Have you been involved in an accident at work that was caused by your employer’s negligence? Have you suffered a broken nose as a result? If so, you could make a compensation claim for a broken nose.
Broken bones or nose fractures can be painful injuries. An injury of this nature may also make breathing difficult. Furthermore, a badly broken nose may cause some cosmetic effects which can be long-lasting or, in some cases, permanent.
In this guide, we will examine the process of claiming compensation for a broken or fractured nose. We will use a case study in which an employee is awarded £11,000 for a broken nose sustained at work to illustrate how a claim of this nature might progress.
Our advisors offer free legal advice, so whether you want to set up a claim or have some questions about how it all works, you can call us. Our claims team will be happy to help value your claim for compensation. If they feel your claim has a good chance of success, they may be able to connect you with a solicitor from our panel.
We can be reached 24/7 on 0800 408 7825. You can call us now, or read on for more information.
Choose A Section
- A Guide On How To Claim For A Broken Nose At Work
- What Is A Broken Nose?
- How An Accident At Work Could Cause A Broken Nose
- £11,000 Payout For A Broken Nose In An Accident At Work
- What Damages Could Be Awarded To A Claimant?
- Calculating Compensation Claims For A Broken Nose
- How To Claim For A Broken Nose With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
- How To Get Specialist Advice On Workplace Accident Claims
- Talk To Our Specialist Team
- Related Claims Guides
- Workplace Accident Claim FAQs
A Guide On How To Claim For A Broken Nose At Work
If you’ve been injured in an accident that was caused by your employer’s negligence, this can be extremely frustrating. Not only can the pain and discomfort affect your quality of life as you recover, but you may suffer from financial loss as a result of your injuries.
In this guide, we will look at the process of claiming compensation for a broken nose that’s been caused by your employer’s negligence. We’ll look at the symptoms that can occur and the treatment available for an injury of this nature.
Furthermore, we will look at the duty of care that’s owed to you while you’re at work and the responsibility that your employer has to keep you safe. We’ll look at how a breach in this duty of care could cause an accident that results in injury.
With the help of a case study, we’ll illustrate an example in which a claimant is awarded £11,000 for a broken nose at work. This case study will look at the circumstances of the accident through to the compensation being awarded.
After the case study, we will take a look at how compensation is calculated and the different kinds of damages that are available in a claim. To conclude, we will explain No Win No Fee agreements and how they could help you in funding legal representation to help you in your claim.
If you still have questions about making a claim for compensation after reading this guide, you can get in touch with our team for free legal advice about starting your claim. Please read on for more information.
What Is A Broken Nose?
A broken nose can occur if your nose is subjected to a forceful impact. Guidance from the NHS states that symptoms of a broken nose can include:
- Immediate pain, followed by swelling and redness
- A crunching or crackling noise both at the time of injury and when you touch it
- Difficulty breathing. It may just feel like it’s blocked. This can also affect your sense of smell.
- Your nose might change shape and look more crooked than it did before you were injured
You may also notice that your nose is bleeding or that you have a cut or graze on the area that was injured.
If your nose has changed shape due to the break, then your doctor may offer to make it straighter using something called manipulation. This is where the doctor manually moves the bones in your nose back into position. It may not always make your nose look exactly the same as it did before, but it may help.
A broken nose will usually start to feel better within 3 days and will often be fully healed within 3 weeks. However, if your nose was badly broken then this could result in a permanent change in shape and could cause you long-term breathing difficulties.
How An Accident At Work Could Cause A Broken Nose
Accidents at work can take many different forms. Some of the most common accident kinds in 2019/20 as reported to RIDDOR include:
- Being struck by a moving object
- Slips, trips and falls
- Falling from height
- Injuries sustained while lifting and carrying
Some accidents at work can happen without anyone having acted negligently. You wouldn’t be able to claim for accidents of this type. However, some accidents can result from a breach of duty of care on the part of your employer. If you can show that your employer’s negligence caused you to be injured, then you may be able to claim.
What duty of care do employers have?
An employer has a duty of care to keep their employees safe and free from the risk of harm as much as possible when working. This duty of care is set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which says employers need to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure their employee’s safety.
Examples of things that employers are expected to do include:
- Maintaining good housekeeping so that walkways are free of clutter and obstructions
- Providing the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to employees that is appropriate for their role
- Making sure that all machinery and equipment used is safe and well-maintained
- Providing proper training and supervision
This list of responsibilities we’ve included above is not exhaustive. If you’ve suffered a broken nose at work because your employer failed to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure your safety, you may be eligible to claim.
