Have you suffered an ear injury due to third-party negligence? If so, you may be able to make a claim for compensation. This guide will provide further guidance on when claims for ear injuries could be made.
Ear trauma injuries can be both uncomfortable and painful, affecting both physical and mental health. Serious ear injuries can impact your life moving forward. This includes both your social and work life. Some injuries may be too severe and leave you unable to work due to the circumstances of your job.
However, you may be able to seek compensation for the ways in which your injury has impacted your day-to-day life. We will provide further guidance on what your settlement could include following a successful claim.
We will also discuss gathering evidence that can help prove negligence and other steps you can take following an accident.
For more information regarding your potential claim, please continue reading. Or to speak to one of our advisors, use the contact details below:
- Call us on the number listed at the top of the page
- Reach us through the contact form
- Connect to an advisor through our live chat
Choose A Section
- Can I Make Ear Injuries Claims?
- What Accidents Lead To Injured Ears?
- Evidence For Ear Injuries Claims
- Calculating Compensation For An Ear Injury
- Benefits Of Working With A No Win No Fee Lawyer
- Extra Information About Making Ear Injuries Claims
Can I Make Ear Injuries Claims?
Ear-related injuries can vary in nature but can include deafness or tinnitus and penetrating injuries. Additionally, they can cover both mild and serious ear injuries such as earache and a perforated eardrum. Treatment for an ear injury will depend on the severity of your injuries.
If someone else’s negligence caused you to sustain harm, you may be entitled to seek compensation by making a personal injury claim. Negligence is when someone breaches the duty of care they owed you. You could be owed a duty of care in several circumstances, such as at work, in a public place or on the road.
In the workplace, your employer must do all that they reasonably can to ensure that you are safe. This is outlined in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. If they breach this duty of care, it could lead to you sustaining harm in the workplace.
Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. the person in control of a public place must do all reasonably practicable to keep people visiting the space safe. For example, completing regular maintenance checks and health and safety assessments to manage risks.
All road users must uphold their responsibilities as set out in the Highway Code in order to avoid road traffic accidents and keep our roads safe.
A failure to uphold their duty of care leading to you sustaining harm could mean you’re eligible to make claims for ear injuries. However, you should be aware that there is a general three year time limit to start a personal injury claim. This can start from the date of the accident or the date you connected your injuries with negligence.
Call us to find out more.
Injury Records For 2022
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) collates statistics based on employer reports made under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. The statistics show that there were 65 non-fatal ear injuries in 2020/21.
What Accidents Lead To Injured Ears?
There are various accidents that could cause ear injuries. For example:
- Workplace accidents: This can include factory accidents and office accidents. For example, an employer may fail to provide necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) such as ear protection to employees working around loud machinery regularly.
- Public place accidents: This could include a shopping centre accident or an accident in a local park. For example, someone might be involved in slip, trip and fall accidents due to inadequate signage of a slip causing them to sustain a head injury causing damage to their ears.
- Road traffic accidents: This could include road traffic accidents involving cars, cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians. For example, a driver could operate their vehicle above the speed limit and crash into you causing your head to bash against the steering wheel, this could cause damage to your ears.
For more information about whether you’re eligible to make claims for ear injuries, call our team.
Evidence For Ear Injuries Claims
After an accident, it is important that you receive medical attention as soon as possible. This can include making an appointment with your GP or calling for an ambulance where appropriate.
These appointments could ensure you receive the correct treatment and diagnosis as well as provide medical evidence such as prescriptions and medical records which can be useful in supporting claims for ear injuries.
Collecting other evidence can help prove someone else’s negligence lead to you sustaining injuries. Examples of relevant evidence can include:
- CCTV or dashcam footage of the accident taking place
- Details of witnesses
- Pictures of where the accident took place
- Images of your injuries after the accident and during recovery
- Police reports, if applicable
There may also be further need for an independent medical assessment to confirm the full extent of your injuries. It can also provide a report that can be used to accurately value your claim.
Calculating Compensation For An Ear Injury
There are two potential heads when you pursue compensation.
General damages consider the physical pain and psychological trauma caused from your injuries. The amount you receive for your injuries depends on several factors such as:
- Recovery time
- Future impact of your injuries
- The severity of your injuries
Special damages compensate you for any financial losses suffered due to the injury. For example:
- Loss of earnings due to needing time off work while recovering
- Travel costs from travelling to and from hospital appointments
- Cost of prescriptions
Keeping a record of the costs you’ve incurred can support your claim for special damages.
The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) are used by legal professionals to help value the general damages head of claim. It lists injuries with corresponding compensation brackets. We have included figures from the JCG below but you should only use them as a guide. Your actual settlement may differ from what’s listed in the table.
