Brain Injury Claims – How Much Compensation Can I Claim?

Suffering a brain injury can have a dramatic impact on your life and those around you. Some brain injuries can be life-changing or require many months or years of rehabilitation. Importantly, if you’ve suffered a brain injury because of another party’s negligence, you could be compensated for your suffering. This article on brain injury claims will therefore explain the claims process, describe the types of accidents that could lead to a claim and show you what you could be compensated for.

Our team is ready to offer free legal advice if you call for a no-obligation consultation. They’ll review how your brain injury occurred and review your options with you. If there are sufficient grounds to proceed, your claim could be referred to one a personal injury solicitor on our team. They’ll reduce the stress involved with legal action by working for you on a No Win, No Fee basis if your claim proceeds.

Please continue reading to learn more about when brain injury claims are possible. Alternatively, if you’re ready to discuss your claim with us today, please call us on 0800 652 1345.

Can I claim compensation for a brain injury?

Before a personal injury lawyer can help you to claim compensation for a brain injury, they’ll need to check that there is a legal basis to proceed. As such, during their initial checks, they’ll try to find out whether:

• A duty of care was owed to you by the defendant; and
• An act of negligence by the defendant caused an accident to occur;
• Your brain injury was sustained during the accident.

Legislation is used to determine whether a duty of care was in place at the time of your accident. So long as the accident wasn’t your fault, you won’t need to worry too much about this – your solicitor will make all the necessary checks before accepting a brain injury claim.

Proving that negligence caused your brain injury can be a challenge but our team of solicitors have decades of experience and know what proof is needed to present as strong a case as possible.

Later on in this article, we’ll review the types of proof that could be used to support a brain injury claim.

Common types of brain injuries compensation could be claimed for

Here are some of the most common brain injuries that we could help you get compensated for:

• Concussions. When a bump to the head causes symptoms like dizziness, confusion, headaches, memory loss and speech problems. Concussion injuries can occur whether you were knocked unconscious or not.
• Subarachnoid haemorrhage. Where bleeding on the brain leads to severe sudden headaches, nausea and blurred vision.
• Diffuse axonal injuries. These brain injuries usually occur in high-impact collisions such as those seen in road accident claims. When the brain is violently moved back and forth, nerve fibres in the brain called axons can be damaged.
• Subdural haematoma. Where blood pools between the skull and the surface of the brain. In major traumatic injuries, a subdural haematoma can occur rapidly whereas, for less serious injuries, blood may take a few weeks to build up.

If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury in an accident that was caused by someone else, please get in touch if you’d like us to review your claim for free.

Common symptoms of brain injuries

It goes without saying that if you’ve suffered any type of trauma to the head, you should seek medical treatment as soon as possible. Some of the most common symptoms of brain injuries include:

• Persistent headaches.
• Loss of consciousness.
• Seizures or convulsions.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Dilation in the eyes.
• Speech problems.
• Sensitivity to sound or light.

Common causes of brain injury claims

Here are some scenarios that might allow you to claim compensation for a brain injury:

• If you suffer a brain injury in a workplace accident after poorly stacked stock fell onto you.
• Where you slipped on a wet floor that had been recently cleaned (but no warning signs were used) and banged your head during the fall.
• If you were struck on the head in a shop because a poorly secured overhead sign fell onto you.
• Where you were knocked unconscious in a cycling accident after your bike was hit by a speeding vehicle.
• If you were a passenger in a car and banged your head on the dashboard after your vehicle was hit from behind.
• If you fell from scaffolding at work and sustained a brain injury because your employer forced you to work in adverse weather conditions.

Even if we’ve not described the cause of your brain injury here, if it happened because of someone else’s negligence, we could help you to claim for your suffering.

How much compensation for a brain injury can I claim?

Any settlement awarded for a brain injury aims to cover the suffering you’ve endured and any associated expenses. As such, if you file a claim, you could be compensated for:

• The physical pain and suffering caused by your brain injury.
• Any psychological suffering caused by distress, depression and other mental health injuries.
• The loss of enjoyment of your usual hobbies or missing out on social and family events.
• Lost earnings as well as any future reduction in your income.
• The cost of a carer (or the time a family member spent supporting you).
• Medical expenses (private hospital treatment, prescription fees etc).
• Travel costs.
• Adaptations to your home (or vehicle) to improve your quality of life.

As you can only claim compensation for your brain injury once, it’s important to consider all aspects of your suffering.

