A brain injury could have a severe impact on your or a loved one’s life. It could impact the ability to work or could prevent someone from being able to work at all. Its effects could extend into all parts of the person’s life, preventing them from participating in hobbies or other daily activities. If another party caused your (or a loved one’s) brain injury, you could be eligible to make a head injury claim.
This guide provides an overview of when and how to make a brain injury claim. We look at when you or a loved one could be eligible to start a claim and at how brain injury compensation amounts may be calculated. You can also find information on the types of head injuries which may be claimed for and how they could be caused. There is also a case study to help illustrate eligibility to claim and how damages may be calculated.
At the end of the guide, we take you through the claims process, showing how a specialist solicitor could help you.
To discuss how to make a personal injury claim, please
- Discuss your case over our online chat.
- Fill out our ‘contact us’ form.
- Phone our team on 0800 408 7825.
Browse Our Guide
- Am I Eligible To Make A Head Injury Claim?
- How Much Your Head Injury Compensation Payout Could Be
- Types Of Head Injuries You Can Claim For
- Common Causes Of Injuries
- How To Make A Head Injury Claim
- Why Choose Public Interest Lawyers For Your Claim?
- More Information
Am I Eligible To Make A Head Injury Claim?
You could make a head injury claim for compensation if you can show that another party caused your (or a loved one’s) accident. It is crucial that you can show that the accident was caused by someone else’s negligence.
Different legislation may confer a duty of care upon this party, depending on the circumstances in which the accident happened. However, it is critical that any claim meets the following criteria. That:
- Someone else owed a duty of care towards the person harmed.
- They were in breach of this duty of care.
- This caused the brain injury
- Any claim is brought within the relevant time limit.
Can I Claim For A Head Injury On Behalf Of Someone Else?
If a loved one has suffered a head injury, they may have been left without the mental capacity to claim compensation on their own behalf. Similarly, where a child has suffered a head or brain injury, they will be unable to claim themselves.
In either of these instances, you may be able to act as a litigation friend. This is a suitable adult appointed by the courts who could bring the claim on behalf of someone else. You will need to make an application to the courts to become a litigation friend.
How Long Do You Have To Claim?
The standard time limit for any type of personal injury claim is within three years of the accident occurring. This is set out in the Limitation Act 1980. This means that you must begin the claims process within this time limit.
Where you are claiming on behalf of someone else, as highlighted above, this time limit may begin at a later time or be suspended.
- Where the victim is under the age of eighteen, the time limit will not be in effect before their eighteenth birthday.
- If the person harmed does not have sufficient mental capacity to make a claim the time limit will be suspended indefinitely. It will only take effect if they do regain their mental capacity.
Whilst the time limit is not in effect, a litigation friend may claim on the person’s behalf. If they do make a claim, the victim can not make a subsequent claim themselves.
We will look at the specific criteria which different types of head or brain injury claims have to meet later in this guide. Next, we examine how head injury compensation payouts UK may be calculated.
Please get in touch with our team to begin your claim.
How Much Your Head Injury Compensation Payout Could Be
If you are making a head or brain injury compensation claim for yourself or someone else, you may wonder how much could be claimed. As every brain injury claim is unique, the amount of compensation paid out for it will also be unique. This means that without knowing the individual circumstances of the case, we can not say how much compensation could be owed.
There are several factors which could affect how much could be awarded. These could include:
- How severe the brain injury is.
- What treatment is needed for the head or traumatic brain injury.
- Whether you (or the injured person) recovers from the injury.
- What financial losses were suffered.
Next, we look at how these different types of compensation may be calculated.
How Compensation Is Calculated
If you make a successful claim for head injury compensation, you (or the person harmed) could be awarded a combination of special and general damages.
General damages are awarded for the pain and suffering caused by the brain injury. They could take account of both physical as well as psychological pain and suffering.
Parties valuing claims may refer to resources from the Judicial College (JCG) for guidance. They issue a document with guidelines on compensation for different types of head or brain injury.
