Suffering 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 could be entitled to eye injury compensation for any suffering and any costs like loss of earnings related to your injuries.

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.

Please call us today on 0800 652 1345 if you’d like to make an eye injury claim right away. Alternatively, please carry on reading to learn more about the claims process.

Can I claim 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.

How much compensation for 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.
• Loss of income if your eye injury meant you needed time off work.
• 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.
• Future loss of earnings if a permanent eye injury means you’re not able to earn as much as previously.
• 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.

Eye injury compensation payouts for general damages

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 £268,720 compensation where the claimant has suffered total blindness.
• £63,950 – £179,770 where the claimant has suffered a loss of sight in one eye and reduced vision in the remaining eye.
• £54,830 – £65,710 compensation where the claimant has suffered the loss of one eye.
• £49,270 – £54,830 for complete loss of sight in one eye.
• £23,680 – £39,340 compensation for a serious injury to one eye that has caused some loss of vision.
• £9,110 – £20,980 for a minor eye injury that will cause permanent problems with vision.
• £3,950 – £8,730 for minor eye injuries.
• £2,200 – £3,950 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.

Common eye injuries you could be compensated 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.
• Chemical burns.
• Broken eye socket.
• Traumatic iritis – where the iris becomes inflamed following trauma to the eye.
• Subconjunctival haemorrhages or bleeding in the eye.
• Black eyes – swelling and bruising around the eye.
• Blindness, partial blindness or double vision.

The severity of your eye injury and how long it affects you will be factors in determining any compensation you receive. As part of the eye injury claims process, you will need to be assessed by an independent medical expert. They’ll examine your eye injury, review your medical records and discuss how the injury has affected you. Their report will be filed with all parties involved in your compensation claim.

Types of eye injury compensation claims

We’re now going to spend some time reviewing the types of accidents and incidents that could lead to an eye injury compensation claim. Even if you don’t see a scenario that matches your own case, please contact us so that we can review your chances of being compensated for free.

Eye injuries at work

While you’re at work, your employer should try to keep you as safe as possible. Instead of standing over you and watching your every move, they should implement safety measures proactively. This can include:

• Removing any dangers identified by regular risk assessments.
• Ensuring machinery is fitted with safety guards to prevent debris from hitting you in the face.
• Providing you with eye protection or other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) where risks can’t be mitigated in other ways – Please see our page on PPE claims.
• Ensuring you and your colleagues receive proper safety training – Please see our page on inadequate training claims.
• Providing a proper schedule of work so you are aware of your duties.
• Ensuring all equipment is any necessary safety warnings to highlight any known risks.

If your employer fails to take steps to protect you while you’re at work and you suffer an eye injury as a result, one of our solicitors could help you make an accident at work claim. Employment laws are in place to protect you which means you can’t be sacked or disciplined for suing your employer.

Eye injuries in public places

Businesses and organisations also have a duty of care to try and protect customers and visitors while on their premises. This means that if you suffer an eye injury in a shop, gym, playground, train station or any other public place, you could be compensated. Some examples of public place eye injury claims include:

• If your eye is scalded or burnt in an accident at a restaurant after waiting staff spill food or drink over you.
• Where you suffer an eye injury in a shop after a poorly secured piece of merchandising falls onto you.
• If a foreign object damages your eye because of construction work in a public area that wasn’t properly cordoned off.

Please see our page on public place accident claims.

Road traffic accidents

Eye injuries are quite common injuries sustained in road traffic accidents. Any broken glass or other debris that enters the eye could result in significant eye damage. If the accident was caused by another road user, you could be entitled to make a personal injury claim against them. Examples of negligence leading to road traffic accidents include careless or dangerous driving, speeding, drink driving and road rage.

Please see our page on road traffic accident claims if needed.

Medical negligence

All medical professionals must try to protect their patients by providing a suitable level of care. If they don’t, and you sustain an eye injury as a direct result of medical negligence, you could be compensated. For example, you may have grounds to claim if a doctor misdiagnosed eye cancer as something less serious and your condition worsened as a result. Similarly, you could claim if you suffered vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy if the signs of diabetes were not spotted when they should’ve been.

Please see our page on medical negligence claims if needed.

Eye injury claims relating to assault

You could also claim compensation 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 see our page on criminal injury claims if needed.

Providing proof 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 records. 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.

Time limits apply to eye injury claims

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 example, 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.

No Win, No Fee eye injury claims

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.

Start a compensation claim for an eye injury 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.