Brain injury compensation amounts

The level of general damages compensation relates directly to the injuries incurred and the impact on a person’s life. The guidelines that personal injury solicitors use for calculating brain injury compensation amounts are as follows:

• Minor head injury with minimal brain damage, £2,210 – £12,770
• Less severe brain damage, £15,320 – £43,060
• Moderate brain injury, £43,060 – £219,070
• Moderately severe brain injury, £219,070 – £282,010
• Very severe brain injury, £282,010 – £403,990

If you start a claim with a solicitor on our team, their primary focus will be on making sure you receive the maximum level of compensation possible.

Claiming compensation for a brain injury on behalf of someone else

In some cases, a claimant’s brain injury may mean they don’t have the mental capacity to claim compensation themselves. If that’s true, a friend or family member can become their litigation friend and handle the claim for them. The same is true if a child under 18 years old suffers a brain injury.

If you wish to represent someone else in a brain injury claim then we can help. Your solicitor will help you to register as a litigation friend and once you’ve been approved, the claim will proceed as normal.

Any compensation awarded will be held in trust by a court until a child turns 18 or the claimant regains their mental capacity to handle their affairs. Until then, the litigation friend can ask the court to release funds when needed.

Fatal brain injury

If you have lost someone following a brain injury, we know that no amount of money will make up for your loss. However, if you were financially dependent on the deceased, you may be entitled to claim compensation. Additionally, you might be entitled to a bereavement payment or to claim back funeral expenses and other costs.

Please get in touch if you’d like us to help – your call will be handled sensitively by a friendly member of our team.

Providing proof for a brain injury compensation claim

Regardless of who your brain injury compensation claim is against, it will more than likely be handled by an insurance company. They will usually start by denying liability for your accident and injuries so your solicitor will need to supply proof to show what happened. This can include:

• Photographs. Pictures of an accident scene can be a very good way of demonstrating how your brain injury happened.
• Witness statements. If anyone else saw what happened, your solicitor might ask them for a statement of what they witnessed.
• Medical records. Your medical notes, x-rays and brain scan results could all be obtained from the hospital to prove your diagnosis.
• Accident report forms. Most organisations have to keep a record of accidents on their premises. As such, a copy could be obtained to prove the date and location of your accident.
• CCTV or Dashcam footage. You could also use camera recordings of your accident to prove who was to blame for your brain injury.

Additionally, all personal injury claims require an independent medical assessment. For this reason, your solicitor will arrange an appointment with a specialist who’ll examine your injuries. They’ll also look at your medical records and talk with you to find out how you’ve been affected by your brain injury.

Brain injury claim time limits

If you wish to claim compensation for a brain injury, we’d suggest you start as soon as possible. The time limit for all personal injury claims is 3 years in the UK. Usually, this will begin from the date of the accident. However, the time limit will not apply if the claim is:

• For a child (under 18 years old); or
• For someone without the mental capacity to claim themselves (in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005)

In these cases, claims can be made at any time before the child turns 18 or the claimant regains their mental capacity.

Minor brain injury claims could be settled in around 9 months or so. More complex cases can take quite a bit longer. In cases where the full extent of the brain injury is not fully understood, claims can take more than a year or two. However, to help you cope with the financial impact of your injury, your solicitor could request interim payments (explained here) to help cover medical expenses, care costs or loss of income linked to your injuries.

No Win, No Fee claims

In our experience, many potential claimants don’t take legal action because they’re worried about the cost of using a solicitor. For that reason, ours work on a No Win, No Fee basis for all accepted brain injury claims. That means there are no upfront legal fees and you won’t pay any if the claim fails.

If you proceed with a claim and are represented by a personal injury solicitor on our team, they will:

• Find out more about how you’ve suffered by discussing your injuries with you in detail.
• Handle all communication with the defendant or their insurers.
• Collect medical records and supporting proof.
• File the brain injury claim on your behalf.
• Try to counter any objections or arguments raised by the defendant.
• Negotiate on your behalf if they believe a settlement offer is too low to cover all of your suffering.

To cover the cost of your solicitor’s work, a success fee (a set percentage of your compensation) will be deducted if your claim is won.

Start a compensation claim for a brain injury today

If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury that was caused by someone else, please call 0800 652 1345 if you’d like to discuss your options. A specialist advisor will answer any questions you have and review your claim on a no-obligation basis.

Should your claim be accepted, your solicitor will manage everything on a No Win, No Fee basis. Knowing that you don’t need to pay legal fees unless you are compensated usually makes the whole process much less stressful.

Our live chat team are available now if you have any more questions about brain injury claims.