Injury Type | Compensation | Description of Injury |
---|---|---|
Total Deafness and Loss of Speech (a) | £109,650 - £140,660 | Deafness that has occurred at an early age impacting the development of normal speech. |
Total Deafness (b) | £90,750 - £109,650 | Cases including those that have no speech deficit or tinnitus. |
Total Loss of Hearing in One Ear (c) | £31,310 - £45,540 | Cases involving dizziness, tinnitus or headaches, |
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (d) (i) | £29,710 - £45,540 | Severe tinnitus alongside noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). |
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (d) (ii) | £14,900 - £29,710 | Moderate tinnitus and NIHL together or alone. |
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (d) (iii) | £12,590 - £14,900 | Tinnitus that's mild alongside some NIHL. |
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (d) (iv) | Around £11,720 | Mild tinnitus or NIHL alone. |
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (d) (v) | £7,360 - £12,590 | Slight or occasional tinnitus alongside NIHL that's slight. |
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (d) (vi) | Up to £7,010 | Slight NIHL without tinnitus or slight tinnitus without NIHL. |
For more information on compensation awarded for claims for ear injuries, call us.
Benefits Of Working With A No Win No Fee Lawyer
You may be looking to appoint a lawyer if you’ve been involved in an accident at work, road traffic accident or injured in a public place. However, you may be concerned with the costs often associated with accessing a solicitor’s services.
As such, you may find it beneficial to work with a solicitor offering No Win No Fee services such as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means you gain the benefits of legal representation without paying an upfront fee or ongoing costs. Furthermore, there is nothing to pay for your solicitor’s services if your claim turns out to be unsuccessful.
You will pay a small percentage of your compensation, which is known as a success fee, if your claim succeeds. This fee is legally capped.
To find out whether claims for ear injuries could be made with the help of a solicitor from our panel offering No Win No Fee services, get in touch using the details below.
Start A Ear Injury Claim Today
For further information on starting claims for ear injuries, you can reach our team of advisors using the contact details below:
- Call us on the number listed at the top of the page
- Reach us through the contact form
- Connect to an advisor through our live chat
Extra Information About Making Ear Injuries Claims
Here are some links to resources you may find useful:
- GOV- Reported road casualties in Great Britain
- NHS- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- GOV- Statutory Sick Pay
- How To Get Compensation For A Head Injury At Work
- How Can You Prevent An Accident In The Workplace?
- Personal Injury Claims Against The Local Council
- Claim Settlement Figures For PTSD Sufferers
- How To Find Serious Injury Solicitors
- Tips For Making A Terminal Injury Claim
- No Win No Fee Personal Injury Claims
- What Is A Personal Injury Claim?
- How Do Personal Injury Claims Work?
- Can I Claim Compensation After Suffering Lung Damage?
- Could I Claim Any Compensation For A Torn Quadricep?
- Life-Changing Injuries That You Can Claim Compensation For
- How To File A Claim After Suffering A Torn Tricep
- How To Find Quality Personal Injury Solicitors
- How To Make A Successful Knee Injury Claim
- Time Limits In Personal Injury Claims
- Valuing Compensation For A Hand Injury Claim
- What Can Someone Get For A Toe Injury Claim?
- What Is A Torn Bicep Claim Worth In Compensation?
- Compensation Payouts For A Torn Hamstring
- What You Need To Know About Neck Injury Claims
- No Win No Fee Agreements Explained
- What Is The Maximum Compensation For An Ankle Injury?
- How To Calculate Compensation For A Thumb Injury Claim
- What Is The Value Of A Wrist Injury Compensation Claim?
- Can I File A Claim For A Broken Great Toe?
- How To Make A Claim For Tetraplegia
- Personal Injury Claims Guidelines – What You Need To Know
- What Is A Shoulder Dislocation Claim?
- What Is A Scalp Burn Worth As A Claim Settlement?
- I Suffered an Accident in a Salon, Can I Claim Compensation?
- How Much Is A Broken Rib Worth In Compensation?
- What Are Paralysis Claims Worth In Compensation?
- Placing A Claim Value On Organ Damage After An Accident
- Estimating A Claim Settlement For A Permanent Disability
- Claim Compensation Payouts For Scarring
- What Is A Quadriplegia Claim?
- How To Prove A Personal Injury Claim
- What Can We Learn From Accident At Work Statistics?
- Claiming Compensation After Suffering A Concussion
- I Sprained My Ankle At Work, Can I Make A Claim?
- Making A Claim After Suffering A Collapsed Lung
- Compensation Payouts For A Head Injury Claim
- Slip, Trip Or Fall Claim – A Personal Injury Guide
- How To Claim For An Arm Injury
- Elbow Injury Claims – How To Get Compensation
- What Evidence Is Needed For A Personal Injury Claim?
- What Are Different Types Of Ear Injuries?
- Can I Claim Compensation For Loss Of Teeth?
- Personal Injury FAQs
Thank you for reading this guide. We hope it has assisted in your understanding and approach to making claims for ear injuries.
Writer Jess Angler
Editor Meg McConnell