By James Maddock. Last Updated 2nd October 2024. Following a serious accident, you may have sustained multiple injuries. This guide examines how compensation in multiple injury claims is calculated, as well as examining the types of accidents where multiple injuries could be sustained.
Included is information on the duties of care owed by various third parties as well as how their failures can result in you sustaining multiple injuries. Also included is an explanation of the two heads of loss in personal injury claims.
At the bottom of this page, you will find a short explanation of the No Win No Fee agreement our panel of expert solicitors can offer their services under.
Talk to or advisors today for your free consultation regarding the validity of your potential claim. You can reach the team at any time via:
- Phone on: 0800 408 7825
- The live chat pop-up.
- Our online contact us form.
Browse Our Guide
- What Is A Multiple Injury Claim?
- How Are Multiple Injury Claims Calculated?
- What Types Of Accidents Could Lead To Multiple Injury Claims?
- What Is The Process For Claiming Multiple Injury Compensation?
- Why Make A Multiple Injury Compensation Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Learn More About Personal Injury Claims
- FAQs About Multiple Injury Claims
What Is A Multiple Injury Claim?
Multiple injury claims are personal injury claims made after someone has suffered more than one injury in an accident. Typically, this type of claim is made after more serious incidents, where the injured person has suffered a considerable amount of psychological and physical trauma.
We’ll get into some scenarios in the next couple of sections, but the general eligibility criteria to make a multiple injury claim are as follows:
- A third party owed you a duty of care.
- That third party breached their duty.
- This breach resulted in the accident that caused you to suffer multiple injuries.
Workplace Accidents
Your employer has a duty of care to all of their employees. The Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974 requires employers to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their employees. Owing to the sheer variety of work being undertaken by different employers, there is no one way to meet this duty.
However, to help businesses meet their legal obligations, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety, publishes extensively on topics such as risk assessments, providing training and the safe use of equipment vehicles.
So if your employer doesn’t train you and your colleagues properly, and you are injured in an accident, they may well have breached their duty of care.
Accidents In Public Places
The party in control of a public place, referred to as an occupier, has a duty of care to take steps to ensure the reasonable safety of visitors to the premises under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. This duty covers things such as regular maintenance and having adequate fire safety measures in place.
So if a water pipe had leaked in a restaurant, and no warning sign had been placed, you could potentially make a claim if you slipped and fell on the spillage and suffered one or multiple injuries.
Road Traffic Accidents
Rather than a single third party owing the duty of care on the roads, all road users have a duty of care to each other. The standards set down by the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code require road users to do everything they reasonably can to avoid causing harm to one another.
For example, if you suffered multiple injuries because a drunk driver crashed into your vehicle, they would have breached the duty of care they owed you.
To get more information on the duties of care owed by different third parties, speak to one of our advisors. You can also get your eligibility to claim assessed for free at any time using the contact information given below.
How Are Multiple Injury Claims Calculated?
Multiple injury claims are calculated in the same way as other personal injury claims. The damages that you receive, if successful, are from two heads of loss, namely general and special damages.
The general damages are to compensate you for the pain and suffering caused by your injuries. Things such as the severity of the injuries, how long they lasted and if there are any ongoing symptoms and what the future prognosis may be will affect how much you could receive under general damages.
To assist in this process, an idependant medical report may be obtained. This will be following an appointment which will be arranged at a time convenient to you.
This report can be considered alongside the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), which is a document that contains compensation guidelines for various injuries. They are just guidelines but can give you an indication of the level of compensation that might be received for certain injuries.
When considering multiple injuries, there is no set approach, but the compensation for different injuries is unlikely to be added together. If there are no cross over of symptoms, e.g. a broken leg and a psychological injury, there will be a stronger argument for distinct valuations for both these injuries. You may wish to instruct a specialist personal injury lawyer to assist you with this task.
Compensation Table
Instead of a multiple injury compensation calculator we have included the table below with some of the entries from the JCG. Please remember that they are only guidelines as every case is different, and also note that the top line figure does not come from the JCG.
| Type of Injury | Severity | Guideline Compensation Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Very Serious Injuries With Substantial Special Damages | Very Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Paralysis | Tetraplegia (a) | £396,140 to £493,000 |
| Paraplegia (b) | £267,340 to £346,890 | |
| Brain Damage | Very Severe (a)(i) | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Moderate (c)(i) | £183,190 to £267,340 | |
| Neck | Severe (a)(i) | Around £181,020 |
| Moderate (b)(i) | £30,500 to £46,970 | |
| Leg Injuries | Severe (b)(i) | £117,460 to £165,860 |
| Severe (b)(ii) | £66,920 to £109,290 | |
| Shoulder | Moderate (c) | £9,630 to £15,580 |
Special Damages In Multiple Injury Claims
The second of the two heads of loss is called special damages and compensates for monetary losses. Some examples of costs you could be compensated for include:
- Loss of earnings.
