No Win, No FeeTennis elbow is a painful condition that causes tenderness at the back of the elbow. Rather than being unique to tennis players, it is an injury that can be caused while carrying our repetitive tasks at work over a prolonged period. As such, employers should assess the risk that you’ll contract tennis elbow and take steps to reduce the risk where possible. If they don’t, you could claim compensation for any suffering that results. In this article on tennis elbow claims, we’ll review what causes tennis elbow, when you could sue your employer and what any compensation might cover.
We can help if you’re thinking of claiming compensation for tennis elbow by offering a free consultation to determine whether a claim is possible. We’ll examine any proof you have, explain your options and give you free legal advice about your next steps. If we believe you could be compensated for your tennis elbow, we’ll pass your case to one of our personal injury lawyers if you agree. You won’t be asked to pay their fees because they’ll work for you using a No Win, No Fee agreement.
To learn more on claiming tennis elbow compensation, please read on. Alternatively, call our team on 0800 652 1345 today if you’d like to speak with a specialist right away.
Can I claim compensation for my tennis elbow?
Employers have a duty of care to do what they can to protect the well-being of their staff. While this often means trying to avoid accidents in the workplace, it also means carrying out risk assessments to try and prevent Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) like tennis elbow. This duty of care can usually be established by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Before accepting a tennis elbow claim, one of our personal injury lawyers will check if:
- Your employer was negligent in their duty of care towards you; and
- A doctor has diagnosed that you are suffering from tennis elbow linked to your working conditions.
Even if you have not yet seen your doctor, we could still help you to start a claim so please call our team to discuss your options.
Can I be sacked for making a tennis elbow claim against my employer?
Employment laws give you a lot of protection if you decide to make a tennis elbow compensation claim against your employer. So long as you make an honest claim, you cannot legally be sacked, demoted or treated differently for suing your employer. If that were to happen, you might have grounds to claim separately for unfair or constructive dismissal.
If you are represented by one of our solicitors, they’ll manage all communication with your employer on your behalf. Please call if you’d like to find out more.
When can I claim compensation for tennis elbow in the workplace?
As explained earlier, you can only claim compensation for tennis elbow at work if it was caused by your employer’s negligence. That means you could claim compensation if your employer:
- Didn’t risk assess your role regularly.
- Failed to train you on how to do your job safely.
- Didn’t allow you to take regular rest breaks.
- Failed to consider providing ergonomic tools to reduce the risk of tennis elbow.
- Didn’t consider rotating your tasks to reduce the risk of tennis elbow.
If you have concerns that your role puts you at risk of tennis elbow, your first step should be to discuss your concerns with your employer. They may decide to use an occupational therapist to conduct a workstation assessment or similar risk assessment to see if changes need to be made. If your employer fails to act on your concerns, this could be another form of negligence that might entitle you to compensation.
Common employment roles associated with tennis elbow
Tennis elbow can affect people of all ages. However, it’s more common in those aged between 30 and 50 years old.
If you work in a job that involves repetitive actions, you might be more at risk of an elbow injury. Some of the more common roles at risk of tennis elbow include:
- Painters.
- Butchers.
- Carpenters.
- Construction workers.
- Plumbers.
- Cooks.
- Musicians.
It’s possible for tennis elbow injuries to be caused by any type of repetitive actions involving the hands, wrist or elbow for more than 2 hours a day. As such, you could be at risk if you operate a computer daily in your role.
How much compensation for a tennis elbow injury can I claim?
If you proceed with filing a personal injury claim against your employer for a tennis elbow injury, any settlement you might get would be based on how much your injury has inconvenienced you (general damages) plus any costs you’ve incurred because of it (special damages).
Depending on how you have been affected, your tennis elbow compensation claim could cover:
- The physical pain and suffering you’ve endured.
- Any psychological impact your injury causes you such as depression.
- The impact tennis elbow has on your private life and social activities.
- Cost of a carer if somebody else needed to help you while you were injured.
- Medical costs including private physiotherapy costs in some cases.
- Travel expenses associated with your tennis elbow.
- Any income you lost while off work injured.
- Any future loss of income if your tennis elbow is likely to affect your income in the long term.
- Disability aids or necessary adaptations to your home if your injuries lead to permanent symptoms.
