No Win, No FeeSuffering any form of eye injury can be scary, painful and disorientating. While some eye injuries will be nothing more than a short-lived inconvenience, others can be life-changing and even result in partial or complete blindness. If your eye has been injured in an accident caused by another party’s negligence, you might be entitled to compensation by filing an eye injury claim against the responsible party.
Our team of specially trained advisors can check whether you are likely to be eligible. In the first instance, they’ll assess your eye injury compensation claim with you by offering a no-obligation consultation. Following free legal advice, they’ll help you decide whether to proceed with your claim. If it’s suitable, we’ll ask one of our personal injury lawyers to speak with you. They’ll work on a No Win, No Fee basis if they agree to represent you. This means you won’t have to cover their costs or fees unless you’re compensated.
If you’ve suffered eye injuries because of an accident that wasn’t your fault, call us on 0800 652 1345 for free advice. Alternatively, please continue reading.
Am I Entitled to Compensation for an Eye Injury?
Our solicitors don’t want to waste your time so they’ll only agree to work for you if your case has a reasonable chance of success. That means that before an eye injury claim is taken on, they’ll check whether:
- The defendant in the claim owed you a duty of care legally; and
- As a result of their negligence, the defendant caused an accident to occur; and
- You suffered an eye injury as a direct result of that negligence.
Your solicitor will check that a duty of care existed during their initial checks so you needn’t be too concerned about this. In general, it can be established by various laws such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 or the Occupiers Liability Act 1957. To help prove the other criteria, you’ll need to supply proof so we’ll explain what can be used later on in this guide.
Common Examples of Eye Injury Claims
Common examples of when you could be entitled to compensation for an eye injury caused by someone else include:
- Workplace accidents: Eye injuries in the workplace often result from exposure to chemicals, dust, or flying debris, particularly in construction, manufacturing, or laboratory settings. Lack of protective eyewear or safety measures can lead to serious eye damage.
- Exposure to hazardous substances: Chemical burns or eye irritation can occur from improper handling of cleaning agents, industrial chemicals, or hazardous materials without appropriate safety equipment.
- Road traffic accidents: Eye injuries are common in car crashes, particularly from shattered glass, airbags deploying, or flying debris.
- Medical negligence: Errors during eye surgery, such as cataract or laser eye procedures, or delayed diagnosis of conditions like glaucoma or retinal detachment, can cause avoidable vision loss or long-term damage.
- Defective products: Faulty products, such as defective power tools or exploding batteries, can cause eye injuries. Product manufacturers may be held liable for injuries caused by design or production faults.
- Criminal assaults: Eye injuries resulting from deliberate violence, such as punches, acid attacks, or objects being thrown, can cause severe damage, including permanent vision loss.
To claim eye injury compensation, you must prove that another party’s negligence or actions caused your injury and that it resulted in harm.
Claiming Compensation If You’re a Victim of an Assault
If you’ve suffered eye injuries after you’ve been assaulted by a criminal, the claims process here is not the same as other personal injury claims. Instead, you will claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). Their criteria require you to have reported the crime to the police but, importantly, the criminal does not have to have been caught, charged or prosecuted for your claim to be processed.
Please contact our team as we may be able to assist with this process.
What Types of Eye Injuries Can I Claim For?
You could claim for any injury to your eyes caused by another person’s negligence. Some of the most common eye injuries claimed for include:
- Corneal abrasion – this is where the surface of the eye is scratched.
- Penetration by foreign bodies.
- Broken eye socket.
- Traumatic iritis – where the iris becomes inflamed following trauma to the eye.
- Subconjunctival haemorrhages or bleeding in the eye.
- Blindness, partial blindness or double vision.
If you’ve suffered an eye injury because of someone else, why not call our team to see if we can help you claim compensation for your suffering?
What Evidence Do I Need for an Eye Injury Compensation Claim?
When you make an eye injury compensation claim, it will usually be transferred by the defendant to their insurance company. Generally, they won’t compensate you a penny unless you can prove exactly how their client caused your eye injury and how it has affected you. As such, gathering proof for your claim is an important part of the process. The sort of proof that could help includes:
- Medical evidence: Medical records from the hospital, medical centre or optician that treated you can be a good way of proving the extent of your injuries. You or your solicitor can obtain these records if you decide to claim.
- Witness details: Proving how your accident happened is important. This can be tricky if it’s just your word against the defendants. As such, you should get the contact details of any witnesses for your solicitor who may ask them to provide a statement if necessary.
- Photographs: If you can do so, you should try and take photographs after your accident. Where possible, try to capture the cause of your accident before it is replaced, removed or repaired.
- Accident reports: By law, most organisations must keep a record of accidents on their premises. You are entitled to a copy of the report which can be useful proof if the defendant tries to deny that your accident took place.
- Camera recordings: Sometimes, CCTV footage or dashcam recordings can be used as proof to show how an accident occurred. If yours was caught on camera, act quickly to secure a copy of the footage before it’s deleted.
As part of our free consultations, a claims advisor will review any proof you’ve managed to obtain thus far. If anything extra is required, they’ll let you know, but we could appoint one of our personal injury solicitors to start your claim right away.
What Is the Time Limit to Make an Eye Injury Claim?
As with any type of injury claim, eye injury claims have a 3-year time limit. In most cases, this will start from the date of your accident but could start later if your eye injury was not diagnosed and linked to negligence until a later date.
