No Win, No FeeWhile everyday activities can place great pressure on the joints and ankles, these pressures are greatly enhanced due to accidents such as slips, trips and falls or sports-related accidents. Even though many of us take our mobility for granted, an ankle injury can have a major impact on your private life and your working life. If your ankle was injured in an accident that was not your fault, you may have grounds to start an ankle injury compensation claim for any suffering.
We offer free legal advice on ankle injury claims so please call one of our specially trained advisors on 0800 652 1345 today. To learn a bit more about your options before calling, please read on.
Am I Entitled to Compensation for an Ankle Injury?
The criteria our personal injury solicitors will use to verify whether a claim has a reasonable chance of success are:
- You were owed a duty of care by the defendant.
- The defendant caused an accident through an act of negligence.
- Your ankle was injured as a direct result of that accident.
Duty of care can usually be derived from some form of legislation. For instance, if you slipped while shopping and suffered a sprained ankle, the Occupiers Liability Act 1957 might apply. Similarly, if your ankle is crushed by falling objects whilst working, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 could be relevant.
Common Examples of Ankle Injury Claims
You may be eligible to claim compensation for an ankle injury if it was caused by someone else’s negligence. Common situations include:
- Workplace accidents. If your employer failed to provide safe working conditions, training, or appropriate footwear, leading to an ankle injury from slips, trips, or falls.
- Road Traffic Accidents. Another driver’s negligence led to an RTA where you sustained an ankle injury, such as twisting or fracturing your ankle upon impact.
- Public liability accidents. If you injured your ankle in a public space, like twisting it on an uneven pavement, slipping on a wet floor without warning signs, or tripping over poorly maintained steps.
- Medical negligence. A surgeon made an error during surgery, treatment, or diagnosis, resulting in complications or worsening your ankle injury.
- Sports and recreation injuries. If unsafe conditions or lack of supervision during organised sports led to an ankle injury, such as an uneven playing surface or inadequate safety protocols.
To claim compensation, you must demonstrate that another party was at fault and that the ankle injury caused physical, emotional, or financial harm.
What Types of Ankle Injuries Can I Claim For?
Our solicitors may be able to help you claim for any of the following:
- Sprained ankle.
- A broken or fractured ankle.
- Dislocated ankle.
- Strained ankle.
- Achilles tendon injuries.
- Ligament tears.
- Cuts and lacerations.
- Other soft tissue injuries.
If you’ve suffered any type of ankle injury because of another party’s negligence, contact us here to check if your pain and suffering could be compensated.
What Evidence Do I Need for an Ankle Injury Compensation Claim?
It is quite likely that any defendant or their insurer will automatically deny liability for your accident and injuries. If that’s the case, you’ll need to provide compelling proof to show who was responsible for your ankle injury and how bad it was. The types of proof that could be used include:
- Medical reports. It is important to have any ankle assessed and treated by a medical professional to try and improve your chances of a full recovery. Your solicitor could request copies of any medical reports and X-rays to help demonstrate the extent of your injuries.
- Witness details. Where liability for your accident is contested, witness statements could help to prove what happened. As such, try to obtain contact details from any person who saw what happened.
- Accident reports. If you’re injured on business premises (or at work), you should report the incident. An accident report can go some way to proving where and when you were injured.
- Photographs. Where possible, you should take pictures of the aftermath of your accident to try and demonstrate how it happened. This should include a picture of the root cause before it is removed.
- CCTV footage. If your accident was caught on camera, try to obtain a copy of any relevant footage before it’s deleted. The same is true for any dashcam footage if your ankle was injured in a car crash.
As part of our free assessment of your claim, we’ll review any proof you have already obtained so please have it ready when you get in touch.
Will I Need a Medical Assessment for My Ankle Injury?
Your solicitor will not be able to assess the severity of your ankle injury alone as they are not a trained medical professional. As such, the claims process requires that an independent medical report is obtained. To facilitate this, you’ll meet with a medical expert who’ll examine your ankle injury and discuss its impact with you. They may also check through your medical records. Once finished, a report will be filed with your solicitor to detail your prognosis.
What Is the Time Limit to Make an Ankle Injury Claim?
As with any personal injury claim, a 3-year time limit applies if you’re seeking damages for an ankle injury. The limitation period, in most cases, will start from the date you were injured.
We would suggest that it’s best to start your claim as soon as you can for a number of reasons. These include:
- You’ll find it easier to recollect the events leading up to your accident.
- There will be plenty of time for evidence and medical reports to be collected.
- Your solicitor may be able to secure an interim payment to cover the cost of private medical treatment to help speed up your recovery.
If you leave things too late, you could miss out on any ankle injury compensation you’d otherwise have been entitled to. As such, it’s always worth seeking legal advice on your options as soon as you can.
How Much Compensation for an Ankle Injury Can I Claim?
We should point out that compensation for ankle injuries is designed to cover any physical or psychological injuries as well as any financial costs. As such, if your claim is successful, your settlement could cover:
- The initial pain caused by your ankle injury and any ongoing suffering.
- Any distress, anxiety, depression or other mental trauma resulting from your injuries. See our psychological injury claims page.
