Head Injury at Work Claim – A Guide to Claiming Compensation

Suffering any type of head injury at work can be painful, confusing and debilitating. More severe injuries can lead to life-changing or life-threatening symptoms. Therefore, if you’ve suffered a head injury as a result of your employer’s negligence, this guide will answer some common questions about the process of making a head injury at work claim for compensation.

Also, we’re here to help if you’d like to discuss your head injury claim with a specialist. During a free initial consultation, we’ll answer your questions and offer legal advice on a no-obligation basis. If we believe that your claim is strong enough, we could partner you with a specialist solicitor from our team who will provide a No Win, No Fee service if you both agree to work together.

To check if you could claim for a work-related head injury, you can:

• Call 0333 241 2519 to speak to one of our friendly advisors.
• Ask for advice via our free live chat service.

Getting legal advice as soon as possible after a head injury at work can significantly enhance the chances of receiving the compensation you’re entitled to for your pain, suffering, and financial losses incurred due to the injury.

Can I Make a Head Injury at Work Claim?

Employers are legally obliged to try and provide as safe a working environment as possible. This is a duty of care established by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It means that while no workplace will ever be completely free from dangers, employers should try and minimise the risk of head injuries as much as possible by:

• Having a health and safety policy and making sure staff are trained on it regularly.
• Carrying out risk assessments regularly.
• Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as hard hats at no cost to employees where required.
• Ensuring that any workplace equipment, machinery and buildings are in a good state of repair.

If your employer fails to uphold their obligations and you suffer a head injury at work as a result, it may be possible to seek compensation for any suffering you’ve endured.

The general criteria that must be met for head injury at work claims are:

• At the point of your accident, your employer owed a duty of care towards your health and safety.
• Your employer’s negligent actions caused the accident.
• You sustained a head injury as a direct result of the accident within the last three years.

We’re here to help if you or a loved one has sustained a head injury at work. If you’d like to discuss your case with a specialist, for free, please get in touch today.

What Types of Negligence Can Lead to a Head Injury at Work Claim?

There are so many examples of workplace accidents that can cause head injuries that we couldn’t possibly list them all here. Therefore, we’ve provided a handful of scenarios below where employer negligence could result in a head injury at work claim:

• Whilst working on a building site, a labourer suffered a severe head injury after being struck by items that were allowed to be thrown from the top of a scaffold.
• An office worker slipped and fell and banged his head in the staff room because his employer had failed to fix a leaking pipe. He suffered a serious concussion as a result of his fall.
• While working in a warehouse, a forklift truck driver suffered a fractured skull after poorly maintained lifting forks snapped and struck her on the head.
• A factory worker was struck on the head by a loose pipe inside the factory; the incident was traced back to the employer’s failure to conduct regular inspections.

These are just some examples of when head injuries at work could be caused by negligent employers. Whatever type of accident you were involved in, please call our team today and we’ll assess your case for free.

What Should I Do If I Sustain a Head Injury at Work?

If you are involved in an accident at work and suffer a head injury, you should:

• Go to a hospital rather than relying on first aid. That’s become some head and brain injuries are not obvious without a CT scan, x-ray or MRI.
• Tell your employer at the earliest opportunity that you’ve been injured.
• Make sure the accident is logged in the company’s reporting system.

Additionally, employers sometimes have to tell the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about workplace head injuries. Therefore, if the HSE investigate your accident, you should comply fully and answer any questions they put to you.

What Evidence Can Be Used for a Head Injury Compensation Claim?

Proving that your head injury resulted from your employer’s negligence is important if you’re to be compensated. It’s also important to prove how you’ve been affected by your injury.

All of the following could be used to strengthen a head injury at work claim:

• A copy of your medical records including x-rays and CT scans.
• Details of any potential witnesses to your accident.
• Photographs of visible injuries and also the accident scene.
• CCTV footage of your accident if available.
• Your copy of your company’s accident report form.

If you have any evidence to start your head injury compensation claim, please give us a call. We’ll review it for free and explain your options right away.

How Long Do I Have to Claim Head Injury Compensation?

UK legislation, specifically the Limitation Act 1980, sets a 3-year time limit for personal injury claims. For most head injury claims, this will commence on the date of the accident.

One exception to this rule is when the injured party cannot file a claim themselves due to a lack of mental capacity. The time limit may be essentially paused in these situations. However, someone else can claim head injury compensation on their behalf by becoming a litigation friend.

If you would like to help a loved one claim head injury at work compensation or require advice on how long you have to begin your claim, please call us now.

How Much Compensation for Head Injury at Work?

Payouts for workplace head injuries usually include compensation to cover:

• The pain and suffering caused by your injury (general damages).
• Any out-of-pocket expenses (special damages).

To calculate the general damages element of the claim, your solicitor will need to get a full understanding of how your head injury has affected you. Therefore, they’ll obtain a copy of your medical records and an independent medical assessment.

