No Win, No FeeAny injury affecting one of your senses can be very stressful and make it difficult for you to function. That’s true of ear injuries that lead to partial or complete deafness or conditions such as tinnitus. If you’ve suffered an ear injury because of someone else’s negligence, you could be eligible for a compensation payout. This guide on ear injury compensation claims will explain how the claims process works and the types of ear injuries that could be claimed for.
A personal injury solicitor on our panel can help if you’re considering claiming. Firstly, your claim will be reviewed by an advisor on a no-obligation basis who’ll provide free advice about your potential next steps. If the claim is accepted by one of our personal injury lawyers and you decide to proceed, you’ll receive expert representation on a No Win, No Fee basis. As a result, you’ll only need to pay legal fees if your claim is won.
Please call us on 0800 652 1345 to discuss your claim or read on to learn more about ear injury claims.
Types of ear injuries you could claim compensation for
There are a number of different ear injuries that our solicitors could help you to claim compensation for. Some common examples include:
- Perforated ear drum.
- Tinnitus (ringing, buzzing, whistling, humming or hissing noises in the ear).
- Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL).
- Complete or partial ear amputations.
- Lacerations (which sometimes cause scars).
- Industrial deafness.
- Swelling and bruising.
If you’ve suffered any type of ear injury and believe that someone else caused it, please feel free to speak to us about starting a claim.
Can I claim compensation for an ear injury?
An ear injury claim can be tricky to win because not only do you need to prove that someone else was to blame for your injuries but you must prove how severe the injury to your ear is.
We believe that your chances of winning such a claim will improve if you’re represented by one of our personal injury solicitors. Before your claim is accepted, a solicitor will look to see whether:
- The defendant owed you a legal duty of care; and
- An act of negligence by the defendant led to an incident or accident; and
- You sustained an ear injury as a result.
Legal duty of care in ear injury claims
This part of the eligibility criteria listed above sounds more complex than it really is. Generally, if you’re at work, in a public place, on a public highway or on someone else’s premises, you’ll be owed a legal duty of care. This means a company or individual will need to try and keep you as safe as possible. This duty of care is established by laws like the Occupiers Liability Act 1984 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
As part of our free initial consultation, we’ll look at what law is relevant to your claim so you don’t need to be too concerned by that at this stage.
Common accidents that cause ear injuries
Some examples of the types of accidents or incidents that may lead to ear injury compensation claims include:
- Road Traffic Accidents. Smashed glass and sharp metal caused by car collisions can lead to cuts and ear lacerations. Additionally, a blow to the head can result in inner ear injuries.
- Accidents at work. Your employer must try to protect your well-being while you’re working. If they fail to do so and you’re injured at work as a result, you might be entitled to compensation. For example, you could claim if your ear was injured after falling from a damaged ladder.
- Industrial deafness. Employers have a legal duty to try and control exposure to noise in the workplace. If they don’t you could suffer from industrial deafness after prolonged exposure to loud noise or sudden exposure to explosions or other loud noises. You could be entitled to claim if you weren’t given PPE such as ear defenders, your employer didn’t install soundproofing or you couldn’t take rest breaks away from the noisy environment.
- Criminal assault. Being punched on the ear during an assault can cause hearing problems or short-term injuries like a perforated ear drum. While you may not be able to make a personal injury claim, our solicitors could help you to make a criminal injuries claim.
- Sporting injuries. You might think that damaging your ear while participating in a contact sport might just be one of those things. However, if your injury was caused by a reckless opponent, damaged equipment or inadequate control by the match officials, a sports injury claim might be possible.
- Slips, trips and falls. While it’s more common to suffer a broken wrist when falling, ear injuries do sometimes occur. They can happen if you land awkwardly or if you hit something sharp as you fall. If your fall was caused by negligence, you could claim for any subsequent ear injuries. For example, if you slipped, tripped or fell on clutter in a shop and split your ear on shelving, you may be entitled to compensation.
Please call us if you have suffered an ear injury in any type of accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence. Even if it’s not listed here, we’ll review your chances of being compensated for free.
How much compensation do you get for an ear injury?
Any injury to your ear or an ear problem that causes hearing loss or scarring can have a massive impact on you physically, mentally and financially. That means that all of these things should be considered when estimating the value of your claim.
As such, if your claim is won, your settlement could cover:
- Any physical symptoms associated with your ear injury.
- Distress, anxiety, depression and other types of psychological injury.
- Loss of enjoyment of listening to music, watching movies or any of your other normal activities.
