Kidney damage can present serious and long-term health problems. This guide examines when you could be eligible to claim kidney injury compensation in a range of different circumstances.
As well as explaining the duties of care owed by different third parties, we have provided information on how personal injury compensation can be calculated. You will also see a compensation table for further guidance.
Towards the end of the guide, we look at the No Win No Fee contract offered by our panel of expert solicitors and how you can benefit when beginning your claim under such terms.
To get the validity of your potential claim assessed, or to ask any questions you may have, get in touch with us today using the following contact information.
- Call the team on 0800 408 7825
- You can also contact us online
- We also have a live chat window on all of our webpages.
Select A Section
- What Is A Kidney Injury?
- Can I Claim Kidney Injury Compensation?
- What Evidence Could Help Me In A Kidney Injury Claim?
- How Much Kidney Injury Compensation Could I Receive?
- Is There A Time Limit When Claiming For Kidney Damage?
- Why Make A Kidney Injury Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- More Resources Related To Personal Injury Claims
What Is A Kidney Injury?
A kidney injury is damage to one or both kidneys. This can range from relatively minor to much more serious injuries. A kidney injury usually occurs in two different ways. These are:
- Traumatic Injury: This is where the kidneys suffer damage as a result of external impact, such as a car crash or workplace accident.
- Acute Kidney Injury (AKI): A sudden partial or complete failure of kidney function. This normally happens as a complication of another medical condition or a side effect of certain medicines.
Potential symptoms of acute kidney damage, according to the NHS, include nausea, dehydration, diarrhoea and feelings of drowsiness and confusion.
To learn about claiming kidney injury compensation, or to get a free assessment of your eligibility, talk to our advisory team today.
Can I Claim Kidney Injury Compensation?
You may be eligible to claim kidney injury compensation if you can show that the injury was the result of a third party failing to meet their legal obligations. We call this a duty of care. Different duties apply in different circumstances, which we have covered in more detail below.
The general eligibility criteria to begin a personal injury claim are:
- A third party owed you a duty of care at the time of the accident.
- That third party breached their duty of care.
- Their breach of this duty resulted in the accident in which you were injured.
Accidents At Work
Your employer is legally required to take reasonable steps to ensure your safety, as per the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. What amounts to “reasonable steps” will differ between workplaces. To help meet these legal obligations, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the national regulator for workplace health and safety, publishes various resources on suitable training, the use of work equipment and conducting risk assessments.
A possible scenario in which a kidney injury could occur in a workplace would be:
- You were working on a construction site. Neither you nor your colleagues had received vehicle training, but you were instructed to use a truck to move materials from one end of the site to the other. The driver failed to apply the handbrake, and you were hit by the truck, causing significant damage to your kidneys, chest and ribs.
Public Liability Claims
A public liability claim could be made if you were injured in a public place as a result of the occupier of the premises failing to take steps to ensure the reasonable safety of all visitors. This duty of care is contained within the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957.
An example of an occupier failing their duty of care would be:
- You were walking up a staircase in a museum. The railing at the top was damaged but no warning sign had been placed, nor had any steps been taken to repair the railing. You tripped on the broken step and fell a considerable height. You broke several bones and suffered significant damage to your internal organs in the fall.
Road Traffic Accidents
The duty of care on the roads works a little differently. Instead of a single third party owing a duty of care, the duty is owed by all road users to each other. This means following the standards set out by the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code.
As an example:
- You were pulling out of a side road onto the main highway. A speeding driver ran through the red light and crashed into your vehicle in a T-bone collision, pushing your car into another vehicle. You sustained multiple serious injuries in the crash, including a serious concussion and damage to your right kidney.
Medical Negligence
While not the focus of our guide, we’re going to touch briefly on medical negligence. Medical professionals owe a duty to their patients to provide care at the correct standard. Failure to meet this standard can lead to patients experiencing avoidable harm.
For example:
- An error in your hospital records resulted in you being prescribed a much higher dose of anti-inflammatory medication than you should have been. You suffered a serious AKI as a result of this.
To find out how to claim compensation for kidney damage in your particular case, talk to a member of our advisory team today.
What Evidence Could Help Me In A Kidney Injury Claim?
Now we’ve examined some of the accidents where you could be eligible to claim kidney injury compensation, we now need to look at how you can show the fault of the third party.
