A Guide To Eye Injury Claims

By Cat Stardew. Last Updated 2nd June 2023. Welcome to our eye injury claims guide. Sustaining an injury to the eye, or eyes, can be devastating and dramatically affect the quality of life of the victim. If you have suffered an injury to the eye through an accident or incident that wasn’t your fault, you may be interested to find out more about eye injury claims as you may be eligible to make an eye injury compensation claim yourself.

Sustaining an eye injury, cannot only be really painful, but can also have dire consequences for the sufferer. Even a slight scratch on the eye can leave the sufferer in a great deal of discomfort and leave them with reduced vision until healed. More severe injuries to the eye or even the loss of an eye however, can have life-changing repercussions for the victim of the injury.

Permanently reduced vision or total blindness in one or both eyes can dramatically affect the everyday life of the victim, from participating in their usual recreational hobbies, to their ability to do their job, completely changing how they go about their normal routine. They may lose their independence and their quality of life will be hugely affected.

If you have sustained an injury to one or both of your eyes through no fault of your own, perhaps maybe due to a work accident, a sporting accident, or due to medical negligence of some kind, however the accident occurred, if it was not your fault, you may be entitled to eye injury negligence compensation.

Legal Helpline is a claims management company that has a panel of solicitors with years of experience in eye injury claims and can help you to start your claim, just call them on 0161 696 9685.

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Eye Injury Claims Guide

Legal Helpline has put together this eye injury compensation guide in order to give an informed overview of the processes involved in eye injury claims.

Within this guide, you will find the answers to questions such as ‘How much can I get for an eye injury?’ or ‘How much is an eye injury worth?’. Also, the guide will explain what to do if you sustain an eye injury, how to start an eye injury claim, what can be included in your claim, and lots more.

We explain how the eye injury is assessed to determine its severity and the effect this result can have on the amount of compensation you could be awarded. Proving liability is key to winning your case and we cover how liability may be established in different cases, all possibly affecting the way the case is conducted and its outcome.

Lastly, we also cover the benefits of using a personal injury claims firm and how our no win no fee policy can allow you to have legal help and guidance without risking your finances.

Common types of eye injuries

Eye injury compensation claim

Eye injury compensation claim

There are a number of different types of eye injury that can occur, with some injuries being more common than others. The most common eye injuries include:

  • Fractures or Breaks – If the eye is hit with a blunt force, the eye socket can suffer a fracture or break.
  • Blunt Force Trauma – This is when the eye is injured after being hit with a blunt force. A ‘black eye’ is a typical minor injury of a blunt force trauma. A more severe injury will be a fracture or break as mentioned above.
  • Scratches or abrasions – These may occur to the actual eyeball, or to the eye lids resulting in pain and discomfort and often reduced vision until healed.
  • Foreign Bodies – Objects entering the eye which cause damage to the eyeball such as grit, sand, dust, wood or metal shavings.
  • Needlestick Injuries and Cuts – Where something has pierced into the eyeball or soft tissue around the eye.
  • Chemical Burns and Abrasions – Where a chemical has come into contact with the eye. A minor injury may cause irritation and redness, but a more severe injury will involve severe burns to the eyeball and permanent damage.
  • Negligence during Laser Surgery – The eyeball may become damaged during laser eye surgery due to the procedure not being carried out properly.
  • Ultra Violet Light damage – Exposing the eyeball to too much UV rays, often caused by not protecting the eyes sufficiently whilst using a sunbed.
  • Medical Negligence – Being misdiagnosed or mistreated by a medical professional can result in damage occurring to the eye.

If you have suffered a common eye injury like those listed above, or any other eye injury, through no fault of your own, we can help you to make a personal injury claim for eye injury compensation.

Evidence To Support Claims For Eye Injury Settlements

One of the most important steps of the eye injury claims process is collecting evidence. Evidence can help demonstrate the severity of your eye injury, how it happened, and who is liable.

Some examples of evidence that can support claims for eye injury settlements include:

  •   CCTV footage: If your accident was captured by a CCTV system, you may be able to request the footage. This can then illustrate how your injury occurred.
  •   Photographs: Taking photographs of the accident scene and any visible symptoms of your eye injury, such as redness, could help support your claim.
  •   Medical records: Your medical records can demonstrate the severity of your eye injury, and the pain and suffering you have experienced or will experience in the future.
  •   Witness contact details: Taking the contact details of anyone who witnessed your accident can help ensure that their statements are taken at a later date.

One of the benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor is that they can help you collect evidence, talk to witnesses, and strengthen your claim. To find out if you could be eligible to work with a solicitor from our panel, contact our team today.

