This guide discusses when you could be eligible to make a serious brain injury claim. Certain eligibility criteria must be met, whether pursuing serious injury compensation for yourself or a loved one injured in an accident that wasn’t their fault. Therefore, we will outline the criteria you must satisfy to proceed. You can also find information on the evidence that could help support a case.
Making A Serious Brain Injury Claim
Additionally, we provide guidance on the duty of care road users, employers and occupiers owe and the legislation they must adhere to in order to protect your health, safety and well-being at work.
Furthermore, we will provide a figurative case study to help you understand the steps involved in making a serious head injury claim and the factors that can be considered when valuing your compensation settlement.
You may also want to know what personal injury compensation payouts could include and how they aim to address the different ways your injuries have affected your life. If so, you can find information on this later on in our guide.
To conclude, this guide will inform you of the benefits of working with a solicitor from our panel under the terms of a particular No Win No Fee contract.
Continue reading for more information on seeking personal injury compensation for serious harm. Alternatively, get in touch with an advisor for free advice 24/7. To reach them, you can:
- Call on 0113 460 1216
- Fill in our form to begin making a claim enquiry online
- Speak to an advisor via live chat on our website
Jump To A Section
- Eligibility Criteria For Making A Serious Brain Injury Claim
- Case Study: £1.5 Million Payout In Severe Brain Injury Compensation
- How Much Compensation For A Brain Injury Could You Receive?
- Potential Evidence In Serious Injury Claims
- Why Use No Win No Fee Solicitors To Make A Serious Brain Injury Claim?
- Read More About How To Claim For An Injury
Eligibility Criteria For Making A Serious Brain Injury Claim
Brain damage can affect a person’s life in different ways. For example, depending on the severity, it could lead to paralysis, memory problems or an impairment of the senses.
Satisfying key eligibility criteria will enable you to proceed with your serious brain injury claim. This means showing:
- A duty of care was owed to you by a third party, such as an employer, occupier or road user.
- A breach of this duty occurred.
- Due to the breach of duty, you suffered an injury.
The three points form the basis of negligence in personal injury claims. If you have evidence of negligence, you may be able to seek compensation.
In the next section, we will address the duty of care third parties owe in different circumstances.
Accidents In A Public Place
The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 states that parties in control of a public space must take steps to ensure the reasonable safety of visitors using it for the purpose they’re permitted to do so. If this duty is breached, it could lead to an accident in which you suffer a serious brain injury. For example:
- You could end up slipping on a wet floor in a cinema if there is a failure to display wet floor signs after clearing up a spillage. This could lead to you banging your head and suffering a serious head injury which leads to brain damage.
Road Traffic Accidents
Road users owe a duty of care to navigate the road in such a way that prevents harm, as well as damage, to themselves and others. This duty can be fulfilled by complying with the rules in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code.
If this duty isn’t adhered to, it could cause you to sustain a head injury in a road traffic accident. This could occur, for example, if a driver fails to stop at a give way sign and drives straight through a junction causing them to crash into the side of you.
Accidents At Work
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 outlines that employers must take reasonable steps to protect your health, safety and well-being in the workplace. Failure to comply with this duty of care could see you enduring a head injury in an accident at work. For example:
- Your employer could fail to provide you with the correct personal protective equipment (PPE), like a hard hat, when working on a construction site. This could result in you suffering brain damage when a heavy object falls on your head.
Contact our advisors today to discuss your specific case and find out whether you could be eligible to begin a serious brain injury claim.
Case Study: £1.5 Million Payout In Severe Brain Injury Compensation
Below, we have provided a figurative case study to help you understand the process of beginning a personal injury claim.
Mr. Cole, 26, was a construction worker for a housing development company. One day, when he arrived at the site, his employer failed to provide PPE, including a hard hat. Whilst hesitant to proceed without PPE, his superior insisted that he’d be fine. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case, and later that day, some bricks fell on his head.
Lacking the necessary protection, Mr.Cole became unconscious, suffered a severe skull fracture that put pressure on his brain. Colleagues quickly called an ambulance, and he was rushed to hospital.
After treatment, the doctors informed Mr.Cole’s loved ones that he had suffered a serious brain injury with life-altering consequences. This included limb paralysis and speech difficulties.
His family contacted solicitors to make a serious brain injury claim on his behalf. The solicitors gathered evidence such as, witness statements, pictures of the injury and accident site, to support the case, which resulted in its success.
Mr.Cole was awarded a settlement of £1.5 million which consisted of compensation for the pain and suffering of his injuries, as well as the financial losses incurred as a result, including lost income and the cost of adaptations to his home.
