If you suffer a laceration injury but it wasn’t your fault, then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation. In our day to day lives, lots of organisations and people owe each other a duty of care to look after each other’s health and well being. If this duty is breached causing harm it may make them liable for your suffering. This in turn could allow you eligibility to claim compensation. Public Interest Lawyers can assess your case for free in a no-obligation consultation. And this guide provides advice on the claiming process, including a £22,000 laceration injury settlement example case study.
The headings below demonstrate the topics that we’re covering in this guide. Personal injury lawyers are well-prepared to manage your case. Contact our friendly team of advisors to see how personal injury lawyers could help you. Simply telephone 0800 408 7825, write in the contact form or use the 24/7 Live Chat function below.
Choose A Section
- A Guide To Calculate Laceration Compensation
- Laceration Vs. Abrasion
- Financial Loss From Lacerations
- What Causes Lacerations?
- Expert Calculations Of Claim Settlements
- Laceration Care Claims
- Case Study: £22,000 Laceration Injury
- Free Claim Estimates For Victims
- Laceration No Win No Fee Claims
- Find Quality Personal Injury Solicitors
- Talk With Our Team
- Further Guides
A Guide To Calculate Laceration Compensation
The personal injury claims time limit is something you should be aware of. This is especially true if it’s already been some time since you were hurt. So, you have got 3 years from when you were injured or from the date of knowledge. There are exceptions to this rule and our team of advisors can tell you more. Why not work with us to get moving on your claim for a laceration injury settlement today? Please talk to our knowledgeable team about how to take the first steps towards legal action.
Laceration Vs. Abrasion
There is a clear difference between a laceration and an abrasion. So, a laceration occurs when you suffer a deep cut in the skin which could impact the fat and muscle beneath the skin. An abrasion, on the other hand, is an open wound from skin rubbing against a rough surface (essentially a scrape or a graze). Now, while an abrasion can be painful and hard to look at, they’re often minor and heal up naturally within a week or so. With a laceration, however, there is the possibility of the body having to withstand more than just a few days of discomfort.
Indeed, a laceration could potentially expose bones and muscles to the point of surgery being the medical recommendation. A basic laceration may heal up within weeks. But a deep laceration has the possibility of taking 6-8 weeks to make a full recovery following a minor operation. Call us on the number at the top of our page to discuss this matter in further detail.
Financial Loss From Lacerations
The financial brunt of a laceration injury would be felt in numerous ways. The biggest could be the possibility of being unable to work for the duration of your recovery. (This would be even more significant if you weren’t in receipt of sick pay while you’re recuperating.) And this could even extend to being unable to return to your chosen field depending on the severity of your injury. We should also mention the rising medical costs possible plastic surgery needed, as well as forking out for the likes of regular public transport journeys to hospital visits and home care services (which we’re covering in more depth later on). Find out more about the finances that could influence a laceration injury settlement by speaking to Public Interest Lawyers today.
What Causes Lacerations?
To clarify, if a third party breaches a duty of care they owed to you, with you being injured as a result, then you could have a viable opportunity to make a compensation claim based on their negligence. Crucially, you would have to prove that their actions or lack thereof directly contributed to the circumstances by which you were hurt.
Three areas pertain to the vast majority of scenarios which could lead to an injury. For instance, public liability (PL) refers to the duty of care that the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 applies. This is to prevent accidents in public places. Estimated 40,000 children injured in playparks or playgrounds each year needing a hospital visit tells us that accidents and injuries in public places are not uncommon. However, we do not know how many of these accidents could have been prevented. A possible accident in a public place that you might suffer is lacerating your leg while using an entranceway that has sharp edges (for instance, a wooden door with jagged sides or small nails sticking out).
Road traffic accidents (RTA) are another scenario. The Highway Code‘s duty of care applies to drivers and vulnerable road users, amongst them cyclists and pedestrians. The goal is to prevent people from being hurt on the roads. However, a collision with a motorcyclist could knock them to the ground, thus causing a laceration. Or perhaps a serious crash injures you to the point of suffering a deep laceration. A multiple injury claim could be applicable if you suffer a laceration along with other injuries.
And we also have employer’s liability (EL), which applies the duty of care via the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. But workplace accidents could still happen in many different scenarios. A possible accident at work could be you lacerating your foot after in a supermarket where you work because broken glass had not been cleared away properly. Please talk to Public Interest Lawyers to learn about other potential scenarios resulting in laceration injuries.
Expert Calculations Of Claim Settlements
We’ve explained how you could suffer a laceration injury, but it would still need a complete diagnosis. By doing so, you would have official medical records about your laceration and the circumstances causing it. This is why a medical assessment is so important, as it clarifies the true nature of your injury. And this could also allow you to explain the impact that this laceration is having on your day-to-day life. As a result, you’re in a stronger position to claim for a laceration injury settlement. Incidentally, this would be split into two parts:
- General damages; the pain and suffering for which you’re enduring.
- Special damages; additional financial costs for the likes of medication, public transport usage and making up for the loss of income.
