Brain Injury at Work – A Guide to Claiming Compensation

If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury at work, you could be entitled to seek compensation for any suffering caused. This guide reviews how brain injury claims work and the types of accidents that could entitle you to claim for a work-related brain injury. We also look at how brain injury compensation is calculated and what you can do to help maximise your compensation.

If you would like to check your eligibility to claim compensation for a brain injury at work, we’re here to support you. In a free consultation with a legal advisor, you can ask questions about your options and they’ll review the validity of your claim. If you have a strong enough case, one of our accident-at-work solicitors may offer to help you make a No Win, No Fee brain injury claim.

To find out more about how we can help, you can:

• Phone our legal advisors on 0333 241 2519.
• Connect to our online team via our 24/7 live chat service.

There’s more on work-related brain injury claims throughout this guide but please feel free to call us with any questions that arise.

What Is a Brain Injury?

A brain injury refers to any damage or injury to the brain that affects its functions. It can result from a variety of causes, including traumatic events (traumatic brain injury, or TBI) such as falls from height, vehicle accidents, or violence, as well as non-traumatic causes like strokes, tumours, infections, or lack of oxygen (anoxic brain injury).

Brain injuries can range from mild, causing temporary symptoms like concussions, to severe, leading to long-term complications or death.

Types of Brain Injuries at Work Can We Help With?

Some common brain injuries we can help with if caused by a negligent employer include:

• Concussion: The most common type of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), concussion, is caused by a direct blow or a sudden jolt to the head, leading to temporary loss of brain function.
• Contusion: A bruise (bleeding) on the brain caused by a forceful impact on the head.
• Diffuse Axonal Injury: Often caused by rapid acceleration or deceleration of the brain from vehicle accidents and falls from height, leading to tearing of brain tissue.
• Penetrating Injury: Occurs when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue.
• Toxic Exposure: Brain damage caused by exposure to toxic substances, such as heavy metals or chemicals.

If you have suffered any type of brain damage from an accident at work, you may be entitled to claim for the suffering caused.

Can I Claim Compensation for a Brain Injury at Work?

Your employer, legally, must take reasonable steps to prevent personal injury at work. This is a requirement of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Some of the ways employers can meet their obligations in preventing workplace brain injuries include:

• Conducting workplace risk assessments regularly and taking steps to remove any dangers identified.
• Install warning signs where there is a risk of head and brain injuries i.e. if work is being carried out above meaning there is a risk of something being dropped.
• Providing staff with personal protective equipment (PPE) such as hard hats where needed.
• Ensuring staff are trained on how to do their jobs safely.
• Maintaining and repairing all workplace equipment to ensure that it is safe to use.

As such, it may be possible to begin a personal injury claim after sustaining a brain injury at work if:

• The claimant was owed a duty of care by their employer at the time of the accident; and
• The employer’s negligence caused the accident; and
• The claimant’s brain injury occurred in the last three years and can be linked directly to that negligence.

If you believe that you can sue for brain injury compensation, contact our legal advisors now and learn more about your options.

What Types of Negligence Can Lead to Brain Damage?

Here are a few scenarios that could lead to work-related brain injury compensation claims:

• If you cracked your skull and suffered a traumatic brain injury in a bad fall because of a poorly erected scaffold or platform.
• Where you tripped over stock items that had been left littered around a warehouse and sustained a concussion after hitting your head on the ground.
• If you suffered a minor brain injury after overloaded shelving in an office collapsed and trapped you.
• Where you were hit in the head by flying debris in an industrial accident because a safety screen was missing from a piece of machinery.
• If you suffered a mild brain injury because you were assaulted whilst working as a paramedic because you were sent alone to treat a patient who was known to be aggressive.

This is a small sample of the types of workplace accidents that could result in a brain injury claim. So long as you can prove your brain injury was caused by your employer’s negligence, we could help you to begin a claim.

What Should I Do If I Suspect a Brain Injury at Work?

If you suspect you might have sustained a brain injury in your workplace, you should:

• Go to A&E for treatment if you’re not taken in by an ambulance.
• Report your accident to your employer as soon as you’re able to.
• Log the incident in your employer’s accident report book.
• Comply with any requests from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if they decide to investigate your accident.

The following steps are all important because they can a) help future workplace accidents of a similar nature from occurring and b) provide evidence to support any subsequent brain injury claim.

What Evidence Can Be Used for Brain Injury Claims?

You will only be entitled to compensation for a work-related brain injury if you have enough evidence to prove your case. Some examples of the types of evidence that can be used for brain injury claims include:

• CCTV footage and photographs from the accident scene.
• Medical records and reports to help prove the extent of your injuries.
• Statements from others who witnessed how your accident occurred.
• An accident report form to show where your accident happened and where.
• A personal statement to describe any suffering caused by your injury.

As part of a free consultation, we are happy to assess any evidence you’ve secured so far. As such, if you’d like to discuss a work-related brain damage claim, please call our legal advisors now.