To find out if we can help you, contact our advisors today. They would provide a free case assessment to discover your eligibility to seek compensation and whether our panel of serious injury solicitors could assist you.
How Much Compensation For A Brain Injury Could You Receive?
You will be awarded a settlement if your serious brain injury claim succeeds. This could comprise up to two heads of claim, the first being general damages. This seeks to address the pain and suffering experienced as a result of your injuries, both physical and psychological.
A legal professional could assign value to general damages using the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) which contains guideline compensation brackets for different injuries. Additionally, they might obtain medical evidence to use alongside the JCG.
Below is a table of figures taken from the JCG. These should only be used as a guide because each case is unique, meaning the amount you’re awarded could differ.
Compensation Table
| Injury | Severity | Compensation | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Brain Injuries | Serious | Up to £1,000,000 and over | Compensation for multiple serious injuries alongside financial expenses incurred as a result. |
| Brain | Very Severe | £282,010 to £403,990 | The requirement for full-time nursing care is present. |
| Moderately Severe | £219,070 to £282,010 | Very serious disablement, which is either physical, such as limb paralysis or cognitive, such as marked intellectual impairment. | |
| Moderate (i) | £150,110 to £219,070 | Moderate to severe intellectual deficit, with a personality change and significant risk of epilepsy. There are also no employment prospects. | |
| Moderate (ii) | £90,720 to £150,110 | Moderate to modest intellectual deficit, with some risk of epilepsy and a significantly reduced ability to work. | |
| Moderate (iii) | £43,060 to £90,720 | The person has a reduced ability to work, a small risk of epilepsy and affected concentration and memory. | |
| Less Severe | £15,320 to £43,060 | A good recovery with a return to normal social life and work. | |
| Paralysis | Quadriplegia | £324,600 to £403,990 | Paralysis of both the upper and lower body. |
| Paraplegia | £219,070 to £284,260 | Paralysis of the lower body. | |
| Special Damages | Loss of Earnings | Up to £100,000 and above | Compensation can be awarded to reimburse loss of earnings, due to being unable to work because of your injuries. |
Can Financial Losses Make Up Part Of Your Brain Injury Claim Amount?
Special damages could also make up your brain injury compensation payout if general damages are awarded.
This head of claim compensates for financial losses you incur due to your injuries. You will need relevant evidence of such losses to ensure you’re fully compensated for them. If you can provide such proof, you might receive compensation for:
- The income lost from being unable to work
- House modification costs needed to improve independence around the home
- Medical expenses incurred from necessary professional care
Contact our team of advisors today to learn more about the potential compensation you could receive for a successful serious brain injury claim.
Potential Evidence In Serious Injury Claims
Evidence can help to support a serious brain injury claim as it can show that a third party breached the duty of care they owed you. It could also prove that the breach resulted in harm and outline how the harm has affected a person’s life.
There are numerous forms of evidence you could supply to support your case, including:
- Medical records
- Journal entries of your symptoms and treatments received
- Injury and accident site photographs
- CCTV footage of what happened
- Witness contact details
If your case is valid, one of the solicitors on our panel could help collate evidence as part of their service to support your serious injury claim. Speak with our advisors today to see if you can get their help.
Why Use No Win No Fee Solicitors To Make A Serious Brain Injury Claim?
If you have a valid serious brain injury claim and want to ensure your case runs smoothly, consider instructing a solicitor. Our panel of solicitors provide their services under a Conditional Fee Agreement, a kind of No Win No Fee contract.
This specific type of agreement means that you don’t pay any costs upfront or whilst your case is in progress for the service your solicitor provides. Furthermore, if your case is unsuccessful, no fees for your solicitor’s service will be payable.
If your serious injury claim succeeds, you will be awarded compensation, from which your solicitor will take a success fee. However, they could only take a legally capped percentage from your compensation, which is small. This means the majority of your compensation will be yours.
To find out if you could make a serious injury claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor, get in touch with our advisors now for a free consultation by:
- Calling on 0113 460 1216
- Filling in our form to begin making a claim enquiry online
- Speaking to an advisor via the live chat on our website
Read More About How To Claim For An Injury
You can find more of our helpful guides below:
- Find out whether you could make a car accident claim and how much compensation could be awarded.
- Learn whether you could claim for an accident in a restaurant in which you suffered an injury.
- Discover if you could seek compensation for a burn injury that you sustained in an accident at work.
For some other resources, please look here:
- Information about when to call 999 from the NHS
- A guide regarding statutory sick pay from GOV.UK
- Advice for road users from Think!
We hope this guide has helped inform you about the process involved in making a serious brain injury claim. If you have any other questions, please contact an advisor on the number above.
Writer Will Grey
Editor Meg McConnell
