By Danielle Parsons. Last Updated 11th Aptil 2024. In this article, we provide information on starting a personal injury claim and seeking compensation for a broken jaw. Firstly, we’ll set out the eligibility criteria for broken jaw claims and the time limits you need to adhere to when starting legal proceedings. We also review what evidence could be used to support your claim.
Later in our guide, we discuss the duty of care different third parties owe, the legislation they need to adhere to, and provide examples of how a breach of this duty could lead to an accident in which you injure your jaw.
Furthermore, we discuss the average settlement for a broken jaw, including the factors considered when valuing payouts and what they could comprise.
Finally, you can find information on the advantages of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel and the services they could offer you.
If you have any other questions about starting a personal injury claim for a broken jaw, please contact an advisor. They are available 24/7 and can provide helpful advice for free. To reach them you can:
- Call 020 8050 2736.
- Use our online chat service.
- Discuss your claim online.
Browse Our Guide
- When Are You Able To Claim Compensation For A Broken Jaw?
- How Could You Suffer A Broken Jaw?
- Potential Compensation For A Broken Jaw
- Is There A Time Limit When Claiming Broken Jaw Compensation?
- Potential Evidence That Could Be Used In A Broken Jaw Claim
- How Could No Win No Fee Solicitors Help You Claim?
- Learn More About Claiming Compensation For A Broken Jaw
When Are You Able To Claim Compensation For A Broken Jaw?
In order to seek personal injury compensation for a broken jaw, you need to meet the eligibility criteria. This involves showing the following:
- You were owed a duty of care by a relevant third party, such as an employer, occupier, or road user.
- There was a breach of this duty by the third party.
- You suffered a physical and/or psychological injury in an accident as a result of the breach.
These three points lay the foundation of negligence in claims for a personal injury. If this can be demonstrated, you could have valid grounds to proceed with your case.
Read on to learn more about the duty of care you are owed at work, on the road, and in a public place.
Accidents In A Public Place
The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 places a duty of care on those in control of a public space, also known as the occupier, to take steps as a way to ensure visitors’ reasonable safety when using the space for the purpose for which it was intended. A failure to do so could lead to an accident in a public place. For example:
- You could sustain a broken jaw in a slip, trip, or fall accident in a supermarket caused by a spillage in an aisle that had no wet floor sign and hadn’t been cleaned up in an adequate time frame.
Accidents At Work
Your employer has a duty of care to take reasonable steps to keep you safe at work. This is laid out by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. If your employer fails to do so, this could result in you sustaining a broken jaw injury at work. For example:
- You could fracture your jaw in a fall from a height accident at work caused by your employer providing you with faulty equipment, such as a defective ladder.
Road Traffic Accidents
Road users, including drivers, cyclists, and motorcyclists, all have a duty of care to prevent one another from experiencing harm or damage on the roads. In order to uphold this duty, they must adhere to the Road Traffic Act 1988 and follow the rules and regulations in the Highway Code. If there is a failure to do so, it could lead to a road traffic accident in which you injure your jaw. For example:
- The driver of a car may have failed to check their mirrors before pulling out at a junction. As a result, they knock you off your motorcycle causing you to sustain a severe jaw fracture and other serious injuries.
To discuss your specific case and find out whether you could be eligible to seek compensation for a broken jaw, please contact an advisor on the number above.
How Can You Suffer A Broken Jaw?
As discussed above, various situations in daily life could result in a broken jaw due to a third party’s negligence. However, in order to have a valid jaw injury compensation claim, you need to satisfy the eligibility criteria.
A few examples of how you could suffer a facial injury include:
- Driver fails to stop. You could be using the zebra crossing when a car fails to stop and hits you. This results in a severe jaw fracture and other injuries.
- Slips, trips and falls. While in the workplace, there may be trailing cables across a walkway that your employer is aware of. If they fail to take action, such as moving the cables or covering them if they cannot be moved, you could trip and break your jaw when your face comes into contact with the floor or a wall. While in a public place, you may use a staircase with broken lights that the occupier failed to repair in a timely manner. As a result, you could fall down the stairs and sustain facial injuries.
- An object falls on you. Your employer or an occupier of a public space may be aware of an insecure light fitting. They don’t repair it in a timely manner or take other steps, such as closing the area where the fitting is located until it can be fixed. As a result, the fitting falls on you, causing a head injury along with multiple jaw fractures.
If you would like to discuss the incident that caused your jaw injury, talk to an advisor from our team. They can help assess whether you have a valid jaw injury compensation claim.
Potential Compensation For A Broken Jaw
In successful personal injury claims, up to two heads of loss can be included in your payout. General damage, the first head, compensates for the pain and suffering caused by your injuries.
