In this guide, we explore when you could claim compensation for a neck injury at work. Firstly, we’ll review the duty of care employers owe their employees and how a breach of this could lead to a workplace accident. Then, we will look at the criteria that must be met before you can make a personal injury claim after an accident at work and the evidence that could help support your case.
There are different types of neck injuries, such as soft tissue damage to the muscles in the neck, a fracture or damage to the spinal cord in the neck leading to paralysis. Each of these injuries could impact your quality of life as well as cause you financial loss. If you make a successful accident at work claim, you could be awarded compensation to address how your injuries have affected you and your life. Later in our guide, we discuss how settlements are calculated and the factors considered when determining the payout you are entitled to.
Finally, we discuss the benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel and the services they could potentially offer you if you have a valid claim and are eligible to instruct them.
If you have any other questions, please contact our advisors for free advice. They are available 24/7 and you can reach them via the following contact details:
- Call 020 8050 2736.
- Chat with an online advisor.
- Enquire about your potential claim online.
A Guide To Compensation Claims For A Neck Injury At Work
Browse Our Guide
- What Are The Eligibility Criteria For Claiming For A Neck Injury At Work?
- How Could A Neck Injury At Work Be Caused?
- What Is The Average Settlement For A Work Neck Injury?
- Evidence That Could Help You Claim For A Neck Injury At Work
- Use A No Win No Fee Solicitor To Claim For Workplace Neck Injury
- More Resources About Making Injury At Work Claims
What Are The Eligibility Criteria For Claiming For A Neck Injury At Work?
Employers have a duty of care to take reasonable and practicable steps to prevent an accident in the workplace as well as any subsequent injuries. This duty is placed on them by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Some steps they may need to take to adhere to this duty include, providing adequate training to all staff, performing risk assessments on a regular basis and addressing any hazards that pose a risk of injury, and providing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) where necessary.
If your employer breached their duty of care and caused you to sustain an injury to your neck as a result, you might be wondering, “Can I get compensation for a work injury?”. In order to make a personal injury claim for a neck injury at work, you must prove the following:
- Your employer owed you a duty of care at the time and location of your accident.
- They breached this duty of care.
- As a direct result of the breach of duty, you sustained an injury in an accident.
Is There A Time Limit When Making A Claim For A Neck Injury?
In addition to meeting the criteria listed above, you must adhere to the personal injury claims time limit set out in the Limitation Act 1980. This states that you generally have three years to initiate legal proceedings starting from the date you sustained the injury. There are exceptions that could apply to this limitation period, however.
To discuss the eligibility criteria and time limits for claiming for a neck injury at work in more detail, please call an advisor on the number above.
How Could A Neck Injury At Work Be Caused?
There are several ways a neck injury at work could occur. For example:
- You are instructed to operate a forklift truck without any training. As a result, you lose control of the vehicle and crash causing you to sustain a neck fracture in a forklift accident.
- You fell from a faulty ladder and damaged spinal discs in your neck because your employer failed to carry out a risk assessment before instructing you to work from a height.
- Oil was leaking from a faulty machine that hadn’t been fixed. As a result, you slip, trip and fall sustaining soft tissue damage in your neck.
These are just some examples of neck injuries that could result from an accident at work. However, it’s important to note that not all workplace accidents will form the basis of a valid personal injury claim. To discuss your specific case and find out whether you’re eligible to proceed with pursuing compensation for a neck injury, please contact an advisor on the number above.
What Is The Average Settlement For A Work Neck Injury?
Payouts awarded for successful neck injury claims can comprise up to two heads of loss. General damages is the first and compensates for the pain and suffering caused by the injury, either physical, psychological, or both together.
As part of the claims process, an independent medical assessment may be arranged for you to attend. The medical report produced from this assessment can then be used to help solicitors and other legal professionals calculate the value of your injuries. They can also use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) alongside this report.
The JCG lists guideline award brackets for a range of different neck injuries. We have included figures from this document in the table below. However, compensation amounts will vary from case to case so please use these figures as a guide only.