Below, we present figures from the JCG. Please note that the initial figure is our illustration of total damages awarded and does not come from these guidelines.
| Brain Injuries | Notes | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple brain injuries | Severe or serious | Up to £10,000,000+ with special damages awarded. |
| Brain injury/ damage | Very severe - A | £344,150 - £493,00 |
| Brain injury | Moderately severe - B | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Brain injury | Moderate - C (1) | £183,190 to £267,340 |
| Brain injury | Moderate - C (2) | £110,720 to £183,190 |
| Brain injury | Moderate - C (3) | £52,550 to £110,720 |
| Brain injury | Less severe - D | £18,700 to £52,550 |
| Brain injury | Minor injury - E | £2,690 to £15,580 |
| Psychiatric damage | Severe - A | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Psychiatric damage | Moderately severe - B | £23,270 to £66,920 |
Claiming Special Damages
In addition to general damages, brain injury compensation claims may also be awarded special damages. Special damages are designed to take account of how the brain injury has impacted someone’s life. They may compensate for a wide variety of different financial losses related to an injury.
They may commonly include compensation for.
- Medical costs, such as that for different types of medical care and treatment needed. This may include the cost of rehabilitation or physiotherapy.
- Care costs. Those with a brain injury may require long-term or even life long care either in the home or a specialist facility. The cost of this can be taken into account.
- Loss of earnings and income. Someone with a serious brain injury may be left unable to return to work or have a very reduced earning capacity.
- The cost of prescription medication.
- The cost of attending medical appointments.
For your brain injury claim to compensate you for these costs you must supply evidence of them. This could include evidence such as invoices for care costs, payslips and bank statements. Medical evidence may also help to highlight an inability to work or the requirement for lifelong medical care.
In cases of brain and head injuries special damages may comprise the bulk of the compensation awarded to a claimant.
Can I Get Interim Payments For My Brain Injury Claim?
Head or brain injury claims can involve complex injuries. These can take longer to assess, treat and to provide a complete prognosis of both the person’s likely degree of recovery as well as future care needs. This may mean that the claims process takes longer as these assessments are carried out.
Any claim must take account of the long term medical and care needs of the person harmed. However, in the interim, medical and care costs may still need to be paid, as well as income lost. In these cases, you or a loved one may be able to apply for an interim payment.
This is a portion of the final compensation settlement, which is paid in advance to help meet immediate costs.
Please contact our team for more information on how general damages, loss of earnings and other forms of damages may be compensated.
Types Of Head Injuries You Can Claim For
Claims could be made for different types of head or brain injuries. These may include:
- A traumatic brain injury.
- Brain damage.
- Concussions
- Skull fractures.
- Lacerations.
- scarring
- Bruising.
Please get in touch today for more information on claiming compensation for different types of brain injury.
Common Causes Of Injuries
There are many different ways in which a claimant could suffer brain injuries or other head injuries due to someone else’s negligence. Below, we look at examples of how people could be owed a duty of care and how this may be breached.
Accidents At Work
Employers owe a duty of care to their staff. Per this, they must take reasonable steps to keep them safe whilst at work. The employer’s duty of care is set out in different pieces of legislation. The main article of legislation is the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Falling from a height on a construction site could cause a brain injury. If the employer fails to follow proper safety guidelines for constructing scaffolding, a damaged rail could cause someone to fall.
Road Traffic Accidents
Whilst using the road you are owed a duty of care by all others doing so. This duty of care extends to drivers, motorcycle or bicycle riders and even pedestrians. They must ensure that the way in which they use the roads is safe both for themselves, and for others.
They must comply with rules, regulations and guidelines set out in the Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act 1988.
A pedestrian could suffer brain damage in a road traffic accident if they were crossing the road and a driver failed to stop. They may be struck by the car at speed causing a serious, traumatic brain injury.
