How Do Accident Claims Work For Employees?

Are you confused about how accident claims work? Do you need a road map through the process? This article can help you through the basics of the claims process and for any further detail or just a clarification, then please get in touch with our advisors.

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How Do Accident Claims Work?
What Injuries Could You Suffer At Work?
Providing Evidence For Accident Claims
Placing A Compensation Value On Various Injuries
A Definition Of No Win No Fee Agreements
More Guidance: How Do Accident Claims Work?

How Do Accident Claims Work?

Accident claims are a branch of personal injury claims. They involve a person who has suffered an accident at work, such as a slip, trip or fall, and has been injured due to employer negligence.

When making a claim, you need to establish that:

Your employer owed you a duty of care.
They breached this duty, causing an incident or accident.
You suffered an injury or illness as a result.

If you can show this, you could be awarded compensation for your suffering.

Time Limits When Claiming

The general time limit to start an accident claim is within 3 years of the date of the accident or the date you gained knowledge that employer negligence at least contributed to your injury or illness.

There are some exceptions to this time limit:

Claims on the behalf of children. If a person is under the age of 18 and suffers a workplace accident that wasn’t their fault then someone can claim on their behalf. This is known as a litigation friend. If nobody claims on their behalf, they’d have 3 years from their 18th birthday to start a claim.
Claims on behalf of those who lack mental capacity. If someone doesn’t have the mental capacity to claim, a litigation friend could claim on their behalf. The time limit would be frozen unless the person gains mental capacity. If they do gain mental capacity, the time limit for the individual to claim would start from the date of recovery.

To find out more about this or how accident claims work, click the banner at the top of the page.

What Do Official Statistics Say?

The government body that regulates workplace health, safety and welfare is known as the HSE or the Health and Safety Executive. It also produces health and safety at work statistics for Great Britain. For the year 2020/21 there were 1.7 million people suffering from work-related illnesses (whether it was a long-standing illness or a new one).

In that year, the most common accidents causing non-fatal injuries, according to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), were slips, trips and falls on the same level resulting in 33% of the total reported injuries. Due to the COVID-19 working from home measures, the number of people who suffered workplace injuries may have been impacted.

What Injuries Could You Suffer At Work?

There are a large number of ways that you could suffer an accident at work and a variety of injuries too. It could be misplaced signs, limited knowledge of the health and safety procedures or faulty machinery. All of this can fall under the employer’s duty of care.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 or HSWA 1974, is one of the most prominent pieces of government legislation that involves health and safety in the workplace. It states that it is an employer’s responsibility to ensure that the working environment is as safe as reasonably possible, using the appropriate health and safety measures and policies.

For example, an employer shouldn’t neglect the maintenance of any equipment they intend employees to use, such as conveyor belts. If they aren’t maintained, the belts could break and injure any of the nearby employees.

Additionally, an employer should set out the correct health and safety warning signs, such as wet floor signs. An employee could slip and fall and injure themselves if a spillage isn’t marked. This could be considered employer negligence and then a claim could be made.

Providing Evidence For Accident Claims

Providing evidence that an accident has occurred is vital for building your claim. Pieces of evidence may vary depending on the type of accident or injury.

Types of evidence that could be used as part of your claim:

Photographs of your injuries
Any written reports of the accident, such as the workplace accident book
Photographs of the accident location
Contact details of any witnesses

If you have been involved in an accident at work, then the first course of action would be to seek out medical attention. Then you could proceed with gathering all the evidence listed above.

It could be useful for you to obtain legal advice during the process. This can help you understand the legal requirements, guide you through the correct path and aid you in strengthening your claims.

For any further advice on how accident claims work, contact us and our advisors will be happy to help. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Placing A Compensation Value On Various Injuries

Compensation varies depending on factors such as the severity of your injuries and strength of evidence. Different injuries are aligned with different award brackets in the Judicial College Guidelines. This is depending on, for example, how severe the injury you have suffered is and how it has affected the normality of your life.

The guidelines are a publication by the Judicial College, offering information on the compensation brackets. Solicitors could use this when they are valuing your claim.

Workplace Injury	How much?	Description
Back Injuries: Severe (i)	£85,470 to £151,070	For these cases to be awarded, there would need to be serious damage to the spinal cord, resulting in disability.
Shoulder Injuries: Serious	£11,980 to £18,020	Injuries include damaging the nerves in the shoulder (brachial plexus) and any dislocation to the shoulder.
Wrist Injuries	£22,990 to £36,770	In this bracket, the injury has to result in a permanent disability, but some useful movement remains.
Hand Injuries: Serious	£27,220 to £58,100	Any injuries that have resulted in the rejoining of several fingers that had been amputated, leaving the hand with clumsy, gross reduction of grip and dexterity.
Severe Leg Injuries: Serious (iii)	£36,790 to £51,460	Within this bracket, injuries that have a comminuted fracture or injuries to the ligaments or joints that have resulted in instability, arthritis or extensive scarring.
Knee Injuries: Severe (ii)	£48,920 to £65,440	Cases in this bracket will have a leg fracture that has extended to the knee joint and caused the impairment of agility, pain which is constant, permanent and limits movements.
Ankle Injuries: Severe	£29,380 to £46,980	The awarded amount will be in relation to an injury necessitating an extensive period of treatment where metal pins or plates would be inserted.
Foot Injuries: Serious	£23,460 to £36,790	This bracket includes injuries that lead to any continuing pain from traumatic arthritis or the risk of future arthritis.
Chest Injuries	£29,380 to £51,460	For this bracket to be considered, then there would need to have been damage to the lungs and chest, causing some type of disability.
Asthma	£9,990 to £18,020	Awarded for suffering with mild, asthma-like symptoms from the exposure to harmful vapours.

General damages is the term used for compensation paid out for any pain, suffering and loss of amenity arising out of the injuries that were sustained in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence. This may be physical and/or psychological.

To fully understand the severity of your injuries, you would attend a medical assessment as a part of the process. This is where an independent doctor would assess your injuries and then make a report of your injuries.

Special damages is the term used to refer to any financial losses that have been incurred as a direct result of the accident. These damages are conditional and would need evidence to prove that you have in fact incurred the losses.

Special damages can cover losses including the following:

Childcare costs
Loss of earnings
Travel expenses
Prescriptions/aids

If you would like to ask our advisors to value your claim for free, please follow the banner at the bottom of this page. They can also explain how accident claims work.

A Definition Of No Win No Fee Agreements

A No Win No Fee agreement is also known as a conditional fee agreement. It allows you to access the services of a solicitor with reduced financial risk, and without paying any upfront fees. You only pay their fee if your No Win No Fee claim is successful. What’s more, the percentage of the fee is capped by law. Your solicitor will discuss this with you so that there aren’t any surprises.

If your case ends with it being unsuccessful, you won’t pay any solicitor fees.

Our advisors can put you in touch with our panel of personal injury solicitors. This service is available 24/7 so feel free to contact us about your questions.

How Do Accident Claims Work? We Can Help

Any questions or queries about how accident claims work can be answered by our advisors.

Feel free to contact us by:

Using our live chat feature
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Contacting us through our website

More Guidance: How Do Accident Claims Work?

Here are some additional resources for you to have a look through.

The NHS website has lots of useful information on how to know if you have suffered any broken bones.

It also has advice on finding services near you.

The HSE has guidance on how accident claims work, providing any additional information as well as examples of reportable incidents.