- Wages lost if you cannot work.
- Medical expenses, travel costs and care costs.
- Future loss of earnings if your injury prevents you from working in the long term.
- Home adaptations to help you cope with vertigo or similar debilitating symptoms.
If your claim is accepted by one of our solicitors, they’ll work with you to get a full understanding of how you’ve suffered before your claim is filed.
How does my solicitor know how my ear injury has affected me?
It’s important to note that injury solicitors are not usually medically trained and so usually ear injury claims must be supported by an independent medical expert. Your solicitor will arrange a meeting on your behalf so that your hearing problem or ear injury can be examined.
The specialist will speak with you about how your injury was sustained and how it has affected you. They will then produce a report to detail your symptoms and to explain your prognosis. This report will be used by your solicitor and the defendant’s insurers to help calculate how much compensation you’ll need if the claim is won.
Providing proof for ear injury compensation claims
As with any type of personal injury claim, you’ll need to prove how your ear injury was sustained, who was to blame for and how you’ve suffered as a result. This means you’ll need to supply as much proof as possible to convince the defendant’s insurer that you should receive a compensation payout.
For ear injury compensation claims, the following types of proof could all be helpful:
- Medical evidence. Proving the extent of your ear injury is vital if you’re to be compensated fairly. Therefore, medical records from your GP or an ear specialist will be used in conjunction with the independent medical report mentioned earlier.
- CCTV footage and photographic evidence. If your ear was injured in an accident, any footage caught on a security camera or dashcam could prove useful. Similarly, photographs taken at the scene of an accident could also be useful.
- Accident report form. An accident in a public place or on a company’s premises should always be reported as soon as possible. By doing so, the incident will be recorded which means you’ll be able to prove where and when you were injured.
- Witness statements. In some cases, a witness statement can be a key piece of evidence to support your claim. It could be used to prove how the accident occurred or friends and family members could be asked to explain how your injury has affected you.
- Correspondence. If your ear injury is linked to your working conditions, you could supply copies of any emails or letters you sent to your employer to raise your concerns.
The proof listed here could all make it easier for you to win your claim. That said, we can still assess your claim if you don’t have the evidence to prove what happened yet. If your claim is taken on by a solicitor, they’ll work hard to find any additional proof needed to try and win your claim.
No Win, No Fee ear injury claims
Some ear injury claims can be rather complex and involve a lot of complex medical and legal questions. We believe a specialist personal injury solicitor is the best person to answer those types of questions. We also believe that having a legal representative on your side could increase the chances of winning the claim and the amount of compensation you could receive.
If your claim is taken on by one of our solicitors, they’ll send you a No Win, No Fee agreement to read and sign. It will explain that:
- Your solicitor will work on your ear injury claim without being paid upfront.
- A success fee will be deducted from any compensation you’re paid.
- However, you won’t pay legal fees at all if the claim fails.
The success fee is capped by law at 25 per cent of any settlement you receive. It is used to pay for cover your solicitor’s expenses and time.
Throughout the claims process, your solicitor will manage everything for you. That means that they will collect proof, manage all communications with the defendant and fight your corner throughout. You won’t be left out of the loop, though, as you’ll receive regular updates about how the claim is going.
Any settlement offer will be discussed with you before it is accepted and your solicitor will try to ensure any compensation covers your suffering fully.
Ear injury claim time limits
In most cases, there is a 3-year time limit for personal injury claims in the UK. For an ear injury claim, the limitation period will usually start from:
- The date a doctor diagnosed deafness, tinnitus or a similar condition; or
- The date your ear was injured in an accident.
Starting your claim early will obviously mean you’ll receive your compensation sooner if the claim is won. Additionally, if your injury is making things hard financially (if you can’t work for example), your solicitor may be able to request an interim payment to help you before the claim is settled.
How long it takes to finalise your claim will depend on a few factors such as whether your prognosis is fully understood and whether the defendant wishes to contest liability. A straightforward ear injury claim could be settled in around 6 months while more complex cases can take longer than a year.
Start an ear injury compensation claim today
If you have suffered an ear injury because someone else made a mistake, call us on 0800 652 1345 to find out if you could be compensated. We’ll review everything in detail with you and provide free legal advice about what you should do next.
If the claim appears to have a fair chance of success and one of our personal injury solicitors agrees to take on your claim, they’ll do so on a No Win, No Fee basis. As such, you’ll only have to pay for their efforts if you are paid compensation.
Our live chat team is on hand to discuss ear injury claims today so please feel free to get in touch or arrange your free consultation here.