When could an employer be in breach of their duty of care?
An employer could breach your duty of care in many different ways. Examples of breaches of duty resulting in accidents could include:
- Slipping because there was no sign indicating that the floor was wet, causing you to break your elbow
- Falling off a faulty ladder and injuring your head in the fall
- Being injured by a colleague because they weren’t trained for the role they were tasked with
- Faulty machinery causing an injury
Below, we’ve included a graph that shows the most common injuries to the head in 2019/20 as reported to RIDDOR. As we can see, parts of the face that are not the ear or eye were the second most common injury sites. This would include fractures and injuries to the nose.
It’s important to note that these statistics relate to overall accident occurrences. They are not related to instances of negligence.
If you’ve been injured at work because your employer failed in their duty of care to you, why not get in touch with our team today? If they feel your case has a good chance of success, they could connect you with a personal injury lawyer from our panel.
£11,000 Payout For A Broken Nose In An Accident At Work
Miss Clement had worked in a research lab for over 10 years. She was conscientious, hard-working and loved her job. Her colleagues knew her as someone who took meticulous care and attention to safety when carrying out her roles.
Unfortunately, a workplace accident led to her not only being unable to work but having to cancel a holiday and miss out on an attendance bonus.
How Miss Clement broke her nose at work
As she was head of the research department, Miss Clement began moving a box of microscopes into a new lab. Before moving into the space, the new lab had been thoroughly cleaned that morning.
She had been given the go-ahead to start setting up by her supervisor. But, as Miss Clement walked into the lab, the wet floor caused her to fall backwards onto the ground. Unluckily for Miss Clement, as she hit the floor, the box of microscopes fell on her face and she felt a crunching sensation and a burst of pain in her nose.
As she stood up, Miss Clement noticed that her nose was bleeding profusely and she was in a great deal of pain. As she went to stem the bleeding in the bathroom, she noticed that her nose was now crooked. She also felt like it was blocked and had trouble breathing.
Miss Clement’s employer immediately recommended that she leave work and seek medical attention. A doctor confirmed that her nose was broken and, after inspecting the injury, confirmed that surgery would be required as the fracture to her nasal complex was displaced.
Miss Clement was incredibly frustrated with this turn of events. She was now in severe pain and facing the prospect of surgery because someone had failed to place a wet floor sign where needed. Because of this, she decided to pursue a claim for compensation.
What payout was awarded to the claimant?
Because of the surgery she needed to undergo, Miss Clement ended up being off work for 3 weeks. This was in part because her nose was so swollen, bruised and sore that it made it impossible to wear the safety goggles that she needed to safely carry out her role without a great deal of pain and discomfort. This also led to her missing out on the attendance bonus she had been due to receive.
Miss Clement was also a keen sports player and an active member of her local lacrosse club. Her injury meant that she had to miss out on several weeks of practices and two matches, despite the fact that she’d paid for the season in advance.
Furthermore, Miss Clements was unable to drive for 48 hours after her surgery meaning that she had to pay out taxi fees to get about. She also had to pay for fuel and parking costs to get to and from her follow up appointments.
Miss Clements had also been due to go abroad for her sister’s hen party just a few days after the accident occurred. Because she had to be scheduled for surgery, she lost out on the cost of flights, accommodation and the excursions that they had booked.
How to break down the compensation payout
Please see below a breakdown of Miss Clement’s compensation.
| General Damages | How Much? | Special Damages | How Much? |
|---|---|---|---|
| The JCG states that, for a displaced nasal fracture where recovery is complete but only after surgery, you would receive up to £4,790 in compensation. | £4,790 | Loss of earnings | £1,790 |
| Loss of attendance bonus | £1,500 | ||
| Cancelled holiday | £2,200 | ||
| Prescriptions/Medication | £300 | ||
| Lacrosse club membership | £200 | ||
| Transport costs | £220 | ||
| Total of Special Damages | £6,210 |
The case of Miss Clement is purely an example of an injury at work claim. It is based on our past experiences of assessing and valuing claims, serving to illustrate how accidents, like suffering a broken nose, can happen and how they are valued.
What Damages Could Be Awarded To A Claimant?
When you claim compensation for a broken nose at work, your compensation may be split into two different heads of claim. These are known as general and special damages.
