How To Claim Compensation For A Sports Injury

Sports injury claims can be made by those avoidably harmed whilst participating in (or as a spectator of) a sport. You may have been harmed due poor maintenance of sporting facilities, faulty equipment, or other lapses in health and safety procedures. If someone else was responsible for your safety, and you were injured because of failures on their part, you could have grounds to claim personal injury compensation. If you make a successful sports injury claim, compensation can be awarded for your physical and mental pain and suffering as well as any incurred expenses, including your lost earnings if you needed time away from work to recover.

Sports injury claims can deal with everything from minor soft tissue injuries, through to those which are serious and life-changing. They could be made against the party in control of the venue, an organisation (such as a sports club), or an individual. You will need to provide sufficient evidence to show that this party failed to keep you safe and ensure your claim is filed within the applicable time limit.

An expert personal injury solicitor from our panel could help you and could even do so on a No Win No Fee basis. To find out if you have an eligible claim for a sports injury, whether as a participant or spectator, please discuss the incident with one of our advisors.

 

Jump To A Section

• What Are Sport Injury Claims?
• Can I Make A Sports Injury Compensation Claim?
• Can I Claim If I Was Injured Whilst Spectating A Sport?
• Sports Injury Claims in Professional vs Amateur Sport
• Who Can Be Held Accountable For A Sports Injury?
• Sports Injury Claims Examples
• Which Sports Are Injury Claims Commonly Made For?
• What Injuries Can Be Caused By An Accident During Sports?
• How Much Sport Injury Compensation Could I Claim?
• What Will I Need To Prove Fault For A Sport Injury?
• How Long After Sustaining A Sport Injury Can I Claim?
• Why Choose Legal Helpline To Claim For Sport Injuries?
• Sport Injury Claims On A No Win No Fee Basis
• More Information

What Are Sports Injury Claims?

Sports injury claims are a way for amateur and professional athletes, as well as spectators, to seek compensation for avoidable injuries. Whilst participating in many sports, sporting, and leisure activities can carry inherent risks, accidents can also be the result of a responsible party failing to act with reasonable care. It is when the responsible party does not act with reasonable care and an injury occurs that you could have good grounds to make a compensation claim.

Sports injury compensation claims could be brought by individuals participating in sports, training, or those at sporting venues at all levels, from the amateur to the professional level.

You can learn more about when and how to claim compensation below, or by discussing your case with an advisor.

Can I Make A Sports Injury Compensation Claim?

You could make a sports injury compensation claim if you were harmed by faulty equipment, inadequate instruction, or unsafe facilities. We should note that participating in many sporting activities can carry inherent risks. For example, even with adequate training, supervision, and facilities, participants in combat sports can suffer injuries. In these cases, you may not have grounds to claim compensation

Sports Injury Claims Must Fulfil 3 Basic Criteria

1. There Was A Duty Of Care
To make a sports injury claim, you need to show that another party owed you a duty of care. Whether you were participating in a sport, leisure activity, or were a spectator, there are a number of parties who could owe you a duty of care. These could include:

• Individuals, such as instructors, activity organisers, and other participants.
• Organisations including sports clubs, riding stables, etc.
• The occupier of the venue in which the activity took place. Occupiers can include private operators, local authorities, and individuals.

The occupier of any public place, such as a sports centre, has a duty of care to users under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (OLA).

2. This Duty Of Care Was Breached
This is crucial in establishing your right to claim. You must show that the party highlighted above breached their duty of care by failing to act as a reasonable organisation, individual, or occupier of a public space would.

For example, a gym fails to properly maintain a cable station. A gymgoer uses the cable station which snaps whilst they use it.

3. You Were Injured
Finally, you need to show that you were physically or psychologically injured, or that you contracted an illness. The injury or illness must either be caused or made worse by the breach outlined above.

For example, the cable station snapping caused the handle and cable to strike the user causing facial injuries and lacerations.

Sports Injury Claims for Children and Young Athletes

Sports injury claims for children and young athletes (under the age of 18) can be brought by a litigation friend. This is because those under the age of 18 are unable to take any legal action on their own behalf. A litigation friend can be a parent, family member, or other suitable adult (such as a solicitor). They are appointed by the court to act in the best interests of the person harmed.

