Leg Injury Claims – How Much Compensation Can I Claim?

Leg injuries including those to your knee, ankle, and feet can make it difficult to carry out daily activities and hobbies. While relatively minor injuries such as strains and sprains might prevent you from working for a bit, more serious leg injuries including amputations can have a devastating effect on life.

In this article on leg injury compensation claims, we’ll explain how you could be compensated for any suffering you’ve had to deal with because of an accident caused by someone else. This means you could be entitled to compensation for leg injuries sustained in a road traffic accident, an accident at work, or after slipping in a supermarket amongst other things.

Our personal injury team can help if you do decide to seek compensation for a leg injury. We’ll start by reviewing your claim during an initial consultation. Then we’ll explain your options and provide free advice on what steps you could take next. If you’d like to proceed, and your claim is suitable, we’ll ask one of our team of personal injury solicitors to talk with you. If they agree to take on your case, it’ll be handled on a No Win, No Fee basis.

Would you like to start a leg injury claim right away? If so, please get in touch by calling 0800 652 1345. Alternatively, please feel free to read the rest of this article to learn more about the claims process.

Am I Entitled to Compensation for a Leg Injury?

If you ask a personal injury solicitor to help you claim compensation for a leg injury, they’ll review the case with you before agreeing to help. In this initial assessment, they’ll be looking to see:

• If the defendant owed you a legal duty of care; and
• Did they act negligently to cause an accident; and
• Were your leg injuries sustained as a result of that negligence?

If all three of the above are true in your case, you could be entitled to compensation. Importantly, don’t worry too much about proving a duty of care. There are many scenarios where a duty of care can be established easily and your solicitor will check this for you.

Common Examples of Leg Injury Claims

Leg injuries are very common and can be caused by many different types of accidents. To show you when an accident could lead to a leg injury compensation claim, we’ve added a few examples of negligence below. You could be compensated for:

• Spillages. You may be entitled to compensation if a member of staff spilled a hot drink or meal onto your legs in a restaurant café or pub.
• Slips and trips. Slips and trips are one of the most common causes of leg injuries particularly those involving damage to the knee. An example of when you might be compensated is if you tripped over a cable that was trailed across an office floor and injured your leg following a fall.
• Gym or sporting accidents. Leg injuries can be picked up while training in a gym or participating in sports. You won’t always be entitled to compensation but if the accident was caused by faulty equipment, an unsuitable playing surface, or poor coaching advice, you could be compensated.
• Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs). Leg injuries are quite common in road accidents especially if they involve cyclists or motorbike riders. If the accident was caused by another driver’s negligence, you could be entitled to take action against them.
• Playground accidents. If your child is injured in a school playground accident or in a public park whilst playing, you could claim compensation on their behalf. For instance, if they broke their leg after falling from a roundabout but the safety tiles were missing, it might be possible to claim compensation.
• Workplace accidents. Employers must do all they can to try and keep you safe at work. As such, you could claim for any leg injuries caused by their negligence. For instance, if you suffered a broken leg in a work accident because another employee wasn’t given adequate training, a claim might be possible.

Even if your accident is not on our list, so long as your leg injury was someone else’s fault, you could be compensated for any suffering you’ve endured.

What Types of Leg Injuries Can I Claim For?

We won’t list every possible leg injury here but some of the more common that might be claimed for include:

Other than very minor injuries, you could essentially seek damages for any form of leg injury if someone else was responsible for the accident that caused it.

What Evidence Do I Need for a Leg Injury Compensation Claim?

Most leg injury compensation claims will be forwarded to the defendant’s insurance company to deal with. They are highly likely to contest liability and the extent of your injuries unless you can supply adequate evidence. As such, during your claim, your solicitor will try to obtain:

• Photographic proof. Any pictures you took at the accident scene can be particularly useful. That’s especially true if you managed to take them before the cause of the incident was replaced, repaired or removed.
• Witness statements. If you give your solicitor the contact details of anyone who saw your accident (with their permission), they may contact them for a statement. This could be a good way of corroborating your version of events.
• Accident report forms. Most businesses need to log any injuries in an accident book (or a software solution). These record dates, locations and times. As such, your solicitor might use your copy to prove the accident took place.
• Medical reports. It is vital that you can prove the extent of your leg injuries when claiming compensation. For this reason, your solicitor will request copies of your medical notes from the hospital or GP surgery that treated you.
• CCTV footage. Camera recordings are another good way of proving how an accident occurred. If the area your accident happened in was covered by CCTV cameras, copies of any relevant footage might be obtained to support your case. Dashcam footage could be used in the same way for a car accident or other type of RTA.
• A diary of events. To help you remember how your leg injury has affected you, we’d suggest keeping a diary. This could be used to log any events you had to miss through injury and the dates you were unable to work. Furthermore, you could keep track of any costs associated with your injuries in this way too.

