No Win, No FeeIt is a fact of life that accidents happen and often results in fractured/broken bones. In some cases, these breaks and fractures can be painful initially but be nothing more than irritating while you recover from them. In other cases, they can lead to life-long pain and suffering if they don’t heal correctly.
Some accidents cannot be avoided and there’s little you can do about them. However, if you’ve broken a bone because of someone else’s negligence, you could be entitled to compensation. This article will explain the process of making a fractured/broken bones claim.
If you’d like help starting a claim, we’re ready to support you. One of our advisors will review your claim for free and explain your legal options. If your claim appears to have a reasonable chance of success, you could be directed to one of our personal injury lawyers. They specialise in injury claims and will represent you on a No Win, No Fee basis if your claim is accepted. That means there’s no need to pay them before they start working on your claim. As a result, you should find the process much less stressful.
Are you ready to claim compensation for a broken or fractured bone today? If so, please call us on 0800 652 1345. Otherwise, please read on to find out more about personal injury claims relating to broken bones.
Types of bone fractures you could claim compensation for
Firstly, it’s important to point out that the terms broken bones and fractured bones are interchangeable. However, there are several different types of fractures or breaks that can occur. The main types include:
- Closed fractures. Where the bone breaks but the surface of the skin is not cut.
- Open fractures. Here the bone will push through the skin when broken. There is more of a risk here because you could suffer an infection.
- Transverse fractures – the fracture is straight across the bone.
- Oblique fractures – here the fracture splits a bone diagonally.
- Spiral fractures – these fractures traverse around the bone.
- Comminuted fractures – where the bone is shattered into several pieces.
- Impacted fractures – where the bone is shortened as two parts are driven together.
- Greenstick fractures – these only affect children and are where softer bones crack on one side.
Other names may be used by doctors to describe your broken bone but, whatever type of fracture you’ve suffered, compensation could be sought if your injury was caused by someone else.
Can I claim compensation for a broken bone?
If you decide to ask a personal injury solicitor to help you claim compensation for a broken bone, they’ll review your case with you before accepting it. They’ll usually be trying to determine whether:
- You were owed a duty of care by the defendant; and
- Their negligence meant they breached that duty of care; and
- As a result, you broke a bone.
Different legislation like the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 or the Road Traffic Act 1988 can be used to establish a legal duty of care. You won’t need to research this as it’s something your solicitor will check before your claim is taken on.
As such, your main responsibility during a broken bone claim is to provide evidence. This will need to show who caused your accident, how it happened and the injuries you sustained. We’ll provide more information on this shortly.
What types of accidents cause broken bones and compensation claims?
Some examples of when you could claim compensation for broken bones include:
- Sporting accidents. Where you broke your foot because of an unsafe playing surface.
- Road traffic accidents. If you fractured your wrist after another car collided with you.
- Playground accidents. If your child suffered a skull fracture after falling from broken playground equipment.
- Slips, trips and falls. Where your knee was broken after tripping over cables trailed across a corridor.
- Holiday accidents. If you break your arm falling over luggage in a hotel foyer.
- Accidents at work. If you fracture a limb after it was crushed by faulty machinery.
- Bicycle courier accidents. Where you were knocked off your bike and fractured your vertebrae.
- Accidents in shops. If your toes were broken because a mirror fell from the wall.
- Gym accidents. If you trip and break a bone because free weights hadn’t been put back into the right place.
Again, the type of accident that led to a broken bone doesn’t really matter. So long as the accident was not your fault, we could help you to make a compensation claim.
Broken bones commonly seen in compensation claims
Our solicitors can help with any type of fractured or broken bone claims. We won’t list every example here but some of the more common broken bones and fractures that compensation is claimed for include:
- Broken elbow.
- Skull fractures.
- Broken knees.
- Fractured vertebrae.
- Broken hands or feet.
- Fracture collarbone.
- Broken tailbone (coccyx).
If you believe you’re broken bone was caused by someone else’s negligence, get in touch on 0800 652 1345 to discuss your options for free.
How fractured bones are treated
One of the main factors used to calculate broken bone compensation is how the injury affects you. While there will always be initial pain caused by a bone fracture, this can ease if the injury is treated quickly. This might involve manipulation of the bone by a doctor to allow it to heal properly.
In some cases, bone fractures are dealt with by slings or splints while others need extensive surgery that involves plates, pins and screws to hold the pieces of bone in place.