Claiming compensation for an eye injury at work

All employers are required by law to provide a safe working environment for their employees in accordance with section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. If they fail to do so, and you sustain an eye injury as a result, they will be found to be in breach of their duty of care to their employees.

How much compensation for an eye injury at work? Further on in the guide, we have put together a table of average compensation amounts awarded for a number of different eye injuries. The amount you are paid for your injury will reflect those in the table regardless of where the injury actually took place. What will make the overall amount different however, is whether the company you work for were in breach of the Health and Safety rules and regulations and guilty of gross negligence.

If you have sustained an eye injury in an accident at work, no matter to how minor or severe, due to no fault of your own whilst at work, contact us at Legal Helpline to find out more about accident at work claims.

Claiming compensation for an eye injury in a public place

Claiming compensation for an accident that occurred in a public place resulting in an eye injury will differ in the way it is processed depending on where or what type of public place the accident occurred in.

For those accidents that happen in public places where the local authority or council have the responsibility to maintain them. These public places include:

  • Public parks
  • Footpaths
  • Children’s play areas
  • Accessible institutions
  • Libraries
  • Public toilets

These types of eye injury claims will be made against the council or local authority.

For accidents that occur in places that are made accessible to the public by private companies such as shops and shopping centres for example, then the compensation claim would be filed against the company. Other examples of company-owned areas accessible to the public include car parks, gyms, swimming pools, supermarkets and restaurants.

Loss Of Vision In One Eye – How Is Compensation Calculated?

When compensation is calculated for an eye injury, including for the loss of vision in one eye, many factors will be considered. For example, if you have suffered a partial disability, this could impact your final eye injury settlement amount.

Your final payout could also be dependent on if you are eligible to claim for any special damages. For example, if you needed to pay for laser eye surgery or an eye patch, you could recover these costs as part of your claim.

Starting a claim for an eye injury at work in the UK

If you have been in an accident that wasn’t your fault and ended up with an eye injury, you may be interested in eye injury claims. If you don’t know where to start Legal Helpline make it simple. All you need to do is give us a call and we can take it from there.

When you call us, you will be offered a free consultancy session where you can freely ask as many questions as you need to in regards to making a claim, and we can use the time to gather the information from you surrounding your case. At this stage, we will give our expert and honest opinion on whether you have a valid claim or not.

If we are satisfied you have a valid case, we will in most circumstances, offer to take on your case for you under a no win no fee agreement. We can then set to work on working hard behind the scenes and gathering more evidence in order to build you a strong case. We may also offer you a free local medical if we feel this could be beneficial for your case.

Determining how severe an eye injury is

The potential value of an eye injury compensation claim can be affected by a number of variables. In other words, how much compensation for an eye injury you are awarded may reflect how severe it is, and the impact that it has on your life.

Eye injury claims can be for both minor and more severe injuries. For more severe injuries, they could cause a longer-lasting impact. Some incidents may lead to your sight being permanently affected, possibly even to the point of partial or complete blindness.

Therefore, the level of eye injury compensation that’s awarded to you may very well depend on having the severity of the injury itself verified in an independent medical assessment, and backed up with other evidence.

This assessment can be arranged at a facility local to you so that the need to travel is kept as low as possible. Get in touch today if you have questions about this assessment, why it is needed, and what it may entail.

Compensation For Eye Injury – How Compensation Is Calculated

You may be wondering what you might receive in compensation for an eye injury in a successful claim. This section looks at how compensation is calculated. When calculating compensation, some of the factors that are considered are:

  • How severe your eye injury is
  • The present and future impact of the injury on your life
  • Immediate financial losses caused by your injury
  • Any future financial losses you may incur

Your claim could include both general damages and special damages. The amounts in the table are for the general damages aspect of your claims which compensate for the pain and suffering caused by your injury. The financial losses you incur are covered by the special damages aspect of your claim

In addition to the factors above, solicitors use compensation amounts in the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to guide them when calculating eye injury compensation amounts. The table below contains compensation brackets from the JCG, which was last updated in 2022. Your compensation for eye injury may not match these amounts as they are only a guide.

Reason for CompensationAverage Amount AwardedComments
Total Blindness and DeafnessIn the region of £403,990


The high compensation amount reflects the absolute devastation of such injuries.
Total BlindnessIn the region of £268,720
(c) (i)Loss of sight in one eye also reduced vision in the other eye£95,990 to £179,770The higher amount will be for those where the prognosis suggests further deterioration of the eye with reduced vision. Problems with double vision may also be present.

(i)
Serious risk of further deterioration in the remaining eye.

(c) (ii) Loss of sight in one eye, also reduced vision in the other eye£63,950 to £105,990(ii)
Reduced vision in the remaining eye and or additional problems such as double vision.



