No Win, No FeeIf you have suffered a back injury because of someone else’s negligence whether it was at work, in a car accident or something else, you may be entitled to make a back injury claim for compensation.
If you are looking at claiming compensation for a back injury we can help. If you call us, a specialist will review your case with you and offer free legal advice about your options. If it appears that your case has a reasonable chance of success, we’ll connect you with one of our personal injury lawyers. If they agree to represent you, they won’t ask to be paid upfront as all claims are managed on a No Win, No Fee basis. That means your lawyer will only be paid if you’re awarded compensation. Knowing that should make the claims process a lot less stressful.
Are you ready to begin a back injury claim straight away? If so, call us today on 0800 652 1345. If you’d rather learn more about how to claim back injury compensation first, please continue reading.
Am I Entitled to Compensation for a Back Injury?
If you ask a personal injury solicitor to help you claim compensation for a back injury, they’ll review the case with you before agreeing to help. During this assessment, they’ll be looking to see whether:
- You were owed a legal duty of care by the defendant; and
- Their negligence led to an accident; in which
- You suffered a back injury.
Legislation is usually used to check for a duty of care. For instance, the Road Traffic Act 1988 might apply for back injuries sustained in a car crash. Similarly, the Health and Safety at Work Act could be used if your back injury occurred in the workplace. You won’t need to be too concerned by this as it’s something your solicitor will assess during their preliminary checks.
Common Examples of Back Injury Claims
You can claim compensation for a back injury if it occurred due to someone else’s negligence or fault. Common scenarios include:
- Workplace Accidents: If your employer failed to provide proper training, safe equipment, or a secure working environment, leading to your back injury.
- Road Traffic Accidents: If another driver’s actions caused a collision in an RTA, resulting in a back injury.
- Public Liability Accidents: If your back injury happened in a public place, such as slipping in a supermarket or tripping over a hazard that wasn’t properly marked or fixed.
- Medical Negligence: If a healthcare professional’s mistakes during surgery or treatment caused your back injury.
- Sports Injuries: If an injury occurred due to inadequate supervision or unsafe conditions in organised sports or activities.
For a successful claim, you’ll need to prove that another party was responsible and that your back injury caused physical, emotional, or financial harm.
What Types of Back Injuries Can I Claim For?
It is possible to seek compensation for any type of back injury that resulted from an accident or incident caused by someone else. Some of the most common injuries that are claimed for include:
- Disc lesions.
- Fractured discs.
- Nerve damage.
- Herniated (slipped) discs.
- Paralysis or incomplete paralysis.
- Ligament and tendon damage (soft tissue injuries).
- Bruising.
- Injuries that cause or increase the risk of osteoarthritis.
- Strains and sprains.
If your back injury isn’t on our list, don’t worry. We could still help you to start a claim so please call and let us know what happened and we’ll review your options.
What Evidence Do I Need for a Back Injury Compensation Claim?
Most back injury compensation claims will be passed to an insurance company by the defendant. Even in the most straightforward cases, they won’t admit liability or pay compensation unless you can show them that their client was responsible for your accident and subsequent injuries. For that reason, you will want to supply as much proof as possible. This could include:
- Accident Report Forms: If you’re injured at work, on business premises or in a public place, you should report the incident as soon as possible. Legally, the accident will need to be noted in an accident report book. Your copy will be used to show where and when the accident occurred.
- Medical Records: It’s important to have your back injury assessed and treated at a hospital or minor injuries unit. If you decide to claim, x-rays and medical records could be requested to help prove the severity of your injuries.
- Witness Details: If anyone else was present when your accident occurred, ask them to provide their contact details. Should there be any argument over liability, your solicitor could ask them to provide a statement of what they saw.
- Photographic Proof: If you’re able to do so safely, you should take photographs of the accident scene from various angles. If possible, try to do this before anything is removed or repaired.
- Video Footage: It’s also a good idea to seek out any dashcam or CCTV footage of the accident if it exists. By law, you may be entitled to a copy of any recording of yourself but you should act quickly as it’s not always retained for too long.