If a litigation friend does not bring a claim on behalf of the child or young athlete, they may do so themselves once they turn 18. Please get in touch with us to find out if you are eligible to make a sports injury claim for a child or young athlete.

Can I Claim If I Was Injured Whilst Spectating A Sport?

You could claim compensation if injured as a spectator at a sport if the incident and your injuries were connected to another party’s negligence. As a spectator of a sporting event, you should expect and assume a lower degree of risk in comparison to those participating in the sport. However, spectators can still be harmed due to a lack of safety measures, where facilities were not properly maintained, or generally unsafe premises. Improper or insufficient crowd control can also result in accidents, leading to serious or even fatal injuries.

The occupier of a sports venue has a duty of care to ensure your reasonable safety. This is set out in legislation, such as the OLA. If they failed to do so, you could claim compensation for your injuries. Speak to an advisor for more information.

Sports Injury Claims in Professional vs Amateur Sport

Sports injury claims could be made by those participating in both professional and amateur sports, if you can show that someone else was at fault. The same eligibility criteria apply to these cases, namely that someone else must have had a responsibility to keep you safe, they failed to do so, and that any injuries sustained were as a result of this.

• Amateur sports accidents could involve negligent training and/or supervision, poor facilities, or reckless behaviour by another participant.
• Professional sports injuries may involve similar causes, however they may occur during training or professional competitions.

Both types of claim could also involve incidents of being deliberately assaulted or dangerously tackled during a game. Professional sports accident claims could also be more complex if the athlete is unable to return to their sport for a period of time, or suffers a career-ending injury.

You can discuss amateur and professional sports injury compensation claims with one of our advisors now. If you have a valid claim, you can proceed with support from one of the No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel.

Who Can Be Held Accountable For A Sports Injury

Liability for a sports injury will depend on how the accident happened, who was responsible for safety, and whether someone breached their duty of care. While sport carries an inherent level of risk, participants are still entitled to expect that reasonable steps are taken to prevent avoidable harm.

Below are the parties who may potentially be held accountable.

Sports Clubs And Teams

A local sports club or organised team may be responsible if they failed to take reasonable steps to protect players. This could include allowing unsafe playing conditions, failing to carry out proper risk assessments, or not maintaining equipment. Clubs owe a duty of care to members and participants, particularly in amateur and youth sport.

Coaches And Trainers

Coaches and trainers have a responsibility to provide proper instruction, supervision and safe training methods. If a coach encourages dangerous play, ignores medical advice, or fails to match players appropriately by age, size or ability, they could potentially be liable for resulting injuries.

Referees And Officials

Match officials are expected to enforce the rules of the game. If a referee fails to act on dangerous conduct or allows play to continue in unsafe conditions, questions may arise about whether they contributed to the injury. However, claims against referees can be complex and will depend on the circumstances.

Other Players

Participants generally accept the ordinary risks of a sport. However, if another player acts recklessly or deliberately causes harm outside the normal rules and expectations of the game, they may be personally liable. For example, a serious foul committed with intent to injure could go beyond what is considered acceptable contact.

Facility Owners And Occupiers

The owner or operator of a sports venue, such as a gym, leisure centre or stadium, has a duty to ensure the premises are reasonably safe. This may include maintaining pitches, securing goalposts, repairing damaged flooring, and providing adequate lighting. If unsafe premises contributed to the accident, the occupier could be held responsible.

Schools, Colleges And Universities

Educational institutions organising sporting activities must safeguard students. If there is inadequate supervision, poorly maintained equipment, or failure to respond appropriately to medical concerns, the school or college may be accountable for the injury.

Event Organisers

For tournaments or organised events, the organiser may bear responsibility for planning, safety procedures, emergency arrangements and crowd control. A failure in event management could result in liability if someone is injured.

Employers

If a sports injury occurs during work related activity, such as team building events or professional sport, an employer may be responsible under health and safety law. Employers must take reasonable steps to protect staff from foreseeable harm.

A solicitor from our panel could help with liability claims against a council, individual, or other organisation.

Sports Injury Claims Examples

Examples of sports injury claims include those arising from someone else’s negligence, such as where a sports centre, club, coach, referee, or the occupier of a sports venue fails to ensure your reasonable safety, leading to you being injured. Personal injury claims may be made for circumstances outside the normal and acceptable risk of participating in a particular activity, such as horse riding.

