A Guide To How Much Compensation For Accident At Work Claims

By Stephen Bishop. Last Updated 12th March 2024. When it comes to accident at work claims, it’s natural to wonder how much compensation you could receive.

Many different accidents can happen in the workplace, including slips, trips, and falls and being struck by moving objects or vehicles.

So long as the incident was caused by someone else’s carelessness or negligence, and it happened within the past three years (unless the injury occurs over time), you will be able to make a claim.

This is something that our panel of personal injury solicitors have many years of experience in, and we can help you to get the full amount of compensation you deserve. For more information, please read on.

Call our claims helpline if you have any questions – 0161 696 9685

Cartoon depiction of different accidents at work.

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Eligibility Criteria For Accident At Work Claims

While you are performing your work duties and in the workplace, your employer owes you a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Per this duty, they must take reasonable steps to help prevent you from coming to harm while working. This could include ensuring you have been provided appropriate training to complete your work duties and risk assessing the workplace regularly.

Should they breach this duty, you could be injured in a workplace accident. However, all accident at work claims need to meet the following eligibility requirements in order to be valid:

  1. A duty of care must have been owed to you by your employer.
  2. They must have failed to adhere to this duty.
  3. This breach of duty caused you to suffer an injury.

To discuss the eligibility of your case today, you can contact one of the friendly advisors on our team.

What Types of Accidents At Work Could I Potentially Claim For?

There are many ways that you could be injured in an accident at work due to your employer’s negligence. Some examples may include:

  • Ladder accidents – Various jobs involve having to use a ladder, such as retail jobs or if you work in a warehouse. If your employer was aware of a faulty ladder but had taken no steps to fix or replace it, this could lead to you falling off a ladder and injuring yourself.
  • Slips and trips – Your employer may also be liable if you tripped or slipped at work. For example, if your employer failed to secure some cable wires, this could cause you to trip on them and suffer a leg injury.
  • Defective machinery – If your employer failed to regularly maintain vital machinery at your job, this could lead to it malfunctioning, and you could become injured.

No matter the nature of the accident or the injuries you suffered, you must prove that your injuries were directly caused by your employer breaching their duty of care in order to be eligible to claim.

Contact our advisors today to find out whether you may be eligible for compensation. They may also be able to connect you to a work injury lawyer from our panel.

Accident At Work Law

There are several important pieces of legislation that have been put in place to protect you from risks in the workplace and which detail the steps employers need to take. This includes the following:

If your employer has failed to abide by the legislation in place, and you have been injured as a consequence, you will definitely have grounds for making a personal injury claim.

Injury At Work Advice – Examples Of Evidence

In order to make a successful injury at work claim, you will need evidence to improve your chances of being awarded compensation. Whether you suffered harm from a slip, trip or fall, or a manual handling injury, it is still essential that you can provide proof of your injuries and the negligence that caused them.

After an injury at work, our advice would be to gather some of the following forms of evidence:

  • Witness contact details: Ask for the contact information of any witnesses to your accident. Their statements can provide evidence of what happened and who was liable.
  • Medical evidence: It’s important to see a medical professional about your injury as they can put together a medical report, which can prove the extent of your injuries. Hospital records can also show that you were injured.
  • Photographs: You could gather photographic evidence of your injuries and any hazards in the workplace that may have caused your accident.
  • CCTV footage: You could request CCTV footage from your employer if your workplace has any CCTV installed on the premises.
  • Workplace logbook: Any workplace with over 10 employees should have an accident logbook on site where details of your accident should be recorded. This could be used a evidence of your claim.

Speak to our advisors for free advice on gathering evidence. Furthermore, they could put you in touch with an expert accident at work solicitor from our panel.

Accident At Work Claims Time Limit

There is a three-year accident at work claim time limit to begin legal proceedings for your workplace injury. This time limit runs from the accident date and is set out within the Limitation Act 1980. However, some accident at work claims will have exceptions applied to them. These include:

  • Those who lack the mental capability to handle their own claim will have the time limit suspended. In the event that they regain this mental capability, the time limit will run from the date of recovery.
  • Those injured as minors will have the time limit suspended until their 18th birthday. From which, they will then have until their 21st birthday to begin a claim.

The court can appoint a litigation friend to claim on the injured party’s behalf while the time limit is suspended.

To see whether you are still within the time limit to start a personal injury claim, you can contact our team of advisors.

Accidents At Work Compensation Examples

If you’ve determined that you have a valid work accident compensation claim, you may wonder what your claim might be worth. The accidents at work compensation examples in the table below were taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), updated in 2022 (aside from the first entry).

It is important to note that the amounts shown may not match the payout you would receive in a successful claim. When determining compensation for an accident at work, solicitors use the JCG figures as a guide. Compensation for an accident at work is determined on a case-by-case basis taking the specific circumstances into consideration.