Slips, Trips, And Falls
Slips, trips and falls could occur in a public place. Under the legislation, such as the Occupiers’ Liability Act, those in control of public spaces must take reasonable steps to prevent accidents.
A slip, trip or fall may occur if the occupier of a space has not fixed a broken handrail on a staircase. This could cause someone to fall whilst reaching for the railing, suffering a head or brain injury.
These are just some examples of when you could make a brain injury compensation claim for yourself or someone else. Please contact our team for further information.
How To Make A Head Injury Claim
In order to make a head injury claim for you or another person, you must follow the general personal injury claims process. This may involve visiting a doctor to get treatment for the injuries, collecting evidence to show who caused the accident and making sure that the claim is started within the claims time limit.
In the following sections, we look at steps which could be taken as well as how a solicitor could help.
Gathering Evidence To Support Your Claim
It is crucial to collect evidence to support the claim. The evidence must clearly show that another party was at fault. It must also show that this party owed the person harmed a duty of care (as discussed earlier), how they breached this duty, and how this led to the injuries.
Types of evidence may include:
- Reports – the accident should be reported to the relevant party. A road traffic accident report. Following a workplace accident or one in a public place, it should be recorded in the accident book.
- Medical records – these may be from a hospital, GP or other relevant medical professional.
- Photos, pictures or video – photos of the accident scene, the injury or CCTV footage of the accident taking place may all be submitted as evidence.
- Information on witnesses – if anyone saw the accident take place they could provide a witness statement.
Making A No Win No Fee Claim
Once a solicitor from our panel has assessed the case and determined that there is a valid compensation claim, they may offer to take the claim on, on a No Win No Fee basis. They could do so through a Conditional Fee Agreement.
By doing so, the solicitor could work on a claim without charging either for their services in advance or whilst it is underway. By claiming on this basis, there also won’t be anything for the solicitor’s work if they don’t win your claim.
If the head injury compensation claim is successful, claimants will need to pay a success fee. This fee is deducted from the settlement and is calculated as a (legally limited) percentage of it.
How Long Would I Have To Wait For A Compensation Payout?
There are a variety of factors which could affect how long a head injury claim may take. These factors include:
- The severity of any head injury or brain damage sustained. More complex injuries, such as those which require extensive treatment, prolonged recovery or which cause either long term or permanent harm may take longer to assess in value.
- Does the defendant admit their liability? If they do not, the claim may be delayed.
- How long it takes to collect evidence to support the claim. For instance, if you or a loved one were injured in a complex road traffic accident it may take longer to get the police report through.
In addition to these factors, if the head injury compensation claim needs to go to court the case may take longer to settle.
Get in touch with our team to learn more about brain injury compensation claims.
Why Choose Public Interest Lawyers For Your Claim?
Our panel of personal injury lawyers have experience in handling a wide range of different types of brain injury claims. They could assess the claim and could help to determine whether you (or a loved one) are eligible to seek compensation. If so, they could help to build the case.
They could:
- Organise an independent medical assessment of the injuries.
- Help to gather evidence.
- Explain technical legal or medical jargon.
- Submit the claim.
If the claim for head injury compensation does need to go to court, they could help build your court case.
Get help by:
- Telling us about the claim over our online chat.
- Complete our ‘contact us’ form.
- Call our team on 0800 408 7825.
More Information
Please find further information on how to claim compensation in our related guides below.
- In this guide we look at a compensation payout for a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen.
- In this guide you can learn more about how brain injury solicitors could help you claim for brain damage.
- This guide looks at how much compensation for a fall you could claim.
These resources provide additional information on head injuries.
- You can learn more about dealing with a traumatic brain injury in this NHS resource.
- The Child Brain Injury Trust provides help and support to children who have suffered an acquired brain injury.
- Check your entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay in this guide from the government.
We hope our guide has shown you how to make a head injury claim and how compensation could be calculated. Please contact our team for further information on how to claim compensation.