(d) Total loss of one eye£54,830 to £65,710The award amount will depend on factors such as the claimant’s age, the psychological impact and the cosmetic effect.
(e) Complete loss of sight in one eye£49,270 to £54,830The higher amount takes into consideration any scarring around the eye which may have happened due to the injury.
(f) Complete loss of sight in one eye - less severe£23,680 to £39,340Serious but incomplete loss of vision in one eye
The higher amount would be awarded to those with constant double or blurred vision, whereas the lower amounts awarded to those with either intermittent double and blurred vision, or no double or blurred visions at all.

Eye Injury Payouts – Examples Of Special Damages

In addition to general damages, eye injury payouts could also include special damages. This compensates you for financial losses or expenses that you have experienced due to your injury.

Examples of what could be covered under special damages include:

  • Loss of earnings if your injury has required you to take time off work.
  • The costs of extra childcare if it has been required due to your injury.
  • Travel costs you’ve incurred if you’ve had to pay for public transport or taxis to receive medical treatment or other journeys you would normally walk or drive to.
  • Medical expenses, such as prescription costs.

 You will need to provide proof of these losses, such as receipts, bills or invoices. 

Contact our advisors today to discuss your personal injury claim and receive free advice.

Eye injury No Win No Fee claims

Legal Helpline in most circumstances will offer to manage your case for you under a no win no fee agreement. This allows people to make eye injury claims for the compensation they deserve with legal assistance no matter what their financial situation as with No Win No Fee there are no upfront costs or payments to be made throughout the whole claiming process. Our fees are only subject to payment if we are successful in winning your case for you and the payment for these will be a small percentage of the final eye injury settlement amount when it is paid. If we were unsuccessful and lost the case, we do not charge our clients a penny, hence the no win no fee name of agreement.

With this type of policy there are no financial risks at all, and therefore no gamble of your current finances, whilst still benefitting from legal representation increasing your chances of making a successful claim and being awarded the maximum amount possible.

Can Legal Helpline get me compensation?

If you have Legal Helpline to conduct your eye injury compensation claim on your behalf, you can rest assure that your case will be in the best hands. Legal Helpline have been specialising in the personal injury claims industry for years and have gained a fantastic reputation. Eye injury claims have been a regular occurrence over the years and so Legal Helpline have built up lots of experience in successfully handling these types of cases.

We are a reliable, friendly, hard-working team who are dedicated to getting our client’s the compensation they deserve. We always treat each individual case with the attention it needs to ensure that we claim for the maximum amount possible, although we work quickly and efficiently, we never rush through a claims process as we want to make sure that we get the very best result for our clients and so leave no stone unturned.

We offer great customer service with the added benefits of offering a no win no fee agreement, a free local medical if required and a free consultation session. Entrusting Legal Helpline to conduct your eye injury claims for you will allow you to fully concentrate on your recovery with the knowledge that a highly professional and experienced personal injury solicitor is working hard to get you the compensation you deserve.

Eye Injury Claims FAQs

Here are some questions frequently asked about eye injury claims.

How much compensation for an eye injury will I receive?

All eye injury claims will differ in the payout amount that is awarded. This is due to the fact that all cases are different and claims are valued according to the severity of the claimant’s suffering. To get an estimate on your payout, please contact Legal Helpline today for a free assessment of your case.

How do I sue an eye doctor?

In cases of suspected medical negligence, it can be tricky to establish liability, If you believe your eye doctor’s failings were responsible for your eye injury, please call Legal Helpline today for a free consultation. This way, you can see if you have a valid claim and even get expert legal help from our team.

Contact Legal Helpline to start a claim for eye injury compensation

If you would like to discuss eye injury claims in more detail, or would like us to manage your eye injury compensation claim on your behalf, just call us on 0161 696 9685 and we will do our best to assist you.

Or, contact us through our website.

Useful links and resources

Injury claims involving children

If your child has suffered an eye injury this page explains the process of making a compensation claim on behalf of a child.

NHS guide to eye injuries

This is the NHS guide to eye injuries and gives lots of helpful information on what to do if you have suffered an eye injury of some kind.

Litigation Friends

You may be able to appoint someone to make a claim on your behalf if you are unable to claim yourself. Find out more from this government guide.

Other Claims We Can Help With

  1. Road traffic accident claims.
  2. Head injury claims.
  3. Car accident claims.
  4. Holiday accident abroad compensation claims.
  5. Gym injury claims.
  6. Ankle Injury claims.
  7. Cycle accident claims
  8. Manual handling claims
  9. Motorcycle accident claims
  10. How To Make A Neck Injury Claim
  11. Child Injury Claims Explained
  12. How To Make Bone Fracture Claims

Thank you for reading our eye injury claims guide.