General damages and special damages could be included in your work accident compensation claim. The pain and suffering caused by your injury are covered by general damages.

InjuryComments Amount
Multiple Serious Injuries and Financial ExpenesCompensation for multiple severe injuries suffered and financial expenses such as prescription fees, care costs, travel fees and lost earnings.Up to £1,000,000+
Quadriplegia/TetraplegiaAt the mid range of this bracket, payout is for cases where the claimant has an expectation of life of 25 years or more. They will have full awareness of their disability and not be in physical pain, and they will have retained powers of hearing, sight, and speech.£324,600 to £403,990
ParaplegiaThe level of award will be determined by age and life expectancy, depression, the degree of independence, and the presence and extent of pain.£219,070 to £284,260
Back Injuries - Severe (i)Severe damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots. These lead to serious consequences that are not normal for common back injuries.£91,090 to £160,980
Back Injuries - Minor (i)A full recovery takes place within 5 years from a soft tissue injury, sprain or strain.£7,890 to £12,510
Arm Amputations (b)(i)One arm is amputated at the shoulder.Not less than £137,160
Neck Injuries - Severe (ii)Serious disc damage in the cervical spine or fractures that cause disabilities of considerable severity. £65,740 to £130,930
Neck Injuries - Moderate (ii)Wrenching-type injuries or soft tissue injuries that cause symptoms including recurring pain and serious movement limitation. £13,740 to £24,990
Knee Injuries - Severe (ii)Impaired agility and limited movement due a leg fracture that has extended into the knee joint.£52,120 to £69,730
Minor eye injuriesMinor injuries include the likes of being splashed by liquids, exposure to fumes including smoke, and being struck in the eye, which causes some temporary interference with vision and initial pain.£3,950 to £8,730
Wrist InjuriesA colle's fracture that is uncomplicated.In the region of £7,430

Special Damages For Claims At Work

You may also be able to claim for special damages as part of your personal injury claim. Special damages aim to compensate you for financial losses or expenses that have been directly caused by your injuries.

Examples of the losses you could claim for under special damages in an accident at work claim may include:

  • Loss of earnings if you’ve had to take time off work.
  • Travel costs that you have accumulated in order to receive necessary treatment for your injuries (examples could include train tickets and taxi or bus fares).
  • The cost of home assistance, equipment or housing adaptations needed to help you complete everyday tasks at home.

Providing evidence of these losses could help support your claim. Examples could include payslips, receipts and invoices.

If you have support from an injury at work lawyer for your case, they can offer guidance on what special damages you may be able to claim for.

To learn more about making a personal injury claim for a back injury from work, contact our advisors on the phone or online today.

No Win No Fee Accident At Work Claims

One of the key features associated with our service is that our panel of accident at work solicitors can work on your case on a No Win No Fee basis. This means that anyone with a valid claim can claim, irrespective of his or her financial situation. This is because you will only need to pay legal fees if we manage to successfully secure compensation for you.

If for some reason, your case is not a success, you won’t need to pay a penny. Not only does this give you peace of mind, but it assures you that we will only take on your case if there is a genuine chance of it being successful. We will never waste your time. If you opt to claim an hourly solicitor, there is always the chance that they will take on your case irrespective of the likely outcome, simply to take your money.

A solicitor explaining the accident at work claims process to a client.

Contact Us About Your Accident At Work Claim

We hope this guide has been of help to you and helped you better understand the process of claims for an accident at work.

Our advisers are available at any time and could offer you any additional help or guidance you may require. They can provide you with examples of accident at work claims our solicitors have managed, and better provide a free eligibility check.

They could also answer any questions you may have about how settlements can be negotiated in claims for accidents at work, and compensation examples for the injury you may have suffered.

You can speak to an adviser for free now, by

Consultations are free, and could help you start your claim today

Learn More About Accident At Work Claims

Expenses and benefits for compensation for injuries at work

This takes you to the UK Government website, where you will find information on compensation for work injuries. You will find out whether you need to report such an incident to HM Revenue & Customs.

Citizens Advice Accidents at work overview

This link takes you to the Citizens Advice website, where you will find plenty of helpful information regarding accidents at work, including getting Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) when you cannot work.

Government’s Health and safety at work

This takes you to the Government’s A to Z guide on health and safety at work, including fire safety in the workplace, Health and Safety Executive (HSE), workplace temperatures, smoking at work, running a business from home, recruitment and disabled people, health and safety using farm vehicles and machinery, and health and safety on ships.

HSE Information about health and safety at work

This is a link to the UK’s official Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website. It has lots of information on health and safety at work.

NI Direct Accidents in the workplace

This link provides plenty of useful information for those in Northern Ireland that suffer accidents in the workplace, including reporting an accident at work, accident at work sick pay, and where you can get help.

Below, you can find some other guides that you may find useful:

We hope reading our guide, which explores how much compensation for accident at work claims you may receive, has been useful for you.