Compensation Table
| Injury | Level of Severity | Compensation Guidelines | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paralysis | Quadriplegia | £324,600 to £403,990 | Paralysis of the lower and upper body. Factors that may influence the award for cases in this bracket include age and the degree of independence. |
| Paraplegia | £219,070 to £284,260 | Paralysis of the lower body. The level of award can be influenced by factors, such as, age, life expectancy and the presence of any depression. | |
| Neck Injury | Severe (i) | Around £148,330 | This type of neck injury can be associated with incomplete paraplegia. |
| Severe (ii) | £65,740 to £130,930 | Considerably severe disabilities from injuries such as serious fractures or damage to cervical spine discs. | |
| Severe (iii) | £45,470 to £55,990 | Fractures or dislocations or severe soft tissue damage with ruptured tendons causing chronic conditions and a permanent and significant disability. | |
| Moderate (i) | £24,990 to £38,490 | A spinal fusion may be necessary following severe and immediate symptoms from neck fractures or dislocations. | |
| Moderate (ii) | £13,740 to £24,990 | This bracket includes, for example, a soft tissue injury and a disc lesion of a severe nature causing cervical spondylosis as well as other issues. | |
| Moderate (iii) | £7,890 to £13,740 | Injuries that exacerbate and/or accelerate a pre-existing condition over a shorter period. |
Can I Receive Special Damages?
The second head of loss is called special damages. This compensates for the financial losses incurred as a result of your injuries. For example, under special damages you could claim back the cost of:
- Medical care, such as prescriptions and physiotherapy.
- Lost income incurred from time taken off work.
- Travel.
- Domestic care.
- Home or vehicle adaptations.
You should provide evidence of these monetary losses. This could be in the form of receipts, invoices, or wage slips.
For further guidance on how accident at work compensation is calculated, please contact an advisor on the number above.
Evidence That Could Help You Claim For A Neck Injury At Work
Evidence can help to support your neck injury at work claim by showing that an employer breached their duty of care and caused you to sustain harm as a result. As such, you might benefit from gathering the following:
- CCTV footage of the accident.
- Photographs of the accident and your injuries.
- A copy of your medical records, such as scans and other test results.
- A copy of the incident report from the workplace accident book.
- Contact details for anybody who saw the accident in case witness statements are required later on.
If you have a valid claim, an experienced accident at work solicitor from our panel could assist you in building a strong case. One of the services they can offer is helping you to obtain evidence and presenting your case in full within the limitation period.
Call an advisor on the number above to learn more about how a solicitor from our panel could help you and whether you’re eligible to instruct them and benefit from their services.
Use A No Win No Fee Solicitor To Claim For A Workplace Neck Injury
The solicitors from our panel offer their services under a particular type of No Win No Fee agreement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). A CFA sets out specific terms, some of which generally include:
- No upfront payment is needed to cover the cost of your solicitor’s work.
- You won’t pay for your solicitor’s ongoing services as the claim proceeds.
- No fees will be required for the work completed on your claim if it has a failed outcome.
A success fee will be deducted from your compensation if the claim is won. This is taken as a percentage by the solicitor. However, this has a legal restriction which means you can keep the majority of your settlement.
To discuss whether you could instruct a solicitor from our panel to take on your neck injury at work claim, please speak with an advisor. To reach them, you can:
- Call 020 8050 2736.
- Chat with an online advisor.
- Enquire about your potential claim online.
More Resources About Making Injury At Work Claims
Here are a few more of our guides that you might find useful:
- Learn when you could be eligible to claim for a slip, trip and fall at work and the process of doing so.
- Find guidance on seeking compensation after a factory accident in which you sustained harm.
- Discover the steps you could take to make a back injury at work claim.
Also, here are some other resources that you might want to refer to:
- NHS advice on neck pain symptoms and treatments.
- Guidance on managing health and safety at work from the Health and Safety Executive.
- Information about Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from GOV.UK.
Thank you for reading our guide on when you could be eligible to begin a personal injury claim for a neck injury at work. If you have any other questions, please contact an advisor on the number above.