What Is A Collarbone Break At Work Worth In Compensation?

If you suffer a collarbone break in an accident at work, it can be a painful and inconvenient injury. If your fracture was caused by the negligence of your employer, you might be entitled to claim.

Collarbone break

Collarbone break at work claims guide

In this article, you can find guidance on collarbone injury compensation amounts and how you might be injured as the result of a duty of care breach. We will also look at how No Win No Fee agreements could help claimants fund legal representation.

Get in touch with our advisors today for more help in making your claim by:

  • Using our online form
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Choose A Section

  1. Could I Claim Compensation For A Collarbone Break At Work?
  2. Collarbone Fracture Scenarios
  3. How Could I Prove A Duty Of Care Breach?
  4. Estimating Compensation For A Collarbone Break At Work
  5. Who Are No Win No Fee Lawyers?
  6. Further Guidance On Collarbone Break Claims

Could I Claim Compensation For A Collarbone Break At Work?

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA) is a central piece of health and safety legislation in the United Kingdom that outlines your employer’s duty of care towards you. This means they hold a responsibility to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure your safety in the workplace. 

If you suffer a collarbone break due to your employer breaching their duty of care, you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim. There is often a three-year time limit for personal injury claims. This time limit applies to starting a claim, however; there’s no requirement for it to be settled within this timeframe.

You may be able to claim if you were partly to blame for the accident that caused your injuries; this is called a split liability claim. Your compensation will be reduced according to how responsible you were for the accident.

For more information on how a No Win No Fee solicitor can help you, read on or contact our advisors today. 

Frequency Of Collarbone Injuries

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) is a piece of legislation that dictates the types of workplace accidents and injuries employers must report to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). 

In 2020/2021, reports made under RIDDOR indicated that 51,211 workers suffered from a non-fatal workplace injury. The most common type of reported injuries under RIDDOR were slips, trips, and falls at 33% of total reported accidents, followed by handling, lifting, and carrying at 18%. 

On top of this, RIDDOR statistics indicate that 22,27 of reported injuries were to the trunk of the torso, where the collarbone is located. However, because these statistics do not relate to negligence, there is no indication of how many of these instances could lead to a successful claim. 

Collarbone Fracture Scenarios

If an employer breaches their duty of care as outlined above, you may be able to make a personal injury claim for a collarbone break. Here are a few examples of how negligence in the workplace could lead to a broken collarbone:

  • Poor Housekeeping: An example of this could be if a wet floor sign was not placed on a freshly mopped floor, you could slip or fall and suffer a broken collarbone as a result of your fall.
  • Inadequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Your employer must provide you with adequate PPE that you need to do your job safely. If they don’t, you could be at risk of being injured. For example, if you work in construction and aren’t provided with a high-visibility vest, you could be struck by a moving object and suffer a collarbone fracture. Alternatively, if you’re working at a height in a factory and aren’t given non-slip shoes, this could cause you to fall from a height and break your collarbone. 
  • Lack of Training: Your employer must provide you with training that you need to safely carry out your job. If you don’t have access to the training you need, you could suffer an injury in the workplace. For example, if your employer does not provide training on proper lifting techniques, you could sustain a fracture because you tried to lift something too heavy in the incorrect way.  

For more information on claiming collarbone fracture compensation, get in touch with our advisors today. They could connect you with a solicitor from our panel if they feel you have a valid case. 

How Could I Prove A Duty Of Care Breach?

As mentioned above, your employer owes you a duty of care while you are in the workplace. If they breach this duty, they may be considered responsible for any injuries you sustain.

When you start your collarbone break compensation claim, you will be asked to prove that your employer is at fault. There are multiple pieces of evidence you can use to prove a personal injury claim, for example:

  • Medical notes or records: If you think you have a broken collarbone, seek medical attention as soon as possible. This means you will get the treatment you need, and you will have documentation of your injury. Later on in your claim, you may be invited to another independent medical examination to verify that your injury matches the circumstances described; the report generated from this assessment will be used to value your claim.
  • Take pictures of the accident site as soon as possible: For example, if you slipped on a wet floor that had not been signposted, pictures of this can be used as evidence in your claim.
  • Record your accident in the logbook: If your place of work has more than ten employees, you must have an accident book to report injuries in. The record of the accident can later be used to support your claim. 

For more information on the kinds of evidence that can be used to support a fractured collarbone claim, get in touch with our advisors today.  

Estimating Compensation For A Collarbone Break At Work

If your broken collarbone compensation claim is successful, you will be awarded general damages. This covers the pain and suffering caused by your injury. General damages for a collarbone break can vary depending on the severity of the injury, recovery time, and any lasting symptoms or pain you may have.

Compensation is worked out with the help of a document called the Judicial College Guidelines, which provides guideline compensation brackets based on past claims. Here are some estimated compensation amounts for a fractured collarbone, as well as some other associated injuries:

Injury TypeCompensation BracketNotes
Fracture of Clavicle (collarbone)£4,830 to £11,490Levels of compensation will depend on severity of the injury, level of disability, and residual symptoms.
Moderate Shoulder Injuries £7,410 to £11,980Frozen shoulder with limited movement and discomfort, with symptoms that last for around two years.
Minor Shoulder Injuries (i)£4,080 to £7,410Soft tissue injuries that involve considerable pain but almost completely recover in less than two years.
Simple Fractures of the Forearm£6,190 to £18,020Uncomplicated fractures to the forearm.
Less severe arm injuries £18,020 to £36,770Injuries that include significant disabilities, but for which a substantial amount of recovery has occurred or is possible.
Wrist Injuries (i)£44,690 to £56,180Injuries that result in complete loss of function of the wrist.

You might also be entitled to special damages, which can cover the financial losses caused by your injury. For example, if your fractured collarbone requires extensive physical therapy to recover, you may be able to claim back the cost of any sessions that were not covered by the NHS. Or, if your collarbone fracture results in time away from work, you may be able to claim back any lost earnings. 

Like the rest of your claim, you will need to provide evidence to back up your special damages claim. For example, you could show payslips to demonstrate a loss of earnings. For information on how a No Win No Fee solicitor can help you with this, contact us today.

Who Are No Win No Fee Lawyers?

No Win No Fee lawyers provide an accessible way to fund your legal representation. With a No Win No Fee agreement in place, you don’t have to pay any upfront or ongoing fees to your lawyer.

If your case is successful, your lawyer will take a percentage of your compensation. This amount is capped by law to ensure that you still get the majority of your award. However, if your case fails, you won’t have to pay any legal fees to your solicitor.

You don’t need legal representation to start a compensation claim. However, the guidance of a solicitor can make the process feel a lot smoother and less stressful. Get in touch with our advisors today to learn how a No Win No Fee lawyer can help your claim.

Begin Your Collarbone Break Claim Today

 If you’ve suffered a collarbone break at work, you could be eligible to make a claim. Contact our team of advisors now to find out how we can help your broken collarbone compensation claim by:

  • Use our online claim form 
  • Use the live chat button at the bottom of the screen
  • Follow the link at the top of the page

Further Guidance On Collarbone Break Claims

If you have any more questions about collarbone break claims, get in touch today. For more helpful resources, see:

GOV.UK – Requesting CCTV footage that you appear in

NHS – How to tell if a bone is broken

HSE – PPE at work

We also have a bunch of guides on accident at work claims which you can read below:

For more information on claiming for a collarbone break caused by employer negligence, speak with an advisor today.