How Long Do I Have to Claim Brain Damage Compensation?

Ordinarily, the Limitation Act 1980 allows a 3-year time limit for most work injury claims. This usually commences on the date of an accident at work. However, where a claimant is unable to manage a claim due to a lack of mental capacity, it may be possible for the time limit to be effectively paused.

That means if a loved one has suffered a serious brain injury at work that has paralysed or incapacitated them, you could seek compensation for them at any time without worrying about a specific time limit.

How Much Compensation for Brain Damage?

The level of compensation paid for brain damage is dependent on how much suffering you’ve endured. Generally, the first element of any compensation you’re awarded, general damages, is based on your pain, suffering and loss of amenity.

Therefore, to understand exactly how you’ve suffered, your solicitor will obtain copies of your medical records. Also, they’ll ask an independent medical expert to review your case as well.

Once they have all the evidence they need, your solicitor will assess your brain injuries with compensation figures listed in the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The brain injury compensation table uses JCG data for reference but please note that settlement amounts are not guaranteed.

• For very severe brain damage, compensation ranges from £282,010 – £403,990.
• For moderately severe brain damage, compensation ranges from £219,070 – £282,010.
• For moderate brain damage, compensation ranges from £43,060 – £219,070.
• For less severe brain damage, compensation ranges from £15,320 – £43,060.
• For minor brain damage, compensation ranges from £2,210 – £12,770.

Brain injuries can also leave you out of pocket. As such, the second element of a payout, special damages, will focus on financial losses. You could therefore claim back:

• The cost of nursing or care at home.
• Home adaptation costs if installing lifts, hoists or similar devices will make it easier to cope with a permanent disability.
• Travel expenses.
• Medical costs.
• Lost earnings and future losses too.

In some cases, brain injury compensation can include a lump sum payment plus an annual payment for the rest of your life to cover all of your medical and care needs.

If you’d like us to check how much compensation for brain damage you could be paid, please speak to a legal advisor.

Can I Claim Brain Injury Compensation for Someone Else?

There are times when victims of a serious injury at work are unable to manage the claims process themselves. For instance, in certain circumstances, you might be able to become a loved one’s litigation friend and seek compensation for them if they lack the mental capacity because of a traumatic brain injury to act alone.

If you are approved to act on the claimant’s behalf, you’ll be allowed to instruct a solicitor and make choices in the claims process in the normal way. If compensation is awarded, you will be able to ask for funds to be released from a court trust fund as and when it is needed to support your loved one.

Do You Need a Solicitor for Brain Damage Claims?

Brain damage claims are probably one of the most complex examples of work injury claims. Therefore, while you could seek damages yourself, you may have a better chance of success with a specialist solicitor by your side. Also, a solicitor’s skills and experience in similar cases could result in a far-improved offer compared to what your employer’s insurers might want to offer.

If your claim is taken on by one of our solicitors, they will manage everything on your behalf from beginning to end. That means you won’t have to answer any difficult legal or medical queries directly. They’ll also ensure that you are kept up to date throughout the claims process.

What’s more, all brain injury claims taken on are processed on a No Win, No Fee basis. That means you won’t need to pay for any of your solicitor’s work unless you receive a compensation payout. If that happens, a success fee will be deducted from your settlement.

Legally, when using a Conditional Fee Agreement (the type of No Win, No Fee contract used by our solicitors), the maximum success fee percentage payable is 25 per cent of your settlement.

To find out if you could make a No Win, No Fee brain injury claim, please call our legal advisors.

Do TBI Claims Go to Court?

In many cases, a TBI claim can be settled between the solicitor and the employer’s insurance provider amicably. This avoids the need for court hearings which can result in a faster resolution of the claim.

However, due to the complex nature of some brain injury claims, cases might need to be heard in court. This might be the case if both parties are unable to agree upon liability for the accident or injuries. A court hearing might also be needed to help ensure that any compensation offered is acceptable and covers all of the needs for the rest of the claimant’s life.

How Long Do Work-Related Brain Injury Claims Take?

There are no set timeframes for brain injury claims and several factors can determine how long yours takes. For instance, if your employer immediately admits that they caused your mild concussion and you have now fully recovered, you may receive compensation in around 6 to 8 months.

However, if you have sustained a far more serious traumatic brain injury, it might take a year or more to settle your claim. The extra time might be needed for negotiations to take place or for the full impact of your injuries to be understood.

In more complex cases where liability has been agreed, interim brain injury compensation could be paid before the claim has been settled fully.

Contacting Us About a Brain Injury Compensation Claim

If you’d like more information on how we can help you claim for a brain injury at work, you can:

• Call 0333 241 2519 to speak to a legal advisor.
• Use our live chat service day or night.

You won’t be put under any pressure when you contact us but you will receive free legal advice about how to proceed. Additionally, if you decide to start legal action, all brain injury claims accepted by our work injury solicitors are managed on a No Win, No Fee basis.