Back Injury Claims – How Much Compensation Can I Claim?

If you have suffered a back injury because of somebody else’s negligence whether it was at work, in a car accident or something else you may be eligible to make a back injury claim for compensation.

If you are interested in claiming compensation for a back injury we can help. If you call our advice centre, a specialist will review your case with you and offer free legal advice about your options. If it appears that your case has a reasonable chance of success, we’ll connect you with one of our personal injury lawyers. If they agree to represent you, they won’t ask to be paid upfront as all claims are managed on a No Win, No Fee basis. That means your lawyer will only be paid if you’re awarded compensation. Knowing that should make the claims process a lot less stressful.

Are you ready to begin a back injury claim straight away? If so, call us today on 0800 652 1345. If you’d rather learn more about how to claim back injury compensation first, please continue reading.

Types of back injuries you could claim compensation for

It is possible to seek compensation for any type of back injury that resulted from an accident or incident caused by somebody else. Some of the most common injuries that are claimed for include:

If your back injury isn’t on our list, don’t worry. We could still help you to start a claim so please call and let us know what happened and we’ll review your options.

Can I claim compensation for a back injury?

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

• You were owed a legal duty of care by the defendant; and
• Their negligence led to an accident; in which
• You suffered a back injury.

Legislation is usually used to check for a duty of care. For example, the Road Traffic Act 1988 might apply for back injuries sustained in a car crash. Similarly, the Health and Safety at Work Act could be used if your back injury occurred in the workplace. You won’t need to be too concerned by this as it’s something your solicitor will assess during their preliminary checks. Your main role during the back injury claims process will be to provide proof to show how the accident occurred and who was to blame. As such, we’ll explain what you could use to support your case later on.

How much compensation for a back injury?

At the time of your accident, how much compensation you could claim for a back injury won’t have even crossed your mind. However, once it’s clear how the injury has affected you there are various reasons why compensation can be very helpful. Firstly, you could claim damages for the pain your injuries have caused (general damages). Secondly, your claim could recoup any financial losses caused by your injury. Each case is unique but back injury compensation could consist of elements covering:

• The pain and suffering your injuries and treatment have caused.
• Any income you’ve lost because your back injury prevented you from working.
• Any mental harm caused by depression, anxiety and other psychological injuries.
• Medical expenses including physiotherapy and other rehabilitation methods.
• The cost of modifying your home if you’ve been left with a long-term disability.
• Costs relating to a professional carer or for the time a loved one spent supporting you through your recovery.
• Future loss of income if you’re injuries are likely to affect your long-term ability to work.
• Travel expenses linked to medical appointments for example.

The value of any back injury claim will be based largely on the severity and impact of your injuries. As such, a claimant with life-changing injuries should be paid more than somebody with whiplash injuries for example.

The process of valuing your back injury compensation claim is important as once you’ve agreed and accepted a settlement there’s no turning back. If you work with one of our personal injury solicitors, they’ll make sure that your case is properly assessed to try and ensure you claim the maximum amount of compensation possible. To discuss how we could help you, please get in touch with our team.

Back injury compensation payouts

Back injuries can be extremely complex and even the most innocuous of tweaks can attract back pain for many months or even years to come. The Judicial College is a body that puts together a summary of historic compensation awards for back injuries and other specific injuries. While these guidelines have no legal standing they are well respected by the courts and solicitors and form a basis for calculating back injury compensation payouts. The guidelines for back injury compensation amounts are as follows:

• A few hundred £’s – £2,450 compensation payout for minor back injuries such as soft tissue damage where recovery is within three months.
• £2,450 -£7,890 compensation for a minor back injury that recovers within a three-month to two-year period.
• £7,890 -£12,510 compensation for minor back injuries that recover within two to five years.
• £12,510 – £27,770 compensation payout for moderate back injury/or exacerbating an existing back injury, dependent on different factors like recovery time, amount of pain, treatment required, and what impact the injury has on the person’s ability to function.
• £27,770 – £38,780 compensation for a moderate back injury resulting in some disability. An example would be a prolapsed intervertebral disc that requires surgery.
• £38,780 – £69,730 compensation for severe back injuries such as fractures of discs that result in continuing pain.
• £74,160 – £88,430 compensation for a severe back injury that has special features such as nerve root damage resulting in loss of sensation, impaired bowel and bladder function, impaired mobility.
• £91,090 – £160,980 compensation for the severest types of back injury. This type of back injury would involve damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots resulting in a combination of serious consequences.

