By Lewis Houston. Last Updated 24th August 2024. If you’ve sustained an injury to your eye, this can have a big impact on your quality of life. For instance, it might affect your ability to see. Furthermore, if your eye is visibly damaged this could affect your appearance and might cause psychological damage.
You may be able to claim compensation for your injuries depending on how they occurred. If you were injured as a result of a breach of duty of care, you may be able to claim. We will discuss duty of care later on in this guide.
If you are considering making an eye injury claim but you are not sure where to start, why not speak to our advisors today? They can help you understand how much you could be owed and can also connect you to a solicitor from our panel. In addition to this, they can offer free legal advice that could be hugely helpful to your compensation claim. To find out more, get in touch by:
- Calling us on 0800 408 7825
- Using our live chat functionality located at the bottom of your screen
- Contacting us through the website
For more general information on eye injury claims, read our guide below.
Select a Section
- The Eligibility Criteria To Make An Eye Injury Claim
- Common Types Of Eye Injury Claims
- Eye Injuries Caused By Foreign Bodies
- Corneal Scratches And Abrasions
- Chemical Burns
- Advice On Claiming Compensation For An Eye Injury At Work
- How To Prove Eye Injury Claims
- How Is Compensation For Eye Injury Claims Calculated?
- Talk To Us About No Win No Fee Eye Injury Claims
- Learn More About Eye Injuries And Compensation Claims
The Eligibility Criteria To Make An Eye Injury Claim
In order to make an eye injury claim, it’s necessary to meet certain eligibility criteria. This is centred around the legal principle of negligence. You must be able to show that:
- You were owed a duty of care, which is a responsibility to ensure you don’t come to harm
- This duty was breached, such as not replacing a broken part on a machine, which could break off and hit you in the eye
- And because of the breach, you suffer an injury to your eye or both eyes
If you were injured at work, for example, proving your employer had a duty of care is straightforward. If you were in a public place, like a shop, it’s often the organisation in control of the space that owes a duty of care. The same goes for when using the roads, either as a driver, cyclist or pedestrian.
A duty of care is not absolute. Instead, it imposes a duty to do as much as is reasonably possible. For example, if a shop left a sharp piece of shelf racking protruding into the aisle, you could catch your eye on it. In this case, they should have done more to remove or minimise the risk of injury.
You can also claim if the accident has made an existing eye injury worse.
If you’d like to speak with us to check your eligibility, please get in touch for free today.
Is There A Time Limit To Claim Compensation For An Eye Injury?
It’s also necessary to take legal action within the time limit set out under the Limitation Act 1980. This is 3 years from the date of the accident. So, for example, if you suffered an eye injury at work on 17th August 2024, you’d have until 17th August 2027 to issue court proceedings.
If you fail to take action within this time, you may be prevented from claiming altogether.
Common Types Of Eye Injury Claims
There are many types of eye injuries that you could claim for. Eye injuries may result from:
- Foreign bodies coming into contact with your eye
- Scratches and abrasions to the corneas
- Burns caused by chemicals
These can occur in a number of settings For example, you might sustain an eye injury in the workplace. You could also be injured in this manner in a public place or after being involved in a car accident
To be able to start a successful claim, a solicitor must be able to prove negligence. Anyone who owns or controls a space has a duty of care to protect all visitors. If they fail to do this, this is a breach of duty of care. If this directly results in an injury, they could be held responsible. This is vital to your claim.
To discuss your compensation claim in further detail, speak to one of our advisors today. They can answer any questions you have about eye injury claims. Furthermore, they may be able to connect you with a solicitor from our panel if your claim has a good chance of success.
Eye Injuries Caused By Foreign Bodies
The eye can be injured as a result of a foreign body entering the eye. This could cause damage to the cornea, for example by scratching or piercing it. It could also cause irritation.
Foreign body injuries to the eye could feasibly happen in any setting. One of the places where this kind of injury could occur is in the workplace. Section 4 of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 outlines that your employer is responsible for providing you with the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that you need to do your job.
If adequate PPE is not provided, this could constitute a breach of a duty of care. An employer can be found liable if your injury was caused as a result.
Other examples of when this kind of injury could occur include:
- While you’re walking through a shopping centre, you walk past a storefront where building work is going on. There are no signs or warnings. As you walk past, a piece of wood is cut and sawdust enters your eye.
- You’ve told your employer in the past about the dust that comes from the ceiling above your desk when people move about upstairs. They have done nothing about it. One day, a particularly large cloud of dust comes down and enters your eye, injuring it.
Corneal Scratches
The cornea is the clear window at the front of the eye and can be very sensitive. Scratches can occur when a foreign body makes contact with the cornea and can be very painful.
If a scratch to the cornea is left untreated, it can cause additional issues like scarring or infection.
Again, corneal scratches could feasibly happen anywhere. However, one setting where you might sustain this injury is in road traffic accidents. Broken glass can fly into your eye, which could then scratch your cornea.
Symptoms of this type of injury include:
- Redness or pain in the eye
- Watering or a sticky discharge from the eye
- Swollen eyelids
- Light sensitivity
- The feeling that there is something in your eye
Chemical Burns
You might also sustain a chemical burn to your eye. This can be dangerous as chemicals can be irritant and abrasive. If you sustain a chemical burn to your eye, this could result in a complete loss of vision.
This injury could occur at work if you work with abrasive or irritant chemicals. The usage and control of chemicals at work is legislated by Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 which outlines how chemicals should be stored and transported.
However, this could also occur in other circumstances. For example, you might be in a public toilet when a bottle of bleach with an unsecured lid knocks over and bleach splashes into your eye.
NHS advice says that you should seek medical attention immediately if you get a strong chemical in your eye. While some eye injuries may be able to be treated by your GP or at a walk-in centre, in some cases you may need to visit the hospital. Also, be sure to continually clean out your eye with water while you wait for medical help.
