how to bolster your claim. They can assist you in collecting evidence and would handle legal proceedings or negotiations on your behalf.

The cost to you should also be taken into consideration.

Our panel of solicitors offers their services under conditional fee agreements, known popularly as No Win No Fee agreements. Under such an agreement, you don’t have to pay your solicitor their fee if the claim doesn’t win.

If the claim does win, you’d pay the solicitor a success fee. However, this fee is capped by law. What’s more, your solicitor would only take the fee after the compensation comes through.

Other benefits of No Win No Fee include:

No upfront solicitor fees to pay
No ongoing solicitor fees to pay

Ask Us About The First Compensation Offer

Before taking any compensation offer, the question of what the compensation offer could be should be answered.

Speaking to one of our advisers during a free consultation is a great way to get insight into that question. If you have a favourable claim, they could connect you with our panel of solicitors. A consultation does not equate to a commitment. It is merely a chance at a second opinion that could end with advice, even to take said offer.

You can get in touch by:

Following the banner below.
Contacting us via our website.
Using our live chat.

Extra Information About A First Compensation Offer

We hope this guide on whether to accept the first compensation offer has helped you. We’ve included the below sources for further information.

If you’re still suffering due to your injuries, the NHS provides assistance with finding NHS services near you.

The NHS can also help with mental health.

The Health and Safety Executive is a government body that enforces health and safety legislation in the workplace.

For further advice, you can also check out some of our other guides:

Should You Take The First Compensation Offer?