It is also possible to claim for negligence where an accident has exacerbated an existing problem with your back, neck or other limbs. In theory, this is relatively easy to prove with a simple medical examination and x-rays, etc.

What accidents could I claim back injury compensation for?

Here are a few accident scenarios that could lead to back injury compensation:

• If you tripped on a raised paving slab.
• Where you were knocked off your bicycle by a motorist who failed to see you.
• If you slipped in a shop because a leak or spillage wasn’t cleared up quickly.
• If your back was injured at work because of a manual handling accident.
• Where a child hurts their back after falling from a poorly maintained climbing frame at school.
• If you damaged your back after a faulty chair collapsed.
• If you sustained a back injury in a bus accident caused by the bus driver.
• Where you were struck from behind as a pedestrian and suffered injuries.
• If you injured your back whilst participating in a sporting activity because of an unsafe pitch.

Again, don’t worry if your accident isn’t listed, we could still help you claim compensation for a back injury. Please call 0800 652 1345 today to check your chances of being compensated.

Providing proof for back injury compensation claims

Most back injury compensation claims will be passed to an insurance company by the defendant. Even in the most straightforward cases, they won’t admit liability or pay compensation unless you can show them that their client was responsible for your accident and subsequent injuries. For that reason, you will want to supply as much proof as possible. This could include:

• Accident report forms. If you’re injured at work, on business premises or in a public place, you should report the incident as soon as possible. Legally, the accident will need to be noted in an accident report book. Your copy will be used to show where and when the accident occurred.
• Medical records. It’s important to have your back injury assessed and treated at a hospital or minor injuries unit. If you decide to claim, x-rays and medical records could be requested to help prove the severity of your injuries.
• Witness details. If anybody else was present when your accident occurred, ask them to provide their contact details. Should there be any argument over liability, your solicitor could ask them to provide a statement of what they saw.
• Photographic proof. If you’re able to do so safely, you should take photographs of the accident scene from various angles. If possible, try to do this before anything is removed or repaired.
• Video footage. It’s also a good idea to seek out any dashcam or CCTV footage of the accident if it exists. By law, you may be entitled to a copy of any recording of yourself but you should act quickly as it’s not always retained for too long.
• A diary. Something else that might help is to keep a record of how your back injury has affected you. In a diary, you could record any spending relating to your injuries. Also, you could include details of any events you couldn’t attend and the dates you weren’t able to work because of your back injury.

As part of our initial free consultation, we’ll review any proof you’ve managed to secure so far. If you already have enough to proceed, we’ll let you know. Otherwise, we’ll explain what else you might need to strengthen your claim.

Back injury claim time limits

It’s important to note that you must make a back injury claim within the applicable time limits. In most cases, this is a 3-year period that will start from:

• The date that your accident occurred; or
• Your date of knowledge. This may be relevant if spinal injuries weren’t diagnosed until later (repetitive strain injuries for example).

Although 3-years is a relatively long time, there are a few good reasons to begin your back injury claim as soon as possible. One is to allow your solicitor plenty of time to collect proof and medical records. Another is that you could benefit from private medical treatment paid for by the defendant if they accept liability for your injuries.

Importantly, the limitation period does not apply to back injury claims involving children. A parent or responsible adult is able to represent them in a personal injury claim at any time before their 18^th birthday. This is known as being a litigation friend for which the process is explained here.

Please call today if you’d like to check how long you’ve got left to start your claim.

No Win, No Fee back injury claims

We believe that you’ll have a better chance of being compensated fairly for your back injury if you’re represented by a personal injury solicitor. We also know that many people are put off from using one because of the fees involved. For that reason, our solicitors provide a No Win, No Fee service for any accepted claim.

That means you don’t pay your solicitor upfront and they’ll only be paid for their work if you are compensated. To make this agreement formal, you’ll both sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

The CFA will list what work your solicitor will do and when you’ll need to pay them. If you are compensated, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from your settlement amount. This fee is a percentage of your compensation that’s detailed in the CFA. Legally, it can be no higher than 25%.

To see if one of our No Win, No Fee solicitors could represent you, please get in touch today.

Start a back injury compensation claim today

The simplest way to start a back injury compensation claim today is to call one of our specialist advisors. If you call us on 0800 652 1345, you’ll receive free legal advice after your case has been reviewed so there’s nothing to lose by calling.

If your case appears to be strong enough, and you decide to proceed, we could appoint one of our No Win, No Fee solicitors to begin working on it straight away.

Please use live chat to connect with us if you have any further questions on back injury claims, or claim your free consultation here.