£135,000 Compensation Payout For A Fractured Knee (Plus Ligament Damage) – Case Study & Guide To Calculating Fractured Knee Compensation Amounts

By Stephen Anderson. Last Updated 4th October 2022. If you’ve been injured and it wasn’t your fault, this guide to personal injury claims provides you with information on how to make a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim. 

Please continue reading if you’d like to learn how to establish liability, value your claim and find the best solicitor to handle your case. 

We hope the information we’ve provided is of use and if you require any more advice, please don’t hesitate to contact our specialist advisors today to see how our panel of personal injury lawyers could help you:

 

Fractured knee compensation with ligament damage claim

Fractured knee compensation

Select a Section

  1. A Guide To Calculate Fracture Knee And Ligament Damage Settlements
  2. What Is A Fractured Knee And Ligament Damage?
  3. Severe Financial Losses From Knee And Ligament Injuries
  4. Common Types Of Knee And Ligament Accidents
  5. Add A Care Claim To The Final Settlement
  6. Calculate Fractured Patella And Ligament Damage Claims
  7. Case Study: £135,000 Fractured Knee And Ligament Damage Compensation
  8. Average Compensation Payout For A Knee Injury In The UK
  9. Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis
  10. High-Quality Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help
  11. Speak To Us
  12. More Advice

A Guide To Calculate Fractured Knee And Ligament Damage Settlements

To ensure we provide you with a comprehensive overview of personal injury claims, we’ll cover the process chronologically. We’ll begin by explaining how to identify knee injuries and give you some examples of how you could sustain one. 

We’ll then present some potential impacts that these injuries may have, ranging from physical to financial effects. 

Next, we’ll break-down how you can establish liability, determining whether you have a claim. To illustrate, we’ve included an example case study of ‘Ms Jenkins’ and the different types of things she was compensated for in her claim. 

We will also explore the topic of knee injury compensation amounts further by taking a look at compensation brackets that solicitors may use for reference. We’ve also provided information on how our panel of personal injury lawyers could help you claim.

To see how we could help you make a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim, please get in touch today.

What Is A Fractured Knee And Ligament Damage?

Knee pain can indicate a variety of injuries, as the joint is made up of multiple structures, including bones and ligaments. A broken knee is typically identified by an x-ray or scan, with symptoms including pain, swelling and bone misalignment. You may have heard a cracking sound, indicating that a fracture has occurred. 

Generally, a cast is applied, followed by a physiotherapy plan to aid rehabilitation, with most cases healing in around 12 weeks. However, in more serious cases where surgery is required, recovery periods tend to be prolonged. 

Signs of ligament damage are similar, with the addition of a popping noise or sensation rather than a crack. Most cases take around 4 weeks to heal on their own with help from prescription painkillers and physiotherapy. However, if a ligament is completely torn, surgery may be the only option for recovery, taking as long as 12 months to heal.

Severe Financial Losses From Knee And Ligament Injuries

On top of the physical and psychological trauma that you may be experiencing from your injury, it’s common to also suffer financially. 

Have you experienced financial shortfall as a result of your injury? Whether you’ve had to take unpaid sick leave or pay out of pocket for things like medical bills and care costs, you could be entitled to recover these expenses as part of your fractured knee plus ligament damage claim. 

There are two types of damage that you can be compensated for when making a personal injury claim; general and special damages. 

Any expenses you’ve incurred can be recovered through claiming special damages to account for any financial loss you’ve experienced as a result of your injury. Please continue reading to find out more about special damages or contact one of our specialist advisors today.

Common Types Of Knee And Ligament Accidents

If you’ve sustained an injury and third-party negligence was responsible for it, you could be entitled to compensation. Providing that a third-party owed you a duty of care that they were in breach of, you could be able to make a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim. 

Below, we’ve provided some examples of bodies owing a duty of care and how they may be held liable:

  • Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers have a duty of care to employees. Therefore, you could be able to make a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim if your injury was a result of your employer’s negligence.
    • E.g. if you fell from a height and injured your knee because your employer didn’t provide you with appropriate PPE, you could be entitled to compensation.
  • Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, those controlling public places have a duty of care to visitors. Therefore, you could be able to make a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim if your injury was a result of the negligence of those controlling the place in question.
    • E.g. if you slipped on ungritted, icy library steps, you could be entitled to make a public liability claim against the local council responsible.
  • Under the Highway Code, road users have a duty of care to each other. Therefore, if another road user’s negligence resulted in your injury, you could be able to make a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim.
    • E.g. if a road traffic accident (RTA) caused by another driver was responsible for your injury, you could be entitled to claim against their insurance.

Add A Care Claims To The Final Settlement

After sustaining a knee injury, it’s common to require assistance as a result of your incapacity. 

Whether family and friends helped you during your recovery period (gracious care) or you hired professional care, you could factor any assistance you received into your personal injury claim, regardless of whether any costs were incurred. 