Sports injury compensation claims could be brought by amateur or professional athletes as well as by spectators.

Athlete Sport Injury Examples

Athlete sport injury claims you could make include:

• Equipment Failures: where equipment, such as a hockey stick, provided by your sports club is poorly maintained. The stick snaps during a game causing eye injuries due to splinters as well as lacerations.
• Dangerous ground conditions: a sports venue ignores known defects in playing surfaces, allowing a match to go ahead. A player trips and falls on a defect, suffering a broken ankle.
• Coaching or referee failures: a coach, referee, or other responsible party fails to stop overly aggressive and dangerous play, despite signs of injury. Such as where a rugby player repeatedly engages in dangerous tackles of opposing players, causing a torn achilles tendon.
• Reckless behaviour/ assault: where a participant in a combat or contact sport goes beyond acceptable rules, such using an illegal tackle or move which is known to cause severe injury to an athlete.
• Inadequate supervision: such as where a horse riding club gives you an ill-tempered horse which is unsuitable for your experience level. The horse throws you, causing back and neck injuries.

Examples Of Sport Spectator Injuries

Examples of spectator injuries you could make a claim for include:

• Inadequate crowd control: such as poor management of crowd flow, insufficient risk assessments, broken or damaged facilities, or the failure to provide sufficient (adequately trained) staff to manage spectators. This could result in surges causing crush injuries.
• Broken and damaged facilities: this can include stairs, railings, safety barriers and other facilities. For example, a broken safety barrier could give way under pressure from a spectator, causing them to fall from a height and suffer broken bones.
• Poor safety measures: such as a lack of netting or screens to prevent a puck striking a spectator at an ice hockey match. A spectator could suffer broken facial bones if struck.

Get in touch with an advisor for help and information on making sports injury claims.

Which Sports Are Injury Claims Commonly Made For?

Sports accident and injury claims may be made for those involving higher risks of danger, such as combat and contact sports, horse riding, sailing, high speeds, and high impacts. These sports can include (but are not limited to):

• Combat sports – where participants are not properly supervised or instructed, or where a fight is not stopped, despite clear signs of serious injury.
• Football – where negligent refereeing, coaching, training, pitch maintenance, or otherwise poor facilities could result in avoidable accidents.
• Rugby – where unsafe scrum techniques, illegal tackles, or poor supervision could cause injuries.
• Horse riding – where faulty equipment, insufficient instruction, or an ill matched horse could result in accidents.
• Gym accidents – where an instructor pushes a client beyond reasonable safety limits, causing a torn ligament.
• Skiing and mountain sports – where improper or defective equipment (such as broken skis) is supplied to a participant, who subsequently falls shattering their femur.
• Motorsport accidents – a motorsport vehicle is not properly maintained. The brakes fail at a crucial point on a track, causing the vehicle to collide with a safety barrier, leaving the driver with neck injuries.

Spectators could also sustain avoidable injuries in many of these sports. A solicitor from our panel could help you to make a claim on a No Win No Fee basis.

What Injuries Can Be Caused By An Accident During Sports?

Accidents during sports can result in both chronic and acute injuries such as sprains, dislocations, bone fractures, concussions, and other soft tissue injuries. Injuries can affect the bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons, and organs (such as the brain).

Injuries you could claim for may include:

• Brain and head injuries – including concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
• Serious spine injuries – spinal cord and nerve root damage.
• Broken or fractured bones – including skull fractures.
• Knee injuries – such as torn tendons or ligaments.
• Ankle injuries – affecting the bone or soft tissues.
• Achilles tendon injuries – such as tears.
• Lacerations, cuts, and similar wounds.
• Facial injuries – including broken bones or soft tissue injuries.

If your injuries are not listed here, don’t worry, these are just some examples of those you could claim for. Get support from our advisors with your case.

How Much Sport Injury Compensation Could I Claim?

