While everyday activities can place great pressure on the joints and ankles, these pressures are greatly enhanced due to accidents such as slips, trips and falls or sports-related accidents. Even though many of us take our mobility for granted, an ankle injury can have a major impact on your private life and your working life. If your ankle was injured in an accident that was not your fault, you may have grounds to start an ankle injury compensation claim for any suffering.
We offer free legal advice on ankle injury claims so please call one of our specially trained advisors on 0800 652 1345 today. To learn a bit more about your options before calling, please read on.
Can I claim compensation for an ankle injury?
Before we take a look at what types of accidents could result in ankle injury claims, let’s review the criteria our solicitors will use to verify whether a claim has a reasonable chance of success. Before your case is taken on, your solicitor will check whether:
- You were owed a duty of care by the defendant.
- The defendant caused an accident through an act of negligence.
- Your ankle was injured as a direct result of that accident.
Duty of care can usually be derived from some form of legislation. For example, if you slipped while shopping and suffered a sprained ankle, the Occupiers Liability Act 1957 might apply. Similarly, if your ankle is crushed by falling objects whilst working, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 could be relevant.
Don’t worry about which legislation is relevant in your case, though, as this is something your solicitor will verify on your behalf. Instead, you could concentrate on gathering proof to show how your ankle was injured and who was responsible. We’ll provide more details on this later on.
Common ankle injuries you could be compensated for
Our solicitors may be able to help you claim for any of the following:
- Sprained ankle.
- A broken or fractured ankle.
- Dislocated ankle.
- Strained ankle.
- Severe bruising.
- Cuts and lacerations.
- Other soft tissue injuries.
The severity of your ankle injury will determine how much compensation will be awarded if your claim is successful. Your solicitor will not be able to assess this alone as they are not a medical professional. As such, the claims process requires that an independent medical report is obtained. To facilitate this, you’ll meet with a medical expert who’ll examine your ankle injury and discuss its impact with you. They may also check through your medical records. Once finished, a report will be filed with your solicitor to detail your prognosis.
Types of ankle injury compensation claims
Over the next few sections of this guide, we’ll consider what types of accidents could lead to an ankle injury and a subsequent compensation claim. If you don’t see an example that matches your scenario, please get in touch as we will still review your case for free.
Ankle injuries from slips, trips and falls
Ankle injuries are very commonly caused by slips, trips or falls. Some examples of when they could lead to a claim include:
- If you slip on a recently cleaned floor that is still wet and warning signs weren’t there to alert you to the hazard. See our page on wet floor compensation claims.
- Where you twisted an ankle after slipping on a spilt drink in a supermarket. See our page on supermarket accident claims.
- If you tripped on a pavement and tear ligaments in your ankle. See our page on pavement accident claims.
- Where you suffered a broken ankle because of a damaged manhole cover. See our page on manhole injury claims.
You could be eligible to claim for any type of ankle injury caused by a slip, trip or fall in a public place accident or at work. Please call if you’d like us to review your options with you.
Ankle injury at work
Your employer needs to take steps to try and keep you safe whilst working. This forms part of their duty of care. If they don’t and you suffer an ankle injury at work, you may be able to claim against them. Examples of workplace negligence that could result in a claim include:
- If your ankle is dislocated after a heavy item fell on it because it was not stacked correctly.
- If sprained your ankle after slipping on a wet floor in an unorganised kitchen.
- Where you tripped on a defect in the company’s car park such as a pothole.
- If your ankle was crushed by a piece of machinery because its safety features stopped working due to poor maintenance.
- Where you suffered cuts or lacerations to your ankle because you were not trained properly on how to use cutting equipment.
Please don’t worry about claiming compensation from your employer as it is illegal to be treated differently for doing so. That means you cannot be sacked, disciplined or demoted for making a genuine accident at work compensation claim. Call today and one of our advisors will review your case and explain your options for free.
Sporting incidents
You might think that, due to the nature of some sports, you cannot claim compensation for ankle injuries at sporting events. However, you could be entitled to compensation if:
- Your ankle was injured because of poor coaching.
- You sprained or strained your ankle because of an unsafe pitch or court.
- You tripped and damaged your ankle whilst spectating because of a wet or uneven floor.
Please let us know if you’d like to make an ankle injury compensation claim relating to a sporting incident and we’ll explain your options for free.
Road traffic accidents
It’s important to note that all road users owe each other a duty of care. That means ankle injury compensation claims could be made by pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, passengers and motorbike riders injured in an accident caused by somebody else’s negligence.
You may also be able to claim for an ankle injury caused by road defects such as potholes or sinkholes. For example, you may be able to claim if injured after your bike hit a pothole that had not been inspected or repaired by the local authority in line with its responsibilities under the Highways Act 1980.
How much compensation for an injured ankle can I claim?
We should point out that compensation for ankle injuries is designed to cover any physical or psychological injuries as well as any financial costs. As such, if your claim is successful, your settlement could cover:
- The initial pain caused by your ankle injury and any ongoing suffering.
- Any distress, anxiety, depression or other mental trauma resulting from your injuries. See our psychological injury claims page.
- Lost income if your employer does not pay full sick pay.
- Travel expenses linked to your injuries.