- Medical bills.
- Care needs.
- Transport.
- Adjustments to your home.
Unlike general damages, special damages are not always awarded for successful claims. To help support your chances of receiving special damages, you should keep copies of any documents that prove these costs. For example, this could include payslips, invoices, bank statements and receipts.
To get a more personalised estimate of the potential value of your claim, or for a free assessment of your eligibility to claim multiple injury compensation, talk to our advisors using the contact information given below.
What Types Of Accidents Could Lead To Multiple Injury Claims?
As we previously mentioned, there are various types of accidents that could lead to you suffering more than one injury. Some examples include:
- Your employer failed to carry the maintenance checks on your company forklifts. You were hit by one of the forklifts when the driver failed to stop due to a brake fault. You sustained several broken bones in the forklift accident.
- A hotel did not carry out repairs on a damaged light fitting in their lobby. As you were walking to your room, the light fitting fell and landed on you. Having been hit by a falling object, you sustained a serious head injury and damage to your neck and shoulder.
- You were cycling along a main road when a van driver pulled out of a side road without looking adequately around their vehicle. You were hit by the van and knocked off your bicycle, suffering serious injuries to your legs and left arm.
These are only a few examples. For a free assessment of your particular circumstances, call our advisors today. They can also help answer any questions you may have about the multiple injury claims process.
What Is The Process For Claiming Multiple Injury Compensation?
In multiple injury claims, the Pre-Action Protocol for personal injury claims should be followed. These are a set of steps that need to be followed to have the case resolved without it needing to go to court. These steps are:
- Letter of Notification: The defendant is sent a letter, notifying them that you intend to begin a claim against them.
- Rehabilitation: Both parties should consider at the earliest possible moment what rehabilitation or medical treatment the claimant requires.
- Letter of Claim: This letter is the formal issuing of a claim against the defendant. This letter should contain details on the facts the claim is based upon and what injuries have been suffered.
- Response: From receiving the letter of claim, the defendant will have 21 working days to issue a response. They will also have three months from receiving this letter to complete their investigations.
- Disclosure: Relevant documents are provided by both parties to help clarify or resolve any disputes.
- Experts: The claimant will be asked to attend an independent medical assessment. The report generated from this assessment will be used for the claim.
- Negotiations: If the defendant has admitted liability, a Part 36 Offer can be made. This is where both parties will put forward offers with the goal of having the dispute settled.
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): If both parties are unable to reach an agreement, ADR methods, such as arbitration, can be used. If this is also unsuccessful, the case will progress to court.
If you have any questions regarding the process of how to claim compensation for multiple injuries, you can contact our advisors.
Why Make A Multiple Injury Compensation Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Our panel of solicitors has extensive experience with multiple injury claims. Additionally, they usually offer to support their clients’ cases under a type of Win-No-Fee contract known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). With this arrangement in place, you won’t pay initial or ongoing fees for their work during the multiple injury claims process. You also will not need to pay them for their completed work if the claim is not a success.
If you succeed with your claim, you’ll receive compensation. A percentage of this will be taken as the solicitor’s success fee. But since success fees are legally capped, most of this compensation is yours to keep.
Talk to or advisors today for your free consultation regarding the validity of your potential claim. If they deem you to have a strong case, they could connect you with a personal injury solicitor on our panel. You can reach the team at any time via:
- Phone on: 0800 408 7825
- The live chat pop-up.
- Our online contact us form.
Learn More About Personal Injury Claims
You can read some of our other personal injury claims guides here:
- Read our guide on road traffic accident claims here.
- Learn more about the eligibility criteria to claim back injury compensation after a construction accident.
- Find put how to claim compensation after manager negligence resulted in a workplace accident.
We have also provided these external resources for additional guidance:
- You can view various road safety campaigns on the THINK! website.
- Learn how to request CCTV footage of yourself with this Government page.
- Find out more about the work of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) here.