How much compensation you could claim for a sports injury could vary significantly depending on the type of injury sustained, its severity, and whether it caused any financial losses. For example, a severe neck injury leading to (permanent) spastic quadriparesis could be awarded around £181,020. This figure, and those in our table (excluding the top row), are taken from the Judicial College Guidelines. This resource contains compensation brackets for different injuries and may be used by legal professionals when valuing claimants’ pain and suffering.
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Injuries	Notes	Damages.
Multiple severe injuries & special damages for lost earnings, medical & care expenses.	For multiple injuries and special damages.	Up to £1,000,000+
Tetraplegia - paralysis	Degree of pain, awareness of disability and other factors affect compensation.	£396,140 to £493,000.
Very severe brain damage.	Person may be able to open their eyes and follow some basic commands.	£344,150 to £493,000.
Severe back injuries.	The most severe injuries with spinal cord/ nerve root damage.	£111,150 to £196,450
Chest injuries.	The worst injuries, such as the removal of a lung.	£122,850 to £183,190.
Severe neck injuries.	Associated with incomplete paraplegia or spasic quadriparesis.	Around £181,020.
Severe pelvic injuries.	Involving extensive fractures and the dislocation of the lower back + ruptured bladder.	£95,680 to £159,770.
Severe shoulder injuries.	May be associated with neck injuries and brachial plexus damage.	£23,430 to £58,610.
Wrist injuries	Significant and permanent disability, but with some useful movement.	£29.900 to £47,810.
Minor achilles tendon injuries.	Where there is some tendon damage.	£8,870 to £15,370.

Special Damages In Sports Injury Claims

Special damages in sports injury claims could compensate for medical care for your injuries, income lost due to time off work, and therapeutic services. You could claim for:

• Medical bills.
• Care costs.
• The cost of therapy.
• The cost of adapting your home.
• Income lost due to time off work.

In order to recover any expenses, you will need to submit documented proof. For example, if you hired a cleaner while you recovered from an ankle fracture, you will need to submit invoices. Other items that can prove your costs include receipts (such as for prescription painkillers), bank statements and your wage slips.

A solicitor from our panel could assess the value of your claim. Please contact an advisor for help.

What Will I Need To Prove Fault For A Sport Injury?

To prove fault for a sports injury you will need evidence such as records of medical treatment, details of witnesses, and photos of visible injuries or hazards. When safe to do so, you could collect:

• A copy of your medical records.
• Photos of visible injuries and hazards.
• Witness contact information.
• CCTV footage.
• A diary detailing your symptoms and their effect on you.

You can read more about the evidence needed for a personal injury claim here or contact an advisor for further help.

How Long After Sustaining A Sport Injury Can I Claim?

You have 3 years after sustaining a sports injury to start a compensation claim. The compensation claims time limit typically begins on the date the accident occurred and is set by the Limitation Act 1980.

You can learn more about the time limit which may apply to your claim as well as when exceptions may be made by reading our dedicated guide. Contact us to learn more about sporting accident claims.

Why Choose Legal Helpline To Claim For Sport Injuries?

An advisor from Legal Helpline could explain the claims process and connect you to a solicitor from our panel who could help you to seek compensation for sports injuries. The solicitors on our panel are experts in personal injury claims and could:

• Organise an independent medical assessment of your sports injury.
• Connect you to support and therapy services.
• Contact witnesses.
• Collect evidence.
• File your claim within the applicable time limit.

Our panel of solicitors includes those with experience in helping people successfully claim compensation for a variety of sporting and leisure activity accidents. Find out how a solicitor could help you by phoning our advisors today.

Sport Injury Claims On A No Win No Fee Basis

A solicitor from our panel could help you to make a sports injury claim on a No Win No Fee basis, with no fees for their work upfront, during the claims process, or if you lose your claim. All of the solicitors making up our panel could provide their services on a No Win No Fee basis using a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

By funding legal representation in this way, a small success fee will be taken from your compensation if your sports injury claim proves successful. If it is, the solicitor will deduct a pre-agreed and legally capped percentage of your compensation. This ensures that you get to keep the majority of your sports injury compensation.

Contact Our Team To Make A Claim

Contact our team to make a sports injury compensation claim.

• Phone 0333 000 0729.
• Tell us what happened over our live chat.
• Contact us online.

More Information

More information on personal injury compensation claims.

• Learn more about gym injury claims here.
• View our brain injury claims guide.
• See our neck injury claims guide.

References.

• Information on injury and illness from UK Sport.
• Health information on sprains, strains, and sports injuries from the NHS.
• Guidance on running amateur sports clubs published by the Health and Safety Executive.

Please contact us to discuss sports injury claims and to see how a solicitor from our panel could help you.