In these cases, the victim may never fully recover and might suffer ongoing pain or disability for the rest of their life. The risk of further complications like osteoarthritis might increase following a broken bone. As a result, the value of any compensation paid could be increased to account for these complications.
How much compensation for a broken bone?
How much compensation for a broken bone you’d receive is usually based on your injuries (general damages) and any associated costs (special damages). Personal injury compensation aims to try and put you back to the position you were in prior to the break/fracture happening. As such, you could base your settlement amount on some or all of the following:
- The pain you endured and the suffering caused by your injuries.
- Any loss of amenity. For example, you might be able to claim if you couldn’t participate in your regular dance lessons because of a broken leg.
- The income you’ve lost or are going to lose in the future because of your broken bone.
- Travel expenses (for hospital visits etc).
- Mobility aids or changes to your property to help you cope with long-term injuries.
- Medical and rehabilitation costs.
- The cost of hiring a carer or a value for the time a partner or family member looked after you.
As you can only make a single claim, it’s important that you consider everything before submitting your claim. Our team of solicitors have dealt with broken bone claims for over 30-years so know what to include to try and secure the maximum level of compensation to help you recover. Please call today to see if they could help you.
Providing proof for fractured/broken bone compensation claims
When you decide to claim compensation against someone who you blame for injuring you, they are likely to ask their insurance company to deal with the claim. The claims process is no different but you won’t be compensated without proving exactly how the defendant caused your broken bones and the full extent of the injuries. To do this, you’ll need to supply proof. This could include:
- Accident report forms. Most accidents in public places or on business property need to be recorded in something like an accident report book. You should be given a copy of the report. It could be used as part of your claim to prove when and where you were injured.
- Witness statements. If anyone else saw your accident occur, it’s a good idea to take their contact details from them. If your solicitor needs to clarify what happened, they could ask them to provide a statement of events as they remember them.
- Medical information. If you’ve broken a bone, you’ll need to have your injury assessed and treated in hospital. At a later date, you or your solicitor could ask for a copy of the relevant medical notes to help prove what injuries you sustained.
- Photographic proof. If you are able to do so, we would recommend that you take pictures (safely) of the accident scene on your phone. These should try to capture the root cause of the accident before anything is removed from the scene.
- Video recordings. Similarly, CCTV or dashcam footage for a car accident claim etc could also be used to explain how you were injured. As such, if it’s available, try to secure a copy as quickly as possible.
- Medical assessments. As well as your hospital records, you’ll need an independent medical assessment as part of your claim. This will be booked locally, where possible, by your solicitor. After the assessment, a report will be sent by a medical expert to explain your injuries and offer a prognosis.
Finally, you might find it easier to recall how your broken bone has affected you if you keep a diary. This could show when you had to miss family events, when you weren’t able to work and expenses you had to cover because of your break.
How long do I have to claim compensation for a broken bone?
Legally, all personal injury claims in the UK have a time limit. For broken bone claims, this is usually 3-years from the date of your accident. Although that is quite a while, we suggest that you begin your claim swiftly because:
- Your solicitor needs time to collect medical reports and supporting evidence.
- You should find it easier to recall how you’ve been affected.
- You might be able to request that the cost of private medical treatment be covered by an interim payment.
If your child has suffered a broken or fractured bone, you won’t need to worry about the time limit as much. As their litigation friend, you could claim on their behalf at any time before their 18th birthday.
No Win, No Fee broken bone claims
If you decide to claim compensation for broken bones with one of our solicitors, you won’t need to pay them upfront. That’s because they provide a No Win, No Fee service for all claims they work on. As a result, you’ll only have to pay for their work if you are paid compensation.
You’ll be sent a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) if your case is accepted to formalise everything. This will set out the work your solicitor will do and the success fee payable if your case is won.
The success fee is a percentage of your settlement amount. Your solicitor will deduct it before you’re paid to cover the cost of their work. Legally, it cannot exceed 25% of your settlement when funding your case with a CFA.
Start a broken bone compensation claim today
The easiest way to begin a broken bone injury claim is to call our advice centre on 0800 652 1345 today. During your call, you’ll be given free legal advice about your options after your case has been reviewed.
Remember, if your claim is accepted, we’ll appoint one of our No Win, No Fee solicitors to it and everything will be handled remotely (via email, telephone and in writing).
Thanks for reading our article on fractured and broken bones claims and please use live chat to contact us with any further questions, or arrange a callback here.
