No Win, No FeeTanning salons are quite popular on the high street at the moment. Their popularity might stem from the fact that you can keep your tan topped up all year round even with the British weather! However, tanning beds can cause burns if they are not used correctly, is faulty or poorly maintained. As such, if you’ve been burned on a tanning bed as a result of the operator’s negligence, you may be entitled to sue the salon for compensation.
To make it easier to understand what options you have, we offer a free consultation where no-obligation legal advice may be given. A specialist from our team will review your case with you and explain what the chances are of you being compensated. If you wish to proceed and a personal injury lawyer on our panel offers to help, they’ll process your claim on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Please continue reading for more on tanning bed burn compensation claims or call us on 0800 652 1345 to speak with a specialist right away.
What are tanning bed burns?
Tanning bed (or sunbed) burns refer to skin injuries or damage caused by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted by tanning beds or sunlamps. Tanning beds use artificial UV radiation to simulate the sun’s rays and induce a tan. However, if the exposure is excessive or the tanning bed is not used correctly or faulty, it can result in burns.
When UV radiation reaches the skin, it actually damages skin cells (in the epidermis layer). To react to this, your immune system allows more blood to flow to the area which is why your skin looks red when it starts to burn. The damaged skin cells are attacked by white blood cells and removed. It is this process that causes burnt skin to peel and become itchy.
Moderate sunbed burns can take up to a week to heal. These are characterised by redness, peeling skin and skin that is warm to the touch. More severe sunbed burns that have caused blistering can be extremely painful and uncomfortable and take two or more weeks to recover from.
Sunbed regulations
While the Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010 makes it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to use a sunbed (even with parental consent), there is essentially no other legislation in place to restrict who can set up a tanning salon. However, the local authority can insist that sunbed businesses apply for a licence to operate so that authorised officers can make checks on how the business is operating within the law. Such businesses include:
- Beauty salons.
- Sunbed parlours.
- Fitness or sports clubs.
- Leisure centres and gyms.
- Hotels.
Any type of sunbed is covered including lie-down sunbeds, stand-in sunbeds, canopy sunbeds, portable sun lamps and sun showers.
Whatever type of sunbed you used, if you’ve suffered burns through no fault of your own, you can speak with us today to see if you could be compensated for your injuries.
Can you sue a tanning salon for burns?
You may be able to sue a salon for waxing burns if:
- The tanning salon operator breached their duty of care by being negligent; and
- You sustained tanning bed burns as a result of that negligence.
Proving that the operator was negligent and caused your tanning bed burn is something you can help with. As such, later in this article, we’ll explain the types of proof you could collect to support a tanning bed burn compensation claim.
Types of negligence compensation could be claimed for
As explained in the last section, no matter how seriously you’ve been burned from using a sunbed, generally you’ll only be entitled to compensation if it can be proven that the operator’s negligence was the cause.
As such, we’ve detailed some forms of negligence that could mean the tanning salon could be sued including:
- If a person under the age of 18 was allowed to use the tanning bed.
- Where the tanning bed operator failed to discuss the risks associated with tanning with you.
- If your burns were caused by a faulty, damaged or poorly maintained sunbed.
- Where you were allowed to use the tanning bed despite obvious signs of previous sunburn.
- Where you were allowed to use the tanning bed for longer or more frequently than is recommended.
If you think that your burns were caused by a tanning salon operator’s negligence, please call and we’ll review your claim with you.
I signed a consent form, is it still possible to claim?
Many beauty salons and tanning centres ask customers to sign consent forms (or waivers) before a beauty treatment or using a sunbed. These forms ask you to confirm that you know what treatment you’re receiving and that you’ve been told about any potential risks.
Importantly, though, they don’t stop you from claiming compensation for sunbed burns caused by negligence. If the operator of the tanning centre has told you this, they are wrong. If you’d like to confirm that’s the case, please give us a call and have a copy of your consent form ready so that we can review its wording with you.
How much compensation do you get for tanning bed burns?
The general idea of compensation for tanning bed burns is to try to get you back to the position you were in before you suffered the burns (or as close to as reasonably possible). Any settlement amount you’d get could cover both your pain and suffering (general damages) and any costs the sunbed burns have caused (special damages).
Each claim will be different from the next one but you may be entitled to compensation for:
- Distress, embarrassment, anxiety and other forms of emotional distress.
