If you’re looking for information about making a serious head injury claim, this guide will help you. It takes you through the eligibility criteria and how a serious injury to the head could occur. Additionally, you’ll find out about gathering evidence to support a serious head injury claim, as well as how compensation is calculated for this kind of injury.
Serious head injury claim guide
There is also information on the benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor. A lawyer from our panel could assist you with your claim if it’s valid. To find out more about this, and about serious head injury claims in general, read on. You can also get in touch with us at any time; we’ve included some ways of doing so below:
- Call on 0161 696 9685
- Contact us through our website
- Use the chat window in the corner
Select A Section
- Check If You Are Eligible To Make a Serious Head Injury Claim
- What Accidents Could Cause Serious Head Injuries?
- How Do You Prove What Caused Your Head Injuries?
- Examples Of Payouts For A Serious Head Injury Claim
- Start Your Head Injury Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis
Check If You Are Eligible To Make a Serious Head Injury Claim
In order to be eligible to make a serious head injury claim, you need to have been owed a duty of care which was breached, causing you to be injured. You could be owed a duty of care by various parties depending on the circumstances. However, some examples can include:
- Your employer
- Another road user
- Those responsible for public places
They all must uphold their duty of care. If they fail to do so, then this is known as them breaching their duty of care. However, a breach of a duty of care does not necessarily mean you can make a claim.
In order to make a personal injury claim, the breach of a duty of care needs to have caused you an injury. For instance, this could take the form of a fractured skull or cranial injury. If you are not injured as a result of a breach of a duty of care, you cannot make a personal injury claim.
How Long After Suffering A Serious Head Injury Could You Claim?
You generally have 3 years from the date of the injury to begin the process of making a serious head injury claim. This is stated in the Limitation Act 1980. However, there can be exceptions. One that can be especially relevant to a serious head injury claim is if the claimant lacks the mental capacity to claim for themselves.
In this instance, the personal injury time limit is suspended. It only begins if the claimant becomes capable of claiming for themselves. A litigation friend could claim on behalf of someone who is unable to do so while the time limit is suspended.
Get in touch for information on other exceptions to this time limit. Our advisors could assess whether you have a valid claim and, if so, whether you’re still within the relevant time limit for beginning a claim.
What Accidents Could Cause Serious Head Injuries?
A serious head injury claim could be valid after an accident in various scenarios. We’ve included some examples and context for these kinds of claims in the sections below.
Eligibility To Claim For An Accident At Work
Your employer owes you a duty of care, as stated in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They must take all reasonably practicable steps to make sure injuries to their employees are prevented.
If your employer does not provide you with adequate and necessary protective equipment, for example, then this is a breach of a duty of care. In the context of a construction role, you may need to wear a hard hat due to the risk of being hit in the head by falling debris. If you aren’t supplied with one and are injured as a result, then this could be grounds for a personal injury claim.
Eligibility To Claim For An Accident In A Public Place
The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 states that those responsible for a public space owe a duty of care to those using it for its intended purpose. The occupier must ensure the reasonable safety of visitors to the space.
A public park is an example of this. There could be an unsafe walkway due to it being damaged, and not being repaired within a reasonable timeframe. This could cause a visitor to fall and injure themselves. They could hit their head on the ground as they fall. If the occupier (such as the local council) would have been negligent, the injured party could be able to make a public liability claim.
Eligibility To Make Road Traffic Accident Claim
All road users owe a duty of care to one another. They can uphold this duty by following the guidelines and rules in The Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act 1988. Road users with the greatest potential to cause harm have a greater responsibility towards more vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, who are most likely to sustain injuries if an accident occurs.
If a driver is exceeding the speed limit, then this is a breach of their duty of care. Doing so could result in a collision, causing serious injury to the head, broken teeth, and other parts of the body. This could form the basis of a compensation claim.
Speak with an advisor from our team today if you’d like advice about the process of claiming for a serious head injury. You could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor if your claim is valid.