There are several benefits to starting your claim as early as possible including:
- You’ll have plenty of time to secure proof that negligence was the cause.
- Your solicitor will have time to arrange for medical reports.
- An interim payment could be requested so that you can be treated privately before your claim is finalised.
If your child has suffered an eye injury following an accident at school, for instance, the time limit does not apply. Child injury claims on behalf of children can be made at any time before their 18th birthday. Please see our page on becoming a litigation friend if needed.
How Much Compensation for an Eye Injury Can I Claim?
Compensation for eye injuries is intended to help you to recover from any physical or mental harm (general damages) and any expenses and financial implications caused by the eye injury (special damages). If your claim is won, you could be compensated for:
- The impact your eye injury has had on hobbies, family life and social events.
- Any physical pain or discomfort caused by the injury.
- Compensation for PTSD or other psychological injuries caused by the eye injury such as depression, distress or anxiety.
- The cost of a carer or the time a friend or family member supported you with your usual activities while injured.
- Medical costs including the cost of private treatment in some instances.
- Travel expenses.
- The cost of adapting your home to help you cope with any permanent eyesight problems caused by your injuries.
You’ll notice that there is a lot to consider before you file an eye injury compensation claim. Time should be taken to get this step right though as you can only claim once. If one of our personal injury solicitors represents you, they’ll go through everything in fine detail with you to try and make sure you are compensated fairly.
Can I Claim for Loss of Earnings Due to My Eye Injury?
Yes, you could claim for loss of earnings if your pay was reduced because you needed time off for your eye injury to recover or because you needed to attend medical appointments.
Additionally, if your eye injury means you can’t carry on with the same type of work, you could claim for future loss of earnings. This type of settlement will normally be based on your current income, your expected level of future income, your age and your job prospects at the time of the accident.
Eye Injury Compensation Amounts
Even though you’ll require an independent medical assessment of your eye injury to help value your claim, there are guidelines (published by the Judicial College) for general damages compensation. The current guidelines for eye injuries are as follows:
- In the region of £327,940 compensation where the claimant has suffered total blindness.
- £78,040 – £129,330 where the claimant has suffered a loss of sight in one eye and reduced vision in the remaining eye.
- £66,920 – £80,210 compensation where the claimant has suffered the loss of one eye.
- £60,130 – £66,920 for complete loss of sight in one eye.
- £28,090 – £48,040 compensation for a serious injury to one eye that has caused some loss of vision.
- £11,120 – £25,600 for a minor eye injury that will cause permanent problems with vision.
- £4,820 – £10,660 for minor eye injuries.
- £2,690 – £4,820 compensation for transient eye injuries that only last a few weeks.
To find out how we could help you claim compensation for an eye injury, please get in touch today.
Will I Need a Solicitor to Claim Eye Injury Compensation?
There’s no law that says you must take on legal representation for a personal injury claim. However, if you plan to take on an eye injury claim yourself, you should be prepared for the defendant’s insurers to strongly defend the claim.
Having a specialist solicitor working for you should make the whole process a lot easier. As well as dealing with the defendant’s insurers for you, they will fight hard to secure the correct level of compensation rather than settling your claim at the first opportunity.
We’d like to point out that any claim that’s taken on by one of our solicitors will be managed on a No Win, No Fee basis. That means you don’t pay them upfront for their work and there’s nothing to pay if your claim fails.
When you are happy to begin your claim, you’ll be sent a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This sets out the scope of your solicitor’s work and clarifies that they’ll work on a No Win, No Fee basis.
A success fee will be deducted from your compensation if your solicitor wins your case for you. This is a percentage of your settlement amount which will be detailed in the CFA.
Eye Injury Claims Frequently Asked Questions
Will I Need a Medical Assessment for My Eye Injury Claim?
To try and ensure that you are compensated properly, you must prove the extent of your injuries. While your medical records can go some way to achieving this, you will need an independent medical assessment during the claims process.
As such, you should attend any appointments arranged by your solicitor so that a medical expert can examine you and talk with you about how you’ve suffered. Their report will help your solicitor to value your eye injury claim as it will list all of your injuries and explain your prognosis.
Can I Claim for Ongoing Medical and Rehabilitation Costs for My Eye Injury?
You should not be left out of pocket if you win an eye injury claim. That means any future medical costs should be considered before your claim is settled. For instance, if your vision has been damaged because of your injuries and you need glasses for the rest of your life as a result, the cost of replacement glasses and eye tests may be awarded as part of your claim.
What Happens if My Eye Injury Resulted from a Cosmetic Procedure?
If your eye injury was caused by negligence during a cosmetic procedure, you may be able to claim compensation. This could include injuries from botched eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) or procedures like plastic surgery to remove facial scars. To make a successful claim, you must prove that the medical professional was negligent, caused your eye injury, and that you have suffered harm as a result.
Start an Eye Injury Compensation Claim Today
The easiest way to get the ball rolling and to start your claim is to call our team on 0800 652 1345 today. A specialist will guide you through the process and review your claim for free.
If your claim has strong grounds, we’ll appoint one of our solicitors to it. If they agree to represent you, you’ll benefit from their No Win, No Fee service meaning everything should be much less stressful.
If you have any further questions about an eye injury compensation claim, please use our live chat service or give us a call.