You’ll need to consider your tennis elbow claim fully before filing it because, once you’ve settled, you can’t request additional compensation later on. If you work with a solicitor from our team, they’ll do all they can to secure the maximum compensation possible for your suffering.
[table “1” not found /]Providing proof for a tennis elbow compensation claim
It is vital that you can prove how you have suffered and why your employer was negligent if you’re to win a tennis elbow claim. If you can’t, your employer’s insurer may dismiss the claim or pay less compensation than you’re entitled to. To build as strong a case as possible, your solicitor will try to collect as much proof of employer negligence as possible including:
- Your medical records. It is vital that your injuries have been diagnosed by a doctor and linked to your employment. Your solicitor can request your medical records to help prove this is the case.
- Witness information. Your solicitor might ask your colleagues for a statement if your employer denies your version of events.
- Accident report forms. You should tell your employer about any injury at work. Legally, they’ll need to keep a report and your copy could be used to prove when you were injured.
- Other reports and correspondence. If you raised concerns regarding tennis elbow by email, print a copy out and forward it to your solicitor along with any replies. Also, if an occupational therapist reviewed your working conditions, you could use their report to help with your claim.
- Photographs and CCTV footage. If you can demonstrate what caused your injuries by taking photographs or obtaining video footage of the workplace, you should do so.
In addition to the types of proof you could use listed above, it may be worth keeping a diary of how your tennis elbow has affected you. For example, you could list any costs you’ve incurred or dates you could not attend family or social events.
Independent medical assessments for tennis elbow claims
As well as your medical records, your solicitor will need an independent medical report to try and prove the extent of your injuries. Usually, they’ll be able to set up a local appointment where an expert will examine you and talk to you about how your tennis elbow has affected you.
Once they’ve finished, they’ll explain your prognosis in a report that will be sent to your solicitor and your employer’s insurers.
Tennis elbow claims time limits
As you may know, there is a 3-year time limit for personal injury claims in the UK. For normal injury claims, this will generally start from the date of an accident. However, for tennis elbow claims, your condition might’ve taken some time to develop. As such, the limitation period in this scenario will begin from the date your injury was diagnosed by a doctor.
We would suggest that you begin the claims process as soon as possible to allow enough time for medical reports to be obtained and proof to be collected. Also, if you file your claim early on, you might receive an interim payment to help pay for private medical treatment (so long as your employer accepts the blame for your tennis elbow).
To find out how long you have to make a tennis elbow claim, please call our team today.
No Win, No Fee tennis elbow injury claims
The thought of paying legal fees can be quite a worry if you’re considering starting a workplace injury claim. However, if your tennis elbow claim is accepted by one of our solicitors, you won’t need to worry because they’ll represent you on a No Win, No Fee basis.
That means they can start working on your claim without you having to pay their legal fees upfront. So that it’s clear what your solicitor will do for you, you’ll both sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When using a CFA:
- You don’t pay legal fees in advance.
- There will be no legal fees payable if the claim fails.
- A success fee will be deducted from any compensation you receive.
Success fees are legally capped at 25% of any compensation you are paid. They are used to cover the cost of your solicitor’s work and their costs. As with any other type of legal document, you should check the terms of your CFA before signing so that you know the percentage of your success fee from the start of your claim.
If your case is taken on, your solicitor will ain to:
- Collect and collate proof to prove how you were injured.
- Arrange for an independent medical assessment.
- File the tennis elbow claim with your employer’s insurers and handle all communication.
- Argue your case if any objections are raised.
- Try to secure the maximum level of compensation possible to help you deal with your suffering.
To check if you could make a No Win, No Fee tennis elbow claim, please call today.
Do tennis elbow claims go to court?
As our solicitors only take on claims that have a reasonable chance of success, it is quite unusual for tennis elbow claims to require court hearings. Because of the expense involved, both parties in the claim will usually try to settle the case amicably. A court hearing would only be required if an agreement couldn’t be reached on liability for your injuries of the size of any compensation amount.
Start a tennis elbow compensation claim today
We hope that you have found this tennis elbow compensation claims guide useful. If you’d like to begin a claim or discuss your options with us, please call today on 0800 652 1345.
If your case is suitable, we’ll ask one of our No Win, No Fee solicitors to talk with you. If they agree to represent you, they’ll do all they can to secure compensation for you as quickly as possible.
To ask any further questions about tennis elbow claims, please arrange a consultation here or use our live chat service to get in touch.