These two pieces of evidence will be checked against head injury compensation brackets listed in the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Therefore, we’ve provided some example head injury compensation amounts. However, the amounts displayed are not guaranteed as head injury settlements are calculated on a case-by-case basis.

• Compensation for a minor head injury at work can range from £2,210 to £12,770.
• Compensation can range from £15,320 to £43,060 where there’s a good recovery, albeit with potential ongoing issues.
• Compensation of £43,060 to £90,720 for cases involving reduced cognitive and work abilities, slight dependency, minor epilepsy risk, and sensory or balance issues.
• £90,720 to £150,110 compensation for a head injury causing moderate to modest intellectual impairment, significantly diminished or eliminated work capacity, and a potential epilepsy risk.
• £150,110 to £219,070 where a moderate to severe head injury leads to intellectual deficits, personality change, sensory impairments, a high epilepsy risk, and no employment prospects.
• £219,070 to £282,010 compensation where a head injury at work has left the claimant very seriously disabled.
• £282,010 to £403,990 for the severest head injuries including those where the individual may show basic responsiveness but requires constant nursing due to minimal environmental interaction, lack of language function, and double incontinence.

For special damages, you’ll need to provide receipts, bank statements or other financial documents to prove your claim. If the claim is successful, it could include compensation for:

• The cost of support and care (professional or family).
• Medical expenses.
• Lost income (including future loss of earnings).
• The cost of making changes to your vehicle or home to improve your quality of life (for more serious head injury claims).
• Travel expenses.

To find out how much compensation for a head injury at work could be awarded in your case, please call today.

Can Psychological Suffering Be Claimed For?

In some cases, suffering a head injury at work can lead to psychological problems. For example, your ability to work might be affected by flashbacks of the accident as it happened. Similarly, the fact your head injury has left you unable to carry on with your normal hobbies or family activities could lead to depression or distress.

If these types of suffering can be proven medically, they could be taken into account when settling your head injury claim.

How Is Liability Decided for a Head Injury At Work?

Anyone who deals with a personal injury claim will need to follow the relevant pre-action protocols. These set the process by which head injury claims should be handled.

Initially, your solicitor will write to your employer (and/or their insurance provider) to set out the basis of your claim. At this point, your employer will decide whether to accept liability for your head injury or deny it.

If liability is accepted, the claim process can move on quite swiftly so that the appropriate level of head injury compensation can be decided on. If it isn’t, evidence sharing will be required so that both parties can get more information about how the accident occurred.

Hopefully, by the end of this process, both parties will have agreed upon liability for your accident and injuries.  At this point, the claim could be settled in your favour, dismissed by both parties or go to court. We’ll discuss this in more detail next.

Do Head Injury Claims Need to Go to Court?

In our experience, very few head injury compensation claims require court intervention. In the main, insurance companies and solicitors will always try to reach an amicable agreement rather than risk the time and money required for court hearings.

However, if your claim does end up in court, they will decide who was liable for your accident and whether you should receive compensation for your head injury at work. Importantly, it is still possible for an out-of-court settlement right up to the date of any hearing that is set.

Will I Need a Solicitor to Claim Compensation for a Head Injury?

It is entirely up to you whether you take on a specialist solicitor or try to manage your head injury claim on your own. However, instructing a solicitor who specialises in accident-at-work claims could increase the chances of you a) winning your claim and b) being compensated fairly for your head injury.

If your claim is managed by a solicitor from our team, they’ll:

• Collect and review any evidence needed to support your head injury at work claim.
• Deal with your employer’s representatives throughout the claims process.
• Make sure the claim is correctly filed on time.
• Keep you up to date throughout the claims process.
• Try to ensure that any settlement you receive is fair and covers your suffering.

Our solicitors will use a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) for all head injury at work claims meaning they’ll provide a No Win, No Fee service. The CFA means:

• You don’t pay your solicitor for their work unless you receive compensation.
• A fixed percentage of any settlement you receive will act as your solicitor’s success fee.

To ensure that you keep the majority of any compensation payout for a head injury, 25 per cent is the maximum success fee percentage when using a CFA.

If you’d like to know if one of our No Win, No Fee solicitors could help you, why not give us a call today?

How Long Will a Head Injury at Work Claim Take?

If your employer accepts that they caused your head injury at the beginning of the claims process, you could receive compensation in around 6 months so long as you’ve fully recovered (or are expected to soon).

If extra time is required to negotiate over liability or get a better picture of how long your symptoms will persist, the claims process could take 9 months or more. In more serious cases, this could extend far beyond a year.

To check how long your head injury at work claim is likely to take, please call today.

Contacting Us About a Head Injury at Work Claim

To find out whether you have strong enough grounds to claim for a workplace head injury, you can:

• Speak to a specialist advisor by calling 0333 241 2519.
• Use our live chat service to start the claims process.

We’ll provide no-obligation legal advice in the initial consultation to discuss your options. If a compensation claim against your employer appears feasible, we could connect you with a solicitor who’ll work on a No Win, No Fee basis if your head injury at work claim is accepted.