We will happily review any evidence you’ve already managed to secure as part of your free claim review. Please request a free claim consultation if you’d like our advice on your chances of being compensated.

What Is the Time Limit to Make a Leg Injury Claim?

When making a leg injury claim, you must abide by the relevant time limits. In most cases, leg injury claims have a 3-year limitation period that starts from the date of your accident. However, if your injury was not diagnosed until a later date, the time limit would start from the date of your diagnosis.

Although that seems like a long time, it’s best not to wait too long to take action. Claims that are made too late can become statute-barred which means you’ll miss out on any compensation you may be due. Starting your claim early will allow your solicitor plenty of time to secure evidence and medical reports before filing your request with the defendant.

If a child sustains a leg injury and you’d like to claim compensation for them, the 3-year time limit will not apply. Instead, you can seek damages at any point before their 18^th birthday on their behalf by becoming a litigation friend.

How Much Compensation for a Leg Injury Can I Claim?

When you claim compensation for a leg injury, you must base the amount you ask for on how you’ve been affected by your injuries. The impact of any physical or psychological injuries can be covered (general damages) and so could any costs or expenses you’ve incurred (special damages).

Each leg injury claim is different but, generally, your compensation payout could be based on:

• Any pain and suffering your injuries and subsequent treatment have caused.
• Mental harm resulting from anxiety, stress or depression following the accident.
• Any impact on your social activities or hobbies (known as loss of amenity).
• Costs to cover the time a friend or relative spent supporting you while you were injured.
• The cost of making changes to your vehicle or home to help you cope with any ongoing disability.

You’ll need to carefully consider all of the above when requesting compensation for a leg injury as any settlement is designed to help you recover physically, mentally and financially. If you work with one of our personal injury lawyers, they’ll check everything before your claim is filed to try and make sure you are properly compensated.

Leg Injury Compensation Amounts

The levels of compensation for leg injuries take in everything from sprains and strains right through to amputation and other serious injuries involving surgery. The guidelines advised by the Judicial College for the most common leg injuries suggest:

• Up to about £14,450 compensation for sprains and strains and other relatively minor leg injuries.
• Between £11,120 to £17,810 compensation for injuries to the femur which will reflect the pain and suffering together with recovery time.
• Up to about £33,880 for soft tissue or fracture injuries which restrict a person’s mobility and ability to walk.
• Multiple leg fractures and other serious injuries not including leg amputation can attract compensation payments of up to around £165,860.
• Leg amputations as a result of an accident can lead to compensation of anywhere up to £344,150.

While these guidelines are very useful when considering a potential leg injury compensation claim, they are not set in stone.

Will I Need a Solicitor to Claim Leg Injury Compensation?

While there’s no legal obligation to let a solicitor manage your leg injury claim, their experience and legal skills can often reduce much of the stress involved. Also, your personal injury solicitor is there to fight your corner if the defendant’s insurance provider tries to reduce your payout or deny liability for your leg injuries or your accident.

Our personal injury solicitors want as many people as possible to benefit from their legal skills and experience. As such, to stop you from worrying too much about how much they’ll cost, our team of solicitors manages all accepted leg injury claims on a No Win, No Fee basis. That means you won’t have to pay for their work in advance and you won’t pay their fees if the leg injury claim is unsuccessful.

To see if you could claim leg injury compensation on a No Win, No Fee basis, please call today.

How Long Will a Leg Injury Claim Typically Take?

The time it takes for a leg injury claim to be finalised will vary from case to case. Where liability for your accident and injuries is accepted swiftly, the claims process can move on to calculating the correct level of compensation. If it can’t, your case might drag on a little while evidence relating to the accident is considered by both parties.

Leg injury claims involving long-term disabilities can also take longer to settle. That’s because it’s important to get a full understanding of your prognosis before finalising your compensation payout. In these cases, interim payments might be made to help you with the financial implications of your leg injuries.

Leg Injury Claims Frequently Asked Questions

Start a Leg Injury Compensation Claim Today

We hope this article has shown what types of leg injuries you could claim compensation for. If you want to take action, the best way to start is to call our team on 0800 652 1345.

During your call, free advice will be given and your options will be explained even if you decide not to proceed. If you do want to continue, we could provide one of our personal injury solicitors on a No Win, No Fee basis.

Please let us know if you’d like any more information on leg injury compensation claims by calling or connecting to our live chat.