Multiple Injury Claims – A Guide to Claiming Compensation

If you’ve sustained multiple injuries in an accident at work that was caused by your employer, you could be eligible to claim compensation from them. Therefore, we’ve written this guide to claiming compensation for multiple injuries, exploring how multiple injury claims work and when you may be entitled to make one. We’ve also reviewed how compensation for multiple injuries is calculated.

You don’t have to deal with your claim alone. If you call us now, an advisor can review your case for free and explain your legal options. They’ll also check whether your case is strong enough for you to be connected with one of our accident-at-work solicitors. If it is and you decide to go forward with a claim, your solicitor will manage your case on a No Win, No Fee basis.

For more on how we can help with multiple injury compensation claims, you can:

• Call our team on 0333 241 2519 now.
• Use our free live chat service 24 hours a day.

We’ve answered some common questions on claiming compensation for multiple injuries throughout this guide. If you think of anything else, please feel free to call.

What Are Multiple Injury Claims?

A multiple injury claim is when someone seeks compensation because they’ve been hurt in more than one way due to an accident or incident that generally wasn’t their fault. This kind of claim recognises that the combined impact of several injuries can be more complex and severe than the sum of the individual injuries, potentially leading to greater physical, emotional, and financial burdens on the injured party.

Can I Make a Multiple Injury Claim?

Proving that you were owed a duty of care by your employer is vital if you’re to be compensated for multiple injuries sustained in an accident at work.

Various laws can be used to prove that duty of care. Specifically, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 means that employers have to ensure, “so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work” of all their employees. Other pieces of legislation may apply depending on the nature of your work.

Some examples of the steps employers can take to protect their staff include:

• Assess the workplace regularly to try and identify any hazards and then remove them where possible.
• Provide staff with personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect them from hazards that can’t be removed.
• Train staff on the company’s health and safety procedures.
• Maintain all workplace equipment properly and ensure any faults are fixed swiftly.
• Offer role-specific safety training i.e. for those working at height or conducting manual handling operations.

As such, a multiple injury claim against your employer might be feasible when you can demonstrate that:

• At the time of your accident, your employer owed you a legal duty of care.
• Your accident was caused by your employer’s negligent actions (or lack of action).
• As a result of your accident, you suffered multiple injuries in the last three years.

As you might expect, your employer’s insurers may try to contest your claim to limit how much compensation they award if any. Therefore, we’ll review the types of evidence that could be used to strengthen multiple injury compensation claims shortly.

What Types of Negligence Can Lead to Multiple Injuries at Work?

To give you some idea about the types of accidents that can result in multiple injuries at work that we can help with, we’ve listed a few different scenarios below:

• Where you were struck by a forklift truck in a pedestrian-only part of a warehouse. As a result of the collision, you suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung and internal bleeding.
• While working at height, you slipped and fell to the ground because you were not given a safety harness. The fall from height caused serious neck and back injuries which left you paralysed from the waist down and unable.
• Due to a lack of manual handling training, you suffered a slipped disc in your back as well as in a hernia which meant you were unable to work for almost a year.
• While working on a building site, you fell down a deep excavation due to a lack of warning signs. You were hospitalised for more than 5 months while pins and screws were used to fix multiple fractures in your legs, feet and ankles. As a result, you will always need a walking stick and have been left with a limp.

These were only a few scenarios of serious accidents that could end in a multiple injury claim. If you’ve been injured in any other way, please feel free to contact our legal advisors for a free case review.

What Should I Do If I Sustain Multiple Injuries in the Workplace?

If you sustain multiple injuries in an accident at work, you should:

• Visit A&E if you’re not taken by an ambulance so that your injuries can be properly diagnosed and treated.
• Let your employer know about the incident as soon as possible and make sure it is logged in the company’s accident report book.
• Comply with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if they decide to investigate the cause of your accident.

Taking the steps described above can help in a number of ways. Firstly, your employer could use the information to prevent others from being injured in similar accidents going forward.

Secondly, all of the above steps could provide evidence to support your case if you decide to claim compensation for multiple injuries at a later date.

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

If you claim compensation following an accident at work, your case is likely to be dealt with by your employer’s insurance provider. They will not pay compensation for multiple injuries unless you can prove a) how serious they are, b) that they were sustained at work and c) that your employer was responsible for them.

Some examples of evidence that can be helpful when claiming for multiple injuries include:

• Copies of X-rays, MRI scans and medical records to prove your diagnosis.
• Statements from anyone who witnessed your accident.
• Copies of an accident report form or an HSE investigation report.
• Video footage of your accident i.e. from your company’s CCTV cameras.
• Photographs that show the cause of your accident plus any visible injuries.