- Physical pain, discomfort and suffering caused by your burn injuries.
- Remedial medical treatment which might include private plastic surgery.
- Loss of income (now and in the future).
- Care costs to cover someone else’s time if they supported you while you were recovering.
- Travel expenses.
- Loss of enjoyment due to the tanning bed burns of your normal hobbies and activities.
It’s really important to consider any suffering you’ve endured plus any future problems as once the claim is settled you can’t ask for more compensation later on. For this reason, to give a better understanding of your prognosis, you’ll need an independent medical assessment as part of your claim.
The appointment is usually held locally where a medical expert will examine your tanning bed burns and discuss how they’ve affected you. The report that is produced after the meeting will help your solicitor with calculating potential compensation levels.
Providing proof for tanning bed burn compensation claims
Even if the salon owner has apologised to you personally for your tanning bed burns, your solicitor will still need to present a strong case. That’s because, despite anything that’s been said previously, the salon’s insurer won’t pay compensation unless there’s concrete evidence that proves liability for your injuries and how they’ve caused you to suffer. The types of proof you could use includes:
- Medical information. The extent of your tanning bed burns will need to be confirmed by an independent medical report. Also, your solicitor will ask for medical notes from your doctor or the hospital where your burns were treated.
- Photographic proof. Before and after pictures are a good way to demonstrate the extent of your suffering. Also, if there was any obvious defect on the sunbed that caused your injuries, you should try to take pictures before leaving the salon.
- Witness information. Anyone who went to the salon or tanning centre with you may be asked to provide a statement about what they heard or saw during your tanning session. This could help to corroborate your version of events.
- Communications. If you have any emails, text messages or other forms of communication with the owner of the tanning salon about your treatment or injuries (after complaining for example), please provide copies to your solicitor.
- Financial records. To try and recoup any costs linked to your burns, we’d suggest that you hold on to any receipts, bank statements or wage slips and give copies to your solicitor.
You can contact us for a free consultation even if you’ve not got the proof listed above. If your claim is accepted by a solicitor, they’ll work hard to find any further information required to substantiate your claim.
No Win, No Fee claims
We believe that when loading a personal injury claim for sunbed burns, having a specialist solicitor on your side should make the process a lot easier and could improve your chances of being compensated fairly. We understand that many people don’t want to lose money on legal fees if their claim is lost so our panel of solicitors offer a No Win, No Fee service for all accepted claims.
If you decide to claim compensation for sunbed burns, a solicitor from our panel will send you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is your contract and, once signed, it enables your solicitor to work on your claim without being paid upfront.
That means they can:
- Contact the defendant on your behalf to tell them about your claim.
- Request medical records and seek out the proof required to support your claim.
- Fight your corner and negotiate with the defendant’s insurance company.
- Write to you with regular updates about any progress with your claim.
- Try to secure the highest possible amount of compensation for tanning bed burns to cover all of your suffering.
If the claim is lost, you won’t have to pay any of your solicitor’s legal fees. If there is a positive outcome and compensation is paid, a success fee (a percentage of your damages) will be deducted to pay for your solicitor’s work.
To see if a No Win, No Fee solicitor from our panel could help you to claim compensation for sunbed burns, please call today.
How long do I have to sue for sunbed burns?
If you’ve decided to claim compensation for sunbed burns, we should remind you that there is a 3-year time limit for doing so. In most cases, this limitation period will begin from the date you were burned on the tanning bed but could start later if your injuries were not immediately obvious.
If you fail to begin your claim on time, you might miss out on any compensation you’re entitled to. For this reason, we’d always say that it’s best to contact us as soon as possible.
Starting the process early should also mean that your solicitor has the time to find the proof required to support your claim and medical information to help prove your injuries.
Start a compensation claim for tanning bed burns today
Have you been burned on a tanning bed and feel you should be compensated for your injuries? If so, call us on 0800 652 1345 to see if one of our personal injury lawyers could help you.
During your no-obligation consultation, a specialist will review how you sustained tanning bed burns and how you’ve suffered as a result. If one of our solicitors then agrees to help you, they’ll represent you on a No Win, No Fee basis. Not having to pay legal fees upfront usually makes the claims process much less stressful.
Please feel free to call or connect to live chat if there’s anything else you want to know about suing a tanning salon for burns.