Solicitors can use your medical records alongside the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them assign a value to the general damages portion of your settlement. The JCG is a helpful document containing a set of guideline valuation brackets for many different injuries.
The table below features amounts from the JCG. It also includes a figure in the top row (not from the JCG) that shows how much compensation you could be awarded for multiple injuries and special damages. However, the compensation for a broken jaw you receive will be assessed based on the individual circumstances of your case. As such, these figures have been included for guidance purposes only.
Compensation Table
| Type Of Injury | Compensation Bracket - Guidelines | Detailed Information |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries and Special Damages | Up to £75,000+ | Settlements may include compensation for more than one severe injury and related expenses, including loss of earnings and cosmetic dentistry. |
| Jaw Fracture | £37,210 to £55,570 | (i) Multiple fractures of a serious nature causing prolonged treatment and permanent issues, such as severe pain and restricted eating. |
| £21,920 to £37,210 | (ii) Permanent issues from a serious fracture such as, difficulty opening the mouth. | |
| £7,880 to £10,660 | (iii) A simple fracture that needs immobilising. A complete recovery takes place. | |
| Damage to Teeth | £10,660 to £13,930 | (i) Where several front teeth are lost or seriously damaged. |
| £5,310 to £9,310 | (ii) Loss (or serious damage) to two front teeth. | |
| £2,690 to £4,820 | (iii) Loss (or serious damage) to one front tooth. |
Claiming For Financial Losses In A Broken Jaw Claim
You may also be entitled to claim special damages if you are awarded general damages. Special damages compensate for the financial losses incurred as a result of your injuries. For example:
- The cost of medical treatment.
- Travel expenses.
- Lost earnings.
- The cost of domestic care.
Importantly, you must supply financial records, such as bank statements, receipts, and wage slips, to confirm these monetary losses.
If you’d like us to check what you might be entitled to receive in compensation after breaking your jaw and making a successful claim, please feel free to call our team today.
Is There A Time Limit When Claiming Broken Jaw Compensation?
Generally, the time limit for starting a personal injury claim is 3 years from the date of the accident. This is set out by the Limitation Act 1980. However, exceptions can apply.
For instance, if the person has a reduced mental capacity to begin their own claim, an indefinite suspension is applied to the limitation period. Whilst this suspension is in place, the courts could look at appointing a litigation friend to take legal action for them. If the person recovers their mental capacity, the three years will start from the date of recovery, provided no claim has already been started for them.
To learn more about the other exceptions and discuss how long you have to seek compensation for a broken jaw, please contact an advisor on the number above.
Potential Evidence That Could Be Used In A Broken Jaw Claim
It’s important to provide as much evidence as possible to support your claim for compensation for a broken jaw. Here are some examples of the types of evidence that could support a broken jaw claim:
- Witness contact details from anybody who saw how your accident occurred.
- A copy of your medical records and details of any appointments you had to attend.
- Photographs of any visible injuries.
- CCTV footage or photographs of the accident scene to help prove the cause of the accident.
A solicitor from our panel could assist you in gathering evidence and building your case, provided you have eligible grounds to proceed. To learn more about how they can help and whether they could represent you, please read on.
How Could No Win No Fee Solicitors Help You Claim?
The experienced personal injury solicitors from our panel could assist you in seeking compensation for a broken jaw by offering several helpful services. For example, they can help you:
- Collect evidence to support your claim.
- Handle correspondence on your behalf.
- Send you updates on the progress of your case regularly.
- Value your personal injury payout.
Additionally, they offer these helpful services on a No Win No Fee basis by offering a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Generally, the terms of a CFA mean you won’t pay your solicitor for their work upfront, as your claim progresses or if the claim is lost. If the claim is won, a success fee will be deducted from your compensation. This is taken as a percentage that has a legal cap. Therefore, you’ll still be paid the majority of any compensation payout you receive.
As part of our free initial consultation, we will check whether you have a valid claim. If you do, we could connect you with a specialist solicitor from our panel. To find out more:
- Call 020 8050 2736.
- Use our form to discuss your claim online.
- Chat with one of our online advisors.
Learn More About Claiming Compensation For A Broken Jaw
Here are some more of our articles that you may wish to read:
- Information about how car accident payouts are calculated in successful road traffic accident claims.
- Guidance on how much a head injury claim might be worth.
- Information on claiming for a pub accident in which you were injured.
Also, here are some external resources that we believe could be useful:
- NHS information on what to do if you’ve had a tooth knocked out.
- Information on Statutory Sick Pay from GOV.UK.
- Guidance on managing health and safety at work from the Health and Safety Executive.
Thank you for reading our guide on how to claim compensation for a broken jaw. If you have any other questions, please contact an advisor using the number above.