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Living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a distressing event can unsettle your confidence and sense of safety long after the immediate danger has passed. If the condition developed because another person or organisation failed to take reasonable steps to protect you from foreseeable harm, you could be eligible to make a PTSD claim for personal injury compensation. Making sense of how the incident and the psychological harm that followed fit into a compensation claim is not something you should have to face alone, which is why Legal Helpline’s panel of experienced solicitors can guide you through your options.
Our panel can take the legal weight of the claim off your shoulders while keeping the thread between what happened and the way PTSD has continued to affect your life. Their role is to stay with you through that process, taking the time to understand what you have been through so that each stage is explained and you know what is happening with your claim. Our friendly advisors are here to listen without judgement, so please contact them today for a free, confidential consultation to discuss your situation and find out whether you could make a claim.
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- Can I Claim Compensation For PTSD?
- What Types Of Accidents Or Incidents Could Cause PTSD?
- How Much Compensation Could I Receive For A PTSD Claim?
- What Evidence Could Help Prove A PTSD Compensation Claim?
- How Legal Helpline Can Support Your PTSD Claim
- Can I Make A PTSD Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- More Information
Can I Claim Compensation For PTSD?
Yes, you can claim compensation for PTSD if the condition was caused by another person or organisation failing to take reasonable steps to protect you. To establish your eligibility, you will need to demonstrate that:
- You were owed a duty of care: This means another person or organisation had a legal responsibility for your safety when the incident that led to your PTSD occurred. For instance, your employer is legally obligated to take reasonable steps to ensure your health and safety at work.
- That duty was breached: Breaches occur when those responsibilities are not met, such as an employer continuing to place someone in close contact with a colleague who had made repeated violent threats, or a venue operator failing to close off an unsafe area after a serious hazard had been identified.
- The failure caused your PTSD: You developed a medically recognised psychological injury as a result of the failure to protect you from harm. Medical records and an independent psychiatric assessment can help establish your diagnosis and assess its connection to what happened.
Can I Claim For PTSD Without A Physical Injury?
Yes, you can claim for PTSD without a physical injury if someone else negligently caused the condition. Different legal rules apply to primary victims directly involved in an incident and secondary victims who develop PTSD after witnessing harm to another person. Secondary victim claims face stricter requirements, which can include a close relationship with the person harmed and direct perception of the traumatic event.
Can I Claim If I Already Had PTSD?
Yes, you can claim if you already had a PTSD diagnosis and another person or organisation’s negligent actions significantly worsened your symptoms. The deterioration must be attributable to the event rather than changes that would have occurred regardless.
Compensation would reflect the worsening caused by that event, rather than symptoms you would have experienced anyway. Medical evidence can help establish whether your PTSD became more severe or your recovery was prolonged.
Our advisors can connect you with a specialist solicitor from our panel who can review your circumstances and explain whether you have grounds to claim.
What Types Of Accidents Or Incidents Could Cause PTSD?
The types of accidents or incidents that could cause PTSD include collisions on the road and traumatic events at work or in public places. How the traumatic event occurred will determine who may be responsible and which route to compensation is appropriate.
PTSD Following An Accident At Work
Inadequate workplace safety measures can expose employees to traumatic accidents that leave them with PTSD. Employers must take reasonable steps to protect their employees’ health and safety, and failures to do so that lead to injury can be grounds for an accident at work claim.
- During your factory shift, you suffered a serious injury when your arm became caught in an unguarded machine, and the experience left you struggling with PTSD.
PTSD Following An Accident In A Public Place
Occupiers must take practical steps to ensure the reasonable safety of visitors, including addressing dangerous defects that could cause serious accidents. Public liability claims for serious psychiatric distress could be made not only by those harmed in the accident, but also by other visitors who witnessed serious injuries occur.
- A section of ceiling collapsed near other shoppers during your visit to a shopping centre because a serious structural defect had been left unrepaired, leaving you distressed by what you witnessed and subsequently diagnosed with PTSD.
PTSD Following A Road Traffic Accident
Road users, including motorists and pedestrians, can experience lasting psychological injuries after road traffic accidents caused by another road user’s careless or dangerous driving.