We have provided a list of possible evidence you could collect here:
- After any accident, no matter how minor it seems, it is always recommended to seek medical attention. As well as prioritising your health, the medical records produced will be very useful in showing the extent of your injuries.
- CCTV or dash cam footage.
- Photographs of the scene of the accident.
- Employers with 10 or more employees are required to keep an accident book. You have the right to take a copy of your incident report.
- Any of your colleagues, other visitors or road users who saw the accident could provide a witness statement. Take down their contact information so they can give their statement later.
For support with collecting evidence, talk to our advisors for a free assessment of your eligibility. If it’s decided you have a valid claim, you could be connected with one of the highly experienced legal professionals from our panel of solicitors, who could then assist you with collecting evidence.
Get in touch with our advisors using the contact information below today to learn more.
How Much Kidney Injury Compensation Could I Receive?
A successful kidney injury compensation claim will result in you receiving a compensation payout. This payout can comprise of two different heads of claim: general and special damages.
The physical and/or psychological harm caused by your injuries is compensated under general damages. In order to reach a potential value of your injuries, reference can be made to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) in conjunction with your medical documents.
You can see some relevant JCG brackets in the table here.
Compensation Table
Please be advised that this table has been included for guidance only.
| Type of Injury | Severity | Guideline Compensation Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Very Serious Injuries With Additional Special Damages | Very Serious | Up to £500,000 + |
| Kidney | Serious and Permanent Damage (a) | £206,730 to £256,780 |
| Significant Risk of Future Infection (b) | Up to £78,080 | |
| Loss of One Kidney (c) | £37,550 to £54,760 | |
| Digestive System - Damage Resulting from a Traumatic Injury | Severe Damage (a)(i) | £52,490 to £75,550 |
| Serious Non-Penetrating Injury (a)(ii) | £20,490 to £33,880 | |
| Penetrating Stab Wound (a)(iii) | £8,060 to £15,370 |
Special Damages
Monetary losses experienced as a result of kidney damage can be reimbursed as part of your kidney injury compensation payout under special damages. Kidney damage can have significant long term impacts so it’s very often the case that payments made under special damages are higher than those for general damages.
We have given a few examples of the costs you could claim back here:
- Medical and care bills.
- A loss of earnings.
- Adaptations to your home.
- Therapy or counselling sessions.
The information provided in this section is intended as guidance only. To get a more personalised estimate of how much compensation you could be entitled to, contact our advisors today.
Is There A Time Limit When Claiming For Kidney Damage?
In most cases, a personal injury claim will need to be made within 3 years of the accident, as established by the Limitation Act 1980. Exceptions can be granted in certain circumstances, these are:
- Injured persons under 18 will have the time limit paused until they turn 18.
- Those who lack the mental capacity to claim on their own behalf are not subject to any time limit. If they recover the capacity to claim, they will have from the recovery date to begin legal action.
A litigation friend can be appointed by the court in both of these circumstances to begin the claim sooner. For further advice on the time limits, contact our advisors today.
Why Make A Kidney Injury Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Claiming kidney injury compensation on a No Win No Fee basis can be beneficial. The type of No Win No Fee contract offered by our panel of personal injury solicitors is called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
With this contract, there will be no fees for the solicitor’s work at the start or during the claim. There will similarly be no fee should the claim fail.
Upon a successful claim, you will receive a personal injury compensation award. While a percentage of this will be taken by the solicitor as their success fee, this amount is capped at 25%. You will, therefore, keep the majority of any payout you receive.
To get the validity of your potential claim assessed, or to ask any questions you may have, get in touch with us today using the following contact information.
- Call the team on 0800 408 7825
- You can also contact us online
- We also have a live chat window on all of our webpages.
More Resources Related To Personal Injury Claims
You can read some more of our personal injury claims guides here:
- Find out how to claim psychological damage after an accident with this guide.
- Read our guide on claiming compensation for a public cycle path accident that left you injured.
- Learn more about the eligibility criteria to claim after a serious accident at work here.
We have also included some external resources for additional information:
- You can find out more about the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the work they do on their website.
- Find out if you’re entitled to statutory sick pay following an accident on the Government website.
- Learn about when you need a fit note for talking time off work from the NHS.
Thank you for reading our guide to claiming kidney injury compensation. For further guidance or a free assessment of your eligibility to claim, contact our advisors today. The team are available at any time using the contact information given above.