- Proof of Loss of Earnings: If your back injury has prevented you from working, ensure you keep any evidence of lost income. Payslips, tax returns, or confirmation from your employer will help prove the financial impact of your back injury, which might be included in your settlement.
- A Diary: Something else that might help is to keep a record of how your back injury has affected you. In a diary, you could record any spending relating to your injuries. Also, you could include details of any events you couldn’t attend and the dates you weren’t able to work because of your back injury.
As part of our initial free consultation, we’ll review any proof you’ve managed to secure so far. If you already have enough to proceed, we’ll let you know. Otherwise, we’ll explain what else you might need to strengthen your claim.
Will I Need a Medical Assessment for My Back Injury Claim?
The back injury claims process dictates that claimants might have to undergo a medical assessment. You don’t need to worry about this if it’s required in your case as it’s a straightforward process.
Your solicitor will arrange for you to meet with an independent medical expert (usually locally). During the meeting, they will review your injuries by examining you and asking questions about how you’ve been affected. They might also look through your medical records.
After they’ve completed their investigation, a report will be produced that will outline your injuries and explain your prognosis. This will be sent to all parties involved in the claim.
What Is the Time Limit to Make a Back Injury Claim?
It’s important to note that you must make a back injury claim within the applicable time limits. In most cases, this is a 3-year period that will start from:
- The date that your accident occurred; or
- Your date of knowledge. This may be relevant if spinal injuries weren’t diagnosed until later (repetitive strain injuries for instance).
Although 3-years is a relatively long time, there are a few good reasons to begin your back injury claim as soon as possible. One is to allow your solicitor plenty of time to collect proof and medical records. Another is that you could benefit from private medical treatment paid for by the defendant if they accept liability for your injuries.
Importantly, the limitation period does not apply to back injury claims involving children. A parent or responsible adult is able to represent them in a personal injury claim at any time before their 18th birthday. This is known as being a litigation friend for which the process is explained here.
Please call today if you’d like to check how long you’ve got left to start your claim.
How Much Compensation for a Back Injury Can I Claim?
At the time of your accident, how much compensation you could claim for a back injury won’t have even crossed your mind. However, once it’s clear how the injury has affected you there are various reasons why compensation can be very helpful.
Firstly, you could claim damages for the pain your injuries have caused (general damages). Secondly, your claim could recoup any financial losses caused by your injury. Each case is unique but back injury compensation could consist of elements covering:
- The pain and suffering your injuries and treatment have caused.
- Any mental harm caused by depression, anxiety and other psychological injuries.
- Medical expenses including physiotherapy and other rehabilitation methods.
- The cost of modifying your home if you’ve been left with a long-term disability.
- Costs relating to a professional carer or for the time a loved one spent supporting you through your recovery.
- Future loss of income if you’re injuries are likely to affect your long-term ability to work.
- Travel expenses linked to medical appointments for instance.
The value of any back injury claim will be based largely on the severity and impact of your injuries. As such, a claimant with life-changing injuries should be paid more than someone with whiplash injuries.
Can I Claim for Loss of Earnings Due to My Back Injury?
Some back injuries can stop you from working or reduce your income because you need to take on less physical work. Therefore, a back injury claim could include compensation for any earnings lost while you were injured. Additionally, if it’s likely that your back injury at work will reduce your earnings for the long term, future losses could also be paid.
Can I Claim for Ongoing Medical Costs Due to My Back Injury?
A successful back injury claim needs to consider both current and future suffering or expenses. Therefore, if you will need ongoing physiotherapy, rehabilitation or medical treatment to deal with your injury, any associated costs could also be paid. This might include the cost of treatment at a private hospital if this will be more beneficial than joining an NHS waiting list.
Back Injury Compensation Amounts
Back injuries can be extremely complex and even the most innocuous of tweaks can attract back pain for many months or even years to come. The Judicial College is a body that puts together a summary of historic compensation awards for back injuries and other specific injuries. While these guidelines have no legal standing they are well respected by the courts and solicitors and form a basis for calculating back injury compensation payouts.