If you decide to work with one of our accident-at-work solicitors, they will review any evidence you can supply and may agree to gather additional information to support your multiple injury claim as part of their service.

How Long Do I Have to Claim Multiple Injury Compensation?

Usually, accident at work claims have a 3-year time limit which typically starts on the date the injury occured. However, if you’ve suffered internal injuries or injuries that don’t present any immediate symptoms, your 3-year limitation period might not start until the date your condition was diagnosed by a medical professional.

Importantly, claims made outside of the time limit could become statute-barred according to the Limitation Act 1980. This means that if your claim is made too late, you could miss out on any compensation you’re entitled to. Therefore, it’s worth starting the claims process at your earliest opportunity.

What Compensation Can I Claim for Multiple Injuries at Work?

The level of compensation you’ll receive if you make a successful mulitple injury claim will be typically based on:

• How serious each of your injuries is.
• The level of pain and suffering you’ve endured.
• Any impact your injuries have had on your normal activities.
• Whether you’ve recovered in full or whether your symptoms are permanent.

To establish how each of your injuries has affected you, your solicitor will ask an independent medical expert to examine you and find out how you’ve been affected by your injuries.

The report that follows may be compared to injuries from previous similar cases and compensation amounts listed in the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).

After evaluating each injury individually, the overall impact of all injuries combined is considered. This is important because multiple injuries can often have a cumulative effect that is greater than the sum of the individual effects. For instance, the combination of injuries might lead to a longer recovery time, greater pain and suffering, or more significant lifestyle changes than would be expected from each injury alone.

However, the compensation amounts for individual injuries are not simply added together. Instead, adjustments are made to reflect the total impact on the claimant’s life. This might mean a larger settlement than for a single injury but calculated in a way that accurately reflects the combined effect of the injuries.

In addition to the suffering caused by your injuries, multiple injury claims could cover any expenses you’ve incurred such as:

• Care or support costs.
• Medical and rehabilitation costs.
• Lost earnings.
• The cost of making changes to your home to help improve your quality of life.
• Travel expenses.
• Future loss of earnings.

If you’d like a legal advisor to check how much your multiple injury claim might be worth, please contact us now.

Can I Claim for Multiple Injuries Caused by Faulty Workplace Equipment?

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 is another health and safety law that places a duty of care on employers.  Essentially, it means that all workplace machinery, equipment and tools should be fit for purpose, well maintained and in good working order.

As such, if you suffer multiple injuries because of damaged or faulty workplace equipment, you could be entitled to claim compensation for your suffering.

Do I Need a Solicitor to Make a Coompensation Claim?

Multiple injury claims can be some of the most complex examples of personal injury claims. While it is possible to deal with the claims process on your own, you might have a better chance of winning your claim if you’re represented by a specially trained solicitor. Their legal skills could also result in a higher level of compensation.

When our solicitors take on multiple injury compensation claims, some of the services they can offer include:

• Finding and assessing evidence to support your claim.
• Communicating with your employer or their insurers so you don’t need to discuss the case with them.
• Ensuring all paperwork is filed correctly and on time.
• Sending regular updates so that you’re aware of how the claim is progressing.
• Trying to negotiate as fair a compensation payout as possible.

To reduce the financial risks often associated with solicitors, ours provide a No Win, No Fee multiple injury claims service. If your case is taken on, your solicitor will ask you to sign a contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

Your CFA means that:

• Legal fees for your solicitor’s work aren’t paid upfront.
• You don’t pay for your solicitor’s work if the claim fails.
• Where compensation is awarded, an agreed percentage will act as your solicitor’s success fee.

So that you keep hold of the majority of any compensation payout, the maximum success fee percentage when using a CFA is 25 per cent.

Will I Have to Go to Court?

Although multiple injury claims can be complex, solicitors and insurers will usually settle them out of court. That’s because court hearings can be costly and time-consuming.

That said, a case might head to the courtroom if:

• The solicitor believes strongly that the claimant has a valid case; but
• The employer won’t take responsibility for the accident; or
• Their settlement offer is lower than the solicitor will accept.

In the unlikely event that a multiple injury claim does go to court, your solicitor will be there to support you throughout.

Contacting Us About a Multiple Injury Compensation Claim

We’re ready to help if you’d like to discuss a multiple injury at work claim. You can contact our team by:

• Calling 0333 241 2519 to speak to a legal advisor.
• Connecting to our free live chat service.

While there’s certainly no obligation or pressure to proceed, any multiple injury claims accepted by our specialist solicitors are handled on a No Win, No Fee basis.