- Care costs even if a family member looked after you for free.
- Remedial medical treatment (including private service in some cases) and physiotherapy costs.
- The impact your ankle injury has on hobbies, family life and social activities.
- The cost of replacing or repairing personal items damaged in your accident.
- Mobility changes and home adaptations to help deal with any permanent disability relating to your ankle injury.
- Future loss of income where your earnings will be lowered by your injuries.
If you work with a personal injury lawyer from our team, they’ll discuss your ankle injury with you in detail to try and make sure you are compensated fully.
Ankle injury compensation amounts for general damages
The level of general damages and ankle injury settlement amount will obviously depend upon the severity of the injury to the ankle but guidelines are released on a regular basis showing a range of compensation amounts for similar injuries. The current guidelines are as follows:
- For modest ankle injuries that might include fractures, sprains and ligament injuries the settlement awarded could be up to £16,770. You should note that this settlement amount will depend on recovery time for the ankle, whether the ankle fully recovers, if there is scarring, discomfort, aching and so forth.
- If the ankle injury is modest in nature and completely recovers with no ongoing symptoms or scarring the compensation is unlikely to be higher than £9,390.
- Where the ankle injury has made a complete recovery in under a year the compensation amount is unlikely to be higher than £6,710. Modest ankle injuries that take little time to heal will attract lesser settlements.
- In moderate ankle injuries like fractures and ankle ligament tears that lead to less severe disabilities such as difficulty walking for a long time, awkwardness on stairs, walking on uneven ground, and potential risk of future osteoarthritis, the compensation or settlement amount could be from £16,770 to £32,450.
- In severe ankle injury claims cases where long periods of time have been spent treating the injury, where pins and plates might have been inserted into the ankle with the injury leading to significant disability, you might receive between £38,210 to £61,090.
- For very severe ankle injuries which might be considered limited or unusual. This type of ankle settlement amount would compensate for ankle injuries such as transmalleolar fracture of the ankle and extensive soft tissue damage leading to deformity with a risk of future damage to the leg and therefore amputation. Very severe ankle injury compensation claims such as this could be settled for between £61,090 to £85,070.
Although these amounts are a guide for personal injury solicitors to follow when calculating ankle injury settlements, due to differentiating factors in personal injury claims involving ankle injuries the eventual settlement figure awarded could be higher or lower.
Providing proof for an ankle injury compensation claim
It is quite likely that any defendant or their insurer will automatically deny liability for your accident and injuries. If that’s the case, you’ll need to provide compelling proof to show who was responsible for your ankle injury and how bad it was. The types of proof that could be used include:
- Medical reports. It is important to have any ankle assessed and treated by a medical professional to try and improve your chances of a full recovery. Your solicitor could request copies of any medical reports and x-rays to help demonstrate the extent of your injuries.
- Witness details. Where liability for your accident is contested, witness statements could help to prove what happened. As such, try to obtain contact details from anybody who saw what happened.
- Accident reports. If you’re injured on business premises (or at work), you should report the incident. An accident report can go some way to proving where and when you were injured.
- Photographs. Where possible, you should take pictures of the aftermath of your accident to try and demonstrate how it happened. This should include a picture of the root cause before it is removed.
- CCTV footage. If your accident was caught on camera, try to obtain a copy of any relevant footage before it’s deleted. The same is true for any dashcam footage if your ankle was injured in a car crash.
As part of our free assessment of your claim, we’ll review any proof you have already obtained so please have it ready when you get in touch.
Time limits apply to ankle injury claims
As with any personal injury claim, a 3-year time limit applies if you’re seeking damages for an ankle injury. The limitation period, in most cases, will start from the date you were injured.
We would suggest that it’s best to start your claim as soon as you can for a number of reasons. These include:
- You’ll find it easier to recollect the events leading up to your accident.
- There will be plenty of time for evidence and medical reports to be collected.
- Your solicitor may be able to secure an interim payment to cover the cost of private medical treatment to help speed up your recovery.
While some claims will be processed fairly quickly (around 6 to 9 months) where liability is accepted and you’ve already recovered, more complex claims or those that are contested might take more than a year to be finalised.
No Win, No Fee claims
Our solicitors provide a No Win, No Fee service for any ankle injury claim they agree to work on. That means you won’t need to pay their fees in advance if your case is accepted. Instead, you’ll both sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) that sets out what your solicitor will do for you. It will make it clear that:
- You don’t need to pay your solicitor upfront for their work.
- You won’t pay them if the claim fails.
- If your claim is won, you’ll pay a success fee.
The success fee is a percentage of any compensation you receive that’s deducted by your solicitor before you are paid. Your success fee will be explained in the CFA.
Start an ankle injury compensation claim today
We hope this guide on how to claim for an ankle injury has made your options clearer. If you have decided to seek damages, we’re here to help. To begin your claim, simply call our team on 0800 652 1345 today.
Whatever you decide to do after your consultation, your case will be reviewed and you’ll receive free legal advice about your next steps. If possible, we’ll refer you to a personal injury solicitor from our team who may agree to represent you on a No Win, No Fee basis.
To find out more about ankle injury compensation claims, please call our advice centre or use live chat to ask any questions.