Special damages relate to the financial loss you’ve suffered or will suffer as a result of the injury. These include:
- Future loss of earnings
- Loss of earnings
- Travel costs
- Medicine/prescriptions
- Recreational activities you can no longer attend, like concerts or holidays
When claiming special damages, there are 2 things to consider. Firstly, you need to provide evidence showing the financial losses you’ve suffered. This can be in the form of receipts, bank statements, invoices, etc. You won’t be able to include in your claim anything that you can’t provide evidence for.
Secondly, it’s significant to note that, at the beginning of a claim, it may not be possible to accurately predict the value of the special damages you’ll receive. This is because the financial loss from the injury can only be assessed when you’ve fully recovered.
Calculating Compensation Claims For A Broken Nose
General damages are the part of your compensation award that covers the pain and suffering you’ve experienced as a result of your injuries. They’ll vary depending on the kind of injury you’ve sustained, how severe it is and how long you’re likely to be affected.
A medical assessment will be carried out by an independent medical examiner to confirm that your injuries were caused by your accident. They will compile their findings and prognosis in a report, which will be used to help value your claim.
As well as this report, the courts will refer to guidelines published by the Judicial College to help them work out how much you could be entitled to. These are guideline compensation amounts for a number of different injuries that are based on settlements awarded in the past.
It’s recommended that you seek medical advice after you’ve been injured in an accident caused by someone’s breach of duty of care. Not only will this ensure that you receive the treatment you need, but these medical records could provide evidence of your injuries if you decide to pursue a claim.
If you have any questions or queries, want to make a claim for a broken nose or want free legal advice, call our specialised advisors on the phone number at the top of the page. Otherwise, read on for more information on No Win No Fee agreements.
How To Claim For A Broken Nose With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
If you’d like a solicitor’s representation when making a claim but are worried about the cost this could incur, then you may benefit from a No Win No Fee agreement.
A No Win No Fee agreement is sometimes referred to as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). It means you won’t be asked to cover any of your solicitor’s fees before your claim starts or while it’s ongoing. You also won’t be asked to pay anything to them in the event that your claim doesn’t succeed.
The only time you will be asked to cover their costs is if your claim is successful. Then, a legally capped fee will be deducted from your compensation.
If you’d like to know whether you could be eligible for a No Win No Fee agreement, why not contact our team today?
How To Get Specialist Advice On Workplace Accident Claims
Without knowing more about your injury, we won’t be able to give you a valuation on the compensation you might receive. You may have noticed websites online offering personal injury calculators which can value your claim for you.
These tools can be useful, however, the estimations that they give often aren’t as accurate as the ones that can be provided by our advisors. This is because they fail to capture the full scope of information needed to value your claim.
If you’d like to speak to an advisor to see how much you could be owed, get in touch with us today. If they feel your claim has a good chance of success, they may be able to connect you with a solicitor from our panel.
Talk To Our Specialist Team
Accident at work claims are not the only kinds of claims that we can help with. For instance, we may be able to help you claim compensation if you’ve broken your femur in a public place, fractured your collarbone in a road traffic accident or suffered an allergic reaction because of someone else’s breach of duty of care.
You can contact our helpful, friendly team 24/7 by using the details below:
- Telephone number – 0800 408 7825
- Live chat using the window on the bottom right corner of your screen
- Contact us through our website
Related Claims Guides
If you’d like more useful information, please click on the links below.
If you’re suffering from a nasal fracture and would like more information about recovery, read this NHS guidance.
Do you want to know more about slips, trips and falls? If so, visit the HSE website.
To find out if you’re eligible to receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for time taken off work, visit this page.
For information on claiming for a broken tooth sustained in a car accident, read our guide.
Are you looking to claim compensation from the council? Visit this page to find out more.
If you were injured in a car accident and want to know more about claiming, visit this page.
Workplace Accident Claim FAQs
Can I be dismissed for making a claim?
Legally, you cannot be dismissed for claiming against your employer. If you are dismissed for making a claim, or your employer forces you to leave by treating you unfairly, this could be classed as unfair or constructive dismissal.
Could I claim lost income and earnings?
Yes, you can claim compensation for any time you’ve taken off work to recover from your injuries. You may also be able to claim for any lost attendance bonuses that you’ve missed out on because you were injured.
When should I return to work?
You should follow your doctor’s advice and go back to work when they’ve recommended that you should. If you feel like you’re not able to go back to work when scheduled, speak to your doctor.
Thank you for reading our guide on how to claim for a broken nose.
Guide by AD
Checked by RK