The guidelines for back injury compensation amounts are as follows:
- A few hundred £’s – £2,990 compensation payout for minor back injuries such as soft tissue damage where recovery is within three months.
- £2,990 -£9,630 compensation for a minor back injury that recovers within a three-month to two-year period.
- £9,630 -£15,260 compensation for minor back injuries that recover within two to five years.
- £15,260 – £33,880 compensation payout for moderate back injury/or exacerbating an existing back injury, dependent on different factors like recovery time, amount of pain, treatment required, and what impact the injury has on the person’s ability to function.
- £33,880 – £47,320 compensation for a moderate back injury resulting in some disability. An example would be a prolapsed intervertebral disc that requires surgery.
- £47,320 – £85,100 compensation for severe back injuries such as fractures of discs that result in continuing pain.
- £90,510 – £107,910 compensation for a severe back injury that has special features such as nerve root damage resulting in loss of sensation, impaired bowel and bladder function, impaired mobility.
- £111,150 – £196,450 compensation for the severest types of back injury. This type of back injury would involve damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots resulting in a combination of serious consequences.
It is also possible to claim for negligence where an accident has exacerbated an existing problem with your back, neck or other limbs. In theory, this is relatively easy to prove with a simple medical examination and Xrays, etc.
Will I Need a Solicitor to Claim Back Injury Compensation?
Although it’s not a legal requirement to have a personal injury solicitor, we believe your chances of receiving fair compensation for your back injury are higher with professional representation. We also know that many people are put off from using one because of the fees involved. For that reason, our solicitors provide a No Win, No Fee service for any accepted claim.
That means you don’t pay your solicitor upfront and they’ll only be paid for their work if you are compensated. To make this agreement formal, you’ll both sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
The CFA will list what work your solicitor will do and when you’ll need to pay them. If you are compensated, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from your settlement amount. This fee is a percentage of your compensation that’s detailed in the CFA. Legally, it can be no higher than 25%.
To see if one of our No Win, No Fee solicitors could represent you, please get in touch today.
How Long Will a Back Injury Claim Typically Take?
If your back injury has been treated successfully and the party you’re claiming against has admitted to having caused it, you could be compensated fairly swiftly (in less than 6 months).
However, if you have a longer-term back problem where the prognosis is not fully understood, claims can take longer. In some cases, interim payments might be possible to cover lost earnings or other expenses while the claim is being processed.
Back Injury Claims Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Still Make a Claim If I Was Partly to Blame for My Back Injury?
Even if you were partly at fault for your back injury, you could still claim compensation under contributory negligence, which means that both you and the other party share some responsibility for the accident.
When contributory negligence is involved, solicitors and insurers will assess the extent of blame for each party. For instance, if it’s found that you were 30% responsible for your back injury, the normal claims process will continue, but your compensation will be reduced by that percentage. As such, you would still receive 70% of the total compensation you’re entitled to.
This allows you to still receive some compensation, even if you were partly to blame for the accident.
What if My Back Injury Exacerbated a Pre-Existing Medical Condition?
If your back injury exacerbated a pre-existing medical condition, you may still be eligible to claim compensation.
However, proving the extent to which the accident worsened the pre-existing condition can be a complicated task. Medical records and expert assessments might help demonstrate the impact of the accident on your existing health condition.
Any compensation paid might be adjusted to account for the pre-existing condition, but you could still seek damages for the additional pain, suffering, and medical expenses caused by the worsening of your condition.
Start a Back Injury Compensation Claim Today
The simplest way to start a back injury compensation claim today is to call one of our specialist advisors. If you call us on 0800 652 1345, you’ll receive free legal advice after your case has been reviewed so there’s nothing to lose by calling.
If your case appears to be strong enough, and you decide to proceed, we could appoint one of our No Win, No Fee solicitors to begin working on it straight away.
Please use live chat to connect with us if you have any further questions on back injury claims, or claim your free consultation here.