- Travel expenses linked to your injuries.
- Care costs even if a family member looked after you for free.
- The impact your ankle injury has on hobbies, family life and social activities.
- The cost of replacing or repairing personal items damaged in your accident.
- Mobility changes and home adaptations to help deal with any permanent disability relating to your ankle injury.
If you work with a personal injury lawyer from our team, they’ll discuss your ankle injury with you in detail to try and make sure you are compensated fully.
Can I Claim for Loss of Earnings Due to My Injured Ankle?
You can usually claim for loss of earnings caused by your ankle injury. This is especially relevant if you did not receive full sick pay while you were unable to work. However, you should get this verified with a solicitor.
Your solicitor can help prove the extent of your losses using wage slips, bank statements, and other relevant documents. Your claim may cover not only your basic wage but also any lost commission, bonuses, or overtime pay you would have earned during your recovery.
Are Ongoing Medical Costs for My Ankle Injury Covered by Compensation?
The idea of compensation for ankle injuries is to try and leave you in the same or similar position to the one you were in before your accident. Therefore, if you need any ongoing surgery or rehabilitation after your claim has been settled, it should be considered before your payout is determined.
Ankle Injury Compensation Amounts
The level of general damages and ankle injury settlement amount will obviously depend upon the severity of the injury to the ankle. Guidelines are published on a fairly regular basis by the Judicial College showing a range of compensation amounts for similar injuries. The current guidelines suggest:
- For modest ankle injuries that might include fractures, sprains and ligament injuries the settlement awarded could be up to £16,770. You should note that this settlement amount will depend on recovery time for the ankle, whether the ankle fully recovers, if there is scarring, discomfort, aching and so forth.
- If the ankle injury is modest in nature and completely recovers with no ongoing symptoms or scarring the compensation is unlikely to be higher than £9,390.
- Where the ankle injury has made a complete recovery in under a year the compensation amount is unlikely to be higher than £6,710. Modest ankle injuries that take little time to heal will attract lesser settlements.
- In moderate ankle injuries like fractures and ankle ligament tears that lead to less severe disabilities such as difficulty walking for a long time, awkwardness on stairs, walking on uneven ground, and potential risk of future osteoarthritis, the compensation or settlement amount could be from £16,770 to £32,450.
- In severe ankle injury claims cases where long periods of time have been spent treating the injury, where pins and plates might have been inserted into the ankle with the injury leading to significant disability, you might receive between £38,210 to £61,090.
- For very severe ankle injuries which might be considered limited or unusual. This type of ankle settlement amount would compensate for ankle injuries such as transmalleolar fracture of the ankle and extensive soft tissue damage leading to deformity with a risk of future damage to the leg and therefore amputation. Very severe ankle injury compensation claims such as this could be settled for between £61,090 to £85,070.
Although these amounts are a guide for personal injury solicitors to follow when calculating ankle injury settlements, due to differentiating factors the eventual settlement figure awarded could be higher or lower.
Will I Need a Solicitor to Claim Ankle Injury Compensation?
A specialist personal injury solicitor can certainly make the claims process a lot easier. If one offers to represent you, they are likely to manage the whole case on your behalf and deal with any negotiations that are required.
Our solicitors provide a No Win, No Fee service for any ankle injury claim they agree to work on. That means you won’t need to pay their fees in advance if your case is accepted. Instead, you’ll both sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) that sets out what your solicitor will do for you. It will make it clear that:
- You don’t need to pay your solicitor upfront for their work.
- You won’t pay them if the claim fails.
- If your claim is won, you’ll pay a success fee.
The success fee is a percentage of any compensation you receive that’s deducted by your solicitor before you are paid. Your success fee will be explained in the CFA.
Ankle Injury Claims Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Claim on Behalf of a Child Who Suffered an Ankle Injury?
Legally, children cannot take on legal action themselves. For that reason, the normal 3-year time limit doesn’t start until they turn 18 years old. However, they may need compensating before then.
As such, parents or guardians can manage a claim on behalf of a child at any time before their 18th birthday by acting as a litigation friend. This is something which requires approval so you may wish to speak to a personal injury solicitor about your options.
What Happens If My Ankle Injury Worsened an Already Existing Condition?
If you were already suffering from an ankle injury before your accident, it’s possible that it will have been made worse. This could be the case for arthritis in the ankle for instance.
As such, you may be entitled to claim compensation for your additional suffering but this would need to be proven and is likely to be contested during the claims process. Therefore, you should discuss your suffering with your solicitor and provide them with as much evidence to support your case as possible.
Start an Ankle Injury Compensation Claim Today
We hope this guide on how to claim for an ankle injury has made your options clearer. If you have decided to seek damages, we’re here to help. To begin your claim, simply call our team on 0800 652 1345 today.
Whatever you decide to do after your consultation, your case will be reviewed and you’ll receive free legal advice about your next steps. If possible, we’ll refer you to a personal injury solicitor from our team who may agree to represent you on a No Win, No Fee basis.
To find out more about ankle injury compensation claims, please call our advice centre or use live chat to ask any questions.