How Do You Prove What Caused Your Head Injuries?
You should consider collecting evidence to support a serious head claim. The process of gathering evidence is just one of the tasks a solicitor could assist you with.
We’ve provided a list below of forms of evidence that can be useful when making a claim. However, the list is not exhaustive.
- CCTV footage/dashcam footage.
- Your medical records.
- Photographs.
- A personal diary of the symptoms of your injuries and how they have affected you.
- Workplace accident book.
- Witness contact details so that they can be approached for a statement at a later date.
Get in touch today if you need more information or examples of evidence you could gather to support a serious head injury claim.
Examples Of Payouts For A Serious Head Injury Claim
In this section, we look at figures taken from the latest edition of a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), updated in 2022. Along with medical evidence, the JCG is used by legal professionals when they’re calculating a head of claim known as general damages.
A general damages payment is to account for the pain and suffering caused by your injuries. Because every claim is unique, the amount is different on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, the figures shown should be used as a rough guide only.
| Injury | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Head Injury With Other Injuries Plus Special Damages | A severe head injury with other serious injuries, with compensation also being awarded for special damages. | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Quadriplegia (a) | Paralysis to all four limbs. The award will take into account factors such as life expectancy, physical pain and level of awareness. | £324,600 to £403,990 |
| Paraplegia (b) | Paralysis to the lower body. The award will take into account factors such as life expectancy, physical pain, level of awareness, and whether there's a risk of the level of paralysis increasing. | £219,070 to £284,260 |
| Brain damage | (a) Very Severe - There will be little or no response to environment and some ability to follow commands of a basic nature. Full time nursing care will be required. | £282,010 to £403,990 |
| Brain damage | (b) Moderately Severe - Substantial dependence on others and with a need for ongoing professional care. Issues may include cognitive disabilities and limb paralysis. | £219,070 to £282,010 |
| Brain damage | (c) Moderate (i) - Personality change, as well as other effects such as moderate to severe intellectual deficit and a significant risk of epilepsy. | £150,110 to £219,070 |
| Brain damage | (c) Moderate (ii) - Some risk of epilsepy, as well as a greatly reduced ability to work. Intellectual deficit will be moderate to modest. | £90,720 to £150,110. |
| Loss of earnings | You could be awarded compensation to account for the fact that you were unable to work and lost out on earnings as a result. | Up to £100,000 and above |
A serious head injury claim could also include special damages. This head acts as reimbursement for costs and losses that you can prove you incurred due to your injuries.
Examples include:
- Prescription costs.
- Loss of earnings, including future losses.
- Travel costs.
- Additional care at home.
Get a tailored valuation of your overall claim by getting in touch with our advisors today.
Start Your Head Injury Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis
By getting in touch with our advisors today, we could put you in touch with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel. There are many benefits to working with a solicitor. Not only can they help with gathering evidence, but they can also give you an idea of how much you could receive if your case is a success, as well as provide you with help and guidance during the process.
The No Win No Fee terms that the lawyers on our panel work under is known as a Condition Fee Agreement (CFA). This means you don’t need to pay them upfront or any ongoing fees in order to access their legal services. Instead, they take a success fee from your settlement if your claim succeeds. If it doesn’t succeed, then your lawyer does not take this success fee from you.
Contact Our Team
- Call on 0161 696 9685
- Contact us through our website
- Use the chat window in the corner
Speak to us today if you have any questions about making a serious head injury claim. You can always reach us, regardless of the time of day or night. We are here and ready to help.
Learn More About Serious Injury Claims
Now that you know more about making a serious head injury claim, maybe you’d like some information on similar and related topics. We’ve included some links to additional resources below.
More of our guides:
Information from other sources:
- Head injury and concussion – An NHS guide.
- Severe head injury – More information from the NHS.
- About brain injury – From brain injury charity Headway
Written by DB
Edited by FS