The symptoms of a chemical burn to the eye may largely be similar to corneal scratches and foreign body injury. However, depending on the nature of the chemical in use, you may also see bleeding or pus.
Your injury or accident may not be the same as the examples we have listed above. If you would like more information on eye injury claims, consider speaking to our advisors who can connect you to a solicitor from our panel. They can offer you free legal advice in addition to guidance that is linked to your own injury.
Advice On Claiming Compensation For An Eye Injury At Work
One environment where you could experience an eye injury is at work. Different types of workplaces have different risks and threats of injury, such as machinery, tools, raw materials and vehicles, like forklift trucks.
It’s vital that employers safeguard against these risks. They should conduct risk assessments, regular inspections, and thorough and frequent cleaning. The likes of risk assessments and inspections should identify any needs for personal protective equipment (PPE), like safety goggles or face masks. If they fail to provide PPE like this, they could breach their duty of care, meaning they would be liable for an eye injury at work claim.
Our panel of solicitors specialises in accident at work claims for all types of injuries, including those involving vision and your eyes. To check if you can make a claim today, please contact us for free using the number at the top of this page.
How To Prove Eye Injury Claims
If you have read about the information on eye injury claims on this page and you are now wondering about starting your own claim, you may be interested in the next steps you can take.
If your eye is injured in any setting, seek immediate medical attention. Not only will this generate medical records that could support your claim, but it will also ensure that you get the treatment you need.
You may also wish to contact a personal injury solicitor. They can advise you of the steps you should take.
Usually, the next step is to collect evidence of the accident and your subsequent injuries. This can consist of the following:
- Video evidence, such as from CCTV cameras, can be especially helpful if claiming compensation for the likes of an eye injury at work.
- Photography from the scene of the accident
- Contact details from people willing to act as witnesses. Their accounts of the accident could be used to support your claim.
In addition to this, a medical examination will be arranged for you as part of your claim. This is done to determine the severity of your injuries and confirm that they were caused by the accident you were involved in.
If you would like to discuss eye injury claims in more detail, why not contact our advisors today? They can connect you to a solicitor from our panel who can offer more advice for your eye injury claim.
How Is Compensation For Eye Injury Claims Calculated?
Settlements for successful eye injury claims could include both general and special damages.
General damages compensate you for the pain and suffering your injury to the eye has caused you. When valuing this head of claim, legal professionals may refer to the 17th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document features guideline compensation brackets for various types of injuries. We have included some of these figures in the table below.
| Injury | Nature of Incident | Possible Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Eye Injury and Financial Losses | In cases of the most serious types of eye injuries with a significant impact on your life, such as the need to adapt your home, get outside care and to compensate you for loss of earnings | £500,000+ |
| Eye Injury | Total blindness. | In the region of £327,940 |
| Loss of sight in one eye, reduced vision in the remaining eye. This may indicate problems such as double vision. | £117,150 to £219,400 | |
| Total loss of one eye: the award here can change depending on age, psychiatric damage, and cosmetic effect. | £66,920 to £80,210 | |
| Loss of sight in one eye. The higher end of the bracket can incorporate scarring. | £60,130 to £66,920 | |
| Serious but incomplete vision loss in one eye. Constant blurred vision and sensitivity to light. | £28,900 to £48,040 | |
| Minor but permanent loss of vision in one eye. | £11,120 to £25,600 | |
| Cases where you have been struck in the eye by an object or had exposure to liquids | £4,820 to £10,660 | |
| The most minor of injuries fall into this bracket and in these cases a full recovery would have been made. | £2,690 to £4,820 |
Can I Claim For Financial Losses Caused By My Eye Injury?
You may also be awarded special damages. This head of claim deals with the financial impact of your injuries, such as out-of-pocket expenses and any monetary losses.
Special damages might be awarded for the following:
- A loss of earnings resulting from taking time out of work to recover from your injuries.
- Buying specialist equipment required as a result of your eye injuries i.e. glasses.
- Travel expenses caused by visits to the hospital regarding your injuries.
Evidence must be provided that can prove any financial harm if you wish to claim special damages. For example, you could obtain your pay slips, bank statements or receipts.
If you have suffered an injury to the eye and would like to know how to begin the eye injury claims process, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our advisors could connect you with an expert personal injury lawyer from our panel if you seek specialist legal support.
Talk To Us About No Win No Fee Eye Injury Claims
Are you interested in pursuing a claim for your eye injury, but worried about the costs that having a solicitor work on your behalf could incur? If so, we can help. You may be able to have a solicitor represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. This is the informal name for a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
This means that you are only obligated to pay your solicitor’s fees in the event of a win. If you are successful in your claim, you pay a legally-capped success fee, which is a small percentage of your compensation. This also means that you won’t be asked to pay them upfront or while your claim is ongoing.
If this sounds like it could be of interest to you, you can contact our advisors for more information. Get in touch now for free legal advice on eye injury claims. You can do so by:
- Calling us on 0800 408 7825
- Using our live chat functionality located at the bottom of your screen
- Contacting us through the website
Learn More About Eye Injuries And Compensation Claims
- Loss of Sight in One Eye Compensation Case Study Guide
- Minor Eye Injury Compensation Guide
- Eye Injury Caused By Welding Compensation Case Study Guide
- Eye injury- An NHS guide
- Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
- The Highway Code
We also have some other guides you may find useful:
- Public accident claims hot spots
- Council slip and trip accidents
- Public transport accidents
- How to make a public liability claim
- Making a claim against the council
- Claiming for a pothole injury
- Making a claim against a shop
- Accidents in a public park
- Cycling accident claims
- Claiming for injuries suffered while shopping
Thank you for reading our guide on eye injury claims.