- You developed PTSD after another driver ran a red light and crashed into your car, leaving you trapped inside the damaged vehicle until emergency services rescued you.
PTSD Following A Criminal Injury
Serious physical assaults and other violent crimes can have lasting effects on a victim’s mental health. Eligible victims may seek compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), which has different eligibility requirements and compensation arrangements from civil personal injury claims. These are explained in full in our dedicated guide to criminal injury compensation.
As an example, you could experience a serious assault at work and be left with severe psychological distress affecting your ability to return, as well as the physical injuries.
PTSD Caused By Medical Negligence
An avoidable medical error can expose a patient to a traumatic emergency and cause PTSD. However, an upsetting treatment experience or an unsuccessful outcome does not automatically establish medical negligence.
- You developed PTSD after a surgeon accidentally severed a major blood vessel while operating outside the intended surgical area, triggering a life-threatening emergency and a difficult recovery.
What Are The Symptoms And Long-Term Effects Of PTSD?
The symptoms and long-term effects of PTSD may include intrusive memories and avoidance of reminders connected with the incident. Specific symptoms that may affect you include:
- Flashbacks and intrusive memories: Distressing memories may return unexpectedly, while flashbacks can make you feel as though you are reliving the traumatic event.
- Nightmares and disturbed sleep: Recurring nightmares can leave you exhausted, making it harder to concentrate at work or manage your daily routine.
- Hypervigilance: Being constantly alert to potential danger can prevent you from feeling relaxed or safe, even in familiar surroundings.
When assessing compensation for PTSD, the severity and duration of your symptoms are considered alongside their impact on daily life. You can discuss your own experience in confidence and explore your options for claiming by contacting our advisors today.
How Much Compensation Could I Receive For A PTSD Claim?
The amount of compensation you could receive for a PTSD claim depends on the severity of your psychological injury, its long-term effects and any financial losses you have suffered. PTSD compensation payouts are assessed individually and can include 2 heads of loss:
- General damages: Compensate for the psychological harm caused by PTSD and its impact on your quality of life. The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) publish indicative compensation brackets that solicitors may use alongside medical evidence to value these damages.
- Special damages: Compensate for financial losses resulting from your PTSD, provided they can be supported by appropriate evidence.
The compensation table below contains guideline figures from the JCG for different levels of PTSD severity. These amounts are intended as guidance rather than guaranteed payouts, and your final settlement will depend on your individual circumstances.
Compensation Table
The top entry in this table was not taken from the JCG.
| Injury Type and Severity | Guideline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Forms of Very Severe Harm With Financial Losses | Up to £250,000+ | Several very serious forms of harm with financial losses, including lost pay, therapy expenses, and the cost of medication prescriptions. |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Severe | £79,080 to £133,000 | Permanent symptoms prevent the injured person from functioning at or near their pre-trauma level. |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Moderately Severe | £30,580 to £79,080 | Some recovery is expected with professional treatment, although significant disability is likely to remain for the foreseeable future. |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Moderate | £10,810 to £30,580 | The injured person has largely recovered and any continuing symptoms are no longer grossly disabling. |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Less Severe | £5,220 to £10,810 | A near full recovery is made within 1-2 years, with only minor symptoms continuing thereafter. |
What Financial Losses Could PTSD Compensation Cover?
The financial losses that PTSD compensation could cover may include lost earnings and therapy bills. Any losses claimed will need to stem from the condition and be supported by evidence, with compensation potentially accounting for:
- Past and future loss of earnings: PTSD may keep you away from work or make returning to the same role difficult where sounds or smells at work bring the incident sharply back to mind. Compensation can reflect income already lost and any continuing reduction in your earning capacity.
- Counselling and psychological treatment: Private therapy can become an important part of recovery when symptoms continue to intrude on everyday life, and the claim may cover both sessions you have already paid for and further treatment recommended to manage the condition.
- Care and travel expenses: Flashbacks or heightened anxiety can make travelling alone or being left by yourself much harder than they were before, leaving you more reliant on others. Support from loved ones and paid carers can both be valued, while reasonable travel costs for therapy or psychiatric appointments may also be recoverable.
Can I Claim For PTSD And Physical Injuries Together?