Speak to our helpful team anytime you wish to discuss both the medical evaluation and general/special damages.
Laceration Care Claims
Care that you receive due to the consequences of a laceration injury could be added to special damages as care costs. For instance, maybe you’re hiring a nurse to take care of you on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Perhaps you’re paying for a professional to handle babysitting, cleaning, gardening, dog-walking or other chores. Or maybe you just want to acknowledge the gracious care of family and friends by monetarily valuing their time and effort. Each of these elements could comprise a care claim for a potential laceration injury settlement. Use the Live Chat in the bottom right corner to ask any questions.
Case Study: £22,000 Laceration Injury
Mrs Armstrong, 28, worked as a beautician in the capital. She loved her job and had built up quite a strong following during her career thus far, with expansion to eventually run her own company. However, Mrs Armstrong encountered a major setback. And this would have significant short- and long-term ramifications.
One summer evening, Mrs Armstrong was driving home. She was heading down a road when she saw a vehicle in the opposite direction trying to overtake realising that he would not do it in time she tried to break but it was too late the defendant hit Mrs Armstring head-on.
Mrs Armstrong slammed forward as the window screen broke, causing significant facial lacerations.
Mrs Armstrong was taken straight to the hospital. She had suffered severe cuts to her face and one large laceration that needed surgery and eventually plastic surgery. The scar would leave some minor cosmetic disability. Mrs Armstrong was suffering mentally with the cosmetic effect that this scar would have on her face. Not only did she need plastic surgery but also to see a psychiatrist. Eventually, her psychological illness reduced.
As a beautician, she wondered if the visual damage would deter future clients, both now and if she ever became a sole trader. What’s more, Mrs Armstrong contemplated never driving again, yet her job required long-distance travel, thus placing her career in jeopardy.
After speaking with a personal injury law firm, Mrs Armstrong found out that the other driver had breached a duty of care stated by the Highway Code. Therefore, she chose to file an injury claim for the lacerations she had suffered against the other driver. Mrs Armstrong received £22,000 for her out-of-court laceration injury settlement: £18,010 as general damages plus £3,990 for special damages.
Type Of General Damages | Includes: | How Much? |
---|---|---|
Significant scarring | Face scarring where plastic surgery has reduced cosmetic effect and psychological effect is no longer great. | £18,010 |
Type Of Special Damages | Includes: | How Much? |
---|---|---|
Lost Earnings | Costs of being unable to work as a beautician for 2 months | £3,500 |
Medical Costs | Costs of medication for her recovery | £250 |
Transport Costs | Costs of using buses & trains to travel to & from her hospital appointments | £100 |
Other Costs | Additional costs for her injuries | £90 |
The case of Mrs Armstrong is purely an example. It is based on our past experiences of handling and valuing claims and serves to illustrate how accidents can happen and how they are valued.
Free Claim Estimates For Victims
To receive an accurate compensation estimate means avoiding the guesswork stemming from an online personal injury claims calculator. Instead, the criteria should be your specific injury and the specific consequences that you’re having to deal with. After all, a compensation calculator cannot truly determine the true effect of this injury on your day-to-day life. Our panel of personal injury solicitors would therefore use actual evidence provided by you to formulate a truly accurate specialist estimate. Ask us anything you want to know about expert compensation estimates.
Laceration No Win No Fee Claims
No Win No Fee agreements receive the thumbs-up from our clients because they often provide less stress and lower costs. How is this the case? Well, first of all, you wouldn’t pay a personal injury solicitor’s legal costs at the initial point of contact. Next, you also wouldn’t be paying their fees while the case is ongoing/during negotiations. And if your case is unsuccessful for whatever reason, your personal injury solicitor won’t require payment whatsoever for their time. Now, if your case does win, your legal representation takes a success fee. Get in touch to find out more about working with a No Win No Fee solicitor.
Find Quality Personal Injury Solicitors
The best personal injury lawyer should have many examples of both successful case wins for laceration injuries and positive clients reviews aplenty. Additionally, they should specialise in laceration injury settlement claims, as well as having credentials to match any potential competitors. And they should offer a fast turnaround.
Here at Public Interest Lawyers, our panel of personal injury solicitors operates with the utmost professionalism to handle cases such as yours. Call us by using the number at the top of the site to enquire.
Talk With Our Team
All that needs to happen now, then, is for you to speak to us about your laceration injury. That way, you can find out first-hand how we could manage your case and ensure that you receive a laceration injury settlement. Please talk via telephone on 0800 408 7825, by using our contact form, or by opening the Live Chat below. Note how we are accessible all day, every day on 365 days of the year. And remember: you’re under no pressure to move ahead with your case if you don’t want to.
Further Guides
To receive more guidance about how to receive a laceration injury settlement, check out the six links below.
This is the Public Interest Lawyers home page with all information about legal claims.
We talk about how to prevent public accidents from occurring.
And we describe the process of claiming after a shop accident.
The NHS has a page dedicated to lacerations.
They also have an A-Z of all injuries.
You can also read the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957.
Article by AR
Publisher EC.