Serious Injury Claim

What Are Serious Injury Claims?

Serious injury claims are a type of personal injury claim that are made for injuries which are deemed serious. We’ll go into more detail in the next few sections but significant fractures, organ damage and head injuries are generally deemed to be of a serious nature.

The eligibility criteria to make a serious injury claim can be summarised as follows:

1. You were owed a duty of care by a third party.
2. That third party breached this duty in some way.
3. This breach resulted in an accident in which you were seriously injured.

Depending on the situation, different laws govern who owes a duty of care. These laws are:

• The Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974 imposes a duty of care on employers to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their employees. Britain’s national health and safety regular, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publish guidance on matters such as vehicle safety, training and risk assessments to help employers meet their obligations.
• Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, the parties in control of public spaces, known as occupiers, must take steps to ensure the reasonable safety of visitors to their premises. 
• The Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code impose a duty of care on every road user to do whatever they reasonably can to avoid causing harm to each other. The highway code imposes greater levels of responsibility on those most likely to cause harm, namely the drivers of large vehicles such as HGVs and buses. 

To get the validity of your potential claim assessed free of charge, reach out our advisors today using the contact details given below. 

What Types Of Accidents Could Lead To A Serious Injury Claim?

Now we’ve explained the eligiblity criteria to make a serious injury claim. Here are a few examples of how such injuries could be caused by a third party breaching their duty of care.

• You were cycling across a junction. A drunk driver failed to stop and collided with you, throwing you off your bike. You experienced multiple broken bones, including a serious back injury.
• A lack of training resulted in your colleagues overloading a warehouse crane. You were directing the crane operator from the ground when the cable snapped and the load fell. You dived out of the way but your leg was crushed by the falling object, necessitating an amputation. 
• Management at a museum had not taken measures to repair a balcony railing despite multiple staff reporting that one of the support pillars was coming loose. The railing gave way when you lent it, causing to fall from a considerable height. You sustained serious damage to your neck, as well fractures in your arms and ribs. 

This is a non-exhaustive list so to get an eligibility assessment for your particular circumstances, contact our team today using the information provided below. 

What Types Of Injuries Would Be Considered Serious?

An injury is defined as serious if it is life threatening or has a significant long term impact on your day to day life. We have given a few features of serious injuries with examples here:

• Substantial impacts on mobility and your ability to complete daily tasks, such as severe bone fractures to your legs or arms.
• Major damage to internal organs such as the heart, lungs or brain that present a threat to life.
• Injuries that require long treatment periods or major surgery.
• Injuries that result in a significant amount of time off work.

Various types of injury could meet the threshold for serious, and many circumstances could give rise to serious injuries. To get a free assessment of your eligiblity to claim, contact our advisory team today.