Yes, you can claim for PTSD and physical injuries together if both resulted from the same incident and were caused by someone else’s negligent actions. Medical evidence can establish the severity of both injuries and identify any overlapping consequences. A solicitor can use these findings to calculate compensation without counting the same effects twice. Contact our advice team for a free eligibility check today to learn more.
What Evidence Could Help Prove A PTSD Compensation Claim?
Medical records and incident reports are common kinds of evidence that could help prove a PTSD compensation claim. Some of that material may have been created at the time of the traumatic event, while other records can gradually reveal how psychological symptoms developed in the weeks or months that followed, including:
- Mental health and treatment records: Notes from psychological therapy or psychiatric care can show how serious your trauma-related symptoms became and whether they persisted over time. They may also capture features such as intrusive recollections or avoidance, giving a clearer picture of how PTSD has affected you.
- Incident reports: Details recorded soon after the traumatic event can preserve a clearer account of what happened, which may be valuable if PTSD later makes revisiting the experience distressing. Workplace accident book entries and similar records may preserve those early details, while police documentation can add further factual context where officers were involved.
- Witness contact details: If someone saw the incident, their contact information can allow your solicitor to obtain an account of what happened. Those who knew you beforehand may also be able to describe changes they noticed afterwards, and whether reminders or places connected with the event began to affect how you reacted.
How Long Do I Have To Start A PTSD Claim?
You generally have 3 years to start a PTSD claim, from the date of the incident that led to the condition. The Limitation Act 1980 sets this timeframe, but there are exceptions. Given that, it is important to seek advice about the limitation period that might apply to your situation.
Preparing a claim for PTSD can feel overwhelming when you are already managing its effects. Legal Helpline can connect you with a specialist solicitor from our panel who can manage the process on your behalf, so please reach out today to learn more.
How Legal Helpline Can Support Your PTSD Claim
Legal Helpline can support your PTSD claim by connecting you with a specialist solicitor from our panel who can take control of the legal work while keeping your needs and recovery at the centre of the process. If you have a valid claim, they can:
- Arrange an independent psychiatric assessment: Questions about whether your symptoms are consistent with PTSD may need a different focus from those involving an existing condition that was said to have worsened after the incident. Your solicitor can identify a psychiatric expert suited to the issues at the heart of the claim and arrange an assessment on your behalf.
- Challenge disputes about the cause of your PTSD: Symptoms may develop unevenly, which can leave room for disagreement about what caused the condition or whether an existing problem became worse. If the defendant’s legal representatives challenge that link, your solicitor can draw on the available records and expert evidence to address the points raised.
- Keeping the long-term impact of PTSD in view: As settlement discussions turn towards value, your solicitor can keep the longer-term reality of PTSD central, from work you have had to reduce or leave behind to the therapy still needed to make everyday life easier to manage.
Talking about what happened should not mean having to navigate the claims process yourself. Our friendly advisors are available for a free, confidential conversation and can help you access specialist legal assistance suited to your circumstances.
Can I Make A PTSD Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Yes, you can make a PTSD claim on a No Win No Fee basis if a solicitor from Legal Helpline’s panel agrees to represent you under a Conditional Fee Agreement. This type of contract allows you to access legal representation with no solicitor service fees to get the claim underway or while proceedings move forward. You also would not pay those fees if your claim is unsuccessful.
Your solicitor will deduct an agreed success fee from your compensation, taken as a percentage legally capped under The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013.
Contact Legal Helpline About A PTSD Claim
Deciding whether to pursue compensation after a traumatic experience is a significant step, and having someone listen to your circumstances can make that decision easier. Our advisors will approach your enquiry with understanding and explain whether you may have grounds to claim. You can contact them at any time for a free, confidential consultation about your PTSD claim.
More Information
More of our personal injury claims guides can be found here:
- Find out more about making manual handling claims with our panel of expert solicitors.
- Read our head injury claims page and learn more about making a claim.
- Learn when you could make claims against the council following an accident.
We have also provided these further resources:
- Access mental health information and support from MIND.
- The NHS have published guidance on stress, including symptoms and causes.
- You have the right to request CCTV footage of yourself following an accident. Find out how to do this on the government website.
For more information on making a PTSD claim or a free eligibility check, contact our dedicated advice team today.