Whereas professional care costs can be reimbursed using invoices, gracious care is more difficult to value. Usually, the price of a local professional is applied to the amount of time loved ones spent caring for you, then reduced on the basis that their service wasn’t commercial. 

You may also claim back the cost of care if your injury prevented you from caring for someone else, such as your children or an elderly relative. For more information, please speak to one of our specialist advisors today.

Calculate Knee Injury And Ligament Damage Claims

As part of the claims process, you’ll be sent for a medical assessment with an independent specialist. Their report helps your solicitor value your case and evidence your claim, so it’s important to attend your appointment. 

In undergoing a physical examination and after answering a series of questions, the practitioner will attempt to corroborate details of your claim by determining how you sustained your injury and the impact it’s had on you. 

If you decide you’d like our panel of personal injury lawyers to handle your claim, we’ll arrange everything on your behalf to make the claims process as seamless as possible. Using our wide network of medical experts, we always ensure your appointment is as convenient as possible. 

Please speak to one of our advisors today to learn more about our services.

General Damages

As mentioned above, there are two types of damage that you can be compensated for when making a personal injury claim; general and special damages. General damages aim to account for the physical and psychological trauma you’ve experienced as a result of your knee injury and any subsequent impact on your enjoyment of life.

Special Damages

Any expenses you’ve incurred as a result of your injury, as well as future expenses too, can be recovered as part of your fractured knee plus ligament damage claim through special damages. 

This aims to restore you back to the financial position you were in before your injury, as well as accounting for any losses it may cause in future. Some expenses that can be recovered include:

  • Loss of earnings and any impact on your future salary
  • Repair or replacement costs for damaged property
  • Travel expenses for medical appointments
  • Medical bills

Case Study: £135,000 Fractured Knee And Ligament Damage Compensation

This section looks at a case study claim to show how compensation may be calculated.

What happened?

As a personal trainer, Ms Jenkins was at her local gym about to meet with a client. However, when she slipped on a wet floor with no hazard sign and fell down a flight of stairs, Ms Jenkins suffered considerable pain in her knee and was unable to move it. 

Recovery

An x-ray at A&E showed that Ms Jenkins had sustained a broken knee, with further examination also indicating gross ligamentous damage in her knee joint. Ms Jenkins’ injuries required a reconstructive surgery known as arthrodesis, by which metal plates and screws were used to help her leg bones fuse back together. 

Following surgery, Ms Jenkins was administered with a cast to be worn for 12 weeks. During this period, she was unable to bear weight on the affected knee and had to use crutches to aid mobility. 

After her cast was removed, Ms Jenkins was then administered with a knee brace to be worn over her rehabilitation period. At this point, she embarked upon a physiotherapy plan to rebuild muscle strength and movement. However, Ms Jenkins’ knee did not recover until around 6 months, after which point she still experienced issues with things like flexibility. 

The effects

Given her job relied on her physicality, Ms Jenkins’ was unable to work for 6 months as a result of her injury. During the non-weight-bearing period of her recovery, Ms Jenkins relied on the assistance of family and friends, whether that be driving her to medical appointments or helping her with day-to-day tasks that she was unable to complete. 

However, Ms Jenkins ultimately suffered financial losses as a result of her injury, paying for things like medical bills and adaptations to her property. 

Making a claim

Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, the owners and operators of Ms Jenkins’ gym owed her a duty of care to ensure her safety on their premises as much as reasonably possible. As her injuries were sustained as a result of their negligence – through no fault of her own – she decided to pursue compensation by making a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim. 

To ensure her claim the best chance of success, Ms Jenkins sought help from a No Win No Fee personal injury lawyer to handle her case. As Ms Jenkins’ client was able to photograph the scene of the incident and provide a witness statement, her case had a strong basis of evidence to begin with. 

Ms Jenkins’ solicitor then sent her for an assessment with an independent medical specialist. The resulting report supported Ms Jenkins’ claim that her injuries were sustained in the manner that she described and that the impact they’d had on her had been severe. 

Despite liability initially being disputed, Ms Jenkins’ solicitor obtained CCTV footage of the incident, furthering her claim. This forced the third-party to accept responsibility and a settlement was eventually reached. 

How much did she claim?

As part of her fractured knee plus ligament damage claim, Ms Jenkins was awarded £90,000 in general damages. This amount accounted for the extent of pain and suffering that Ms Jenkins had to endure, including the prolonged nature of her recovery period due to the surgery she underwent. 

As part of this, Ms Jenkins was awarded £5,000 for the anxiety she suffered in the wake of her accident and the trauma she experienced surrounding her surgery. For the significant leg scarring that she was left with, Ms Jenkins also received a further £7,300. 

Ms Jenkins also received around £37,700 in special damages, bringing her total settlement figure to £135,000. 

Special damages attempt to cover any financial losses that the claimant experienced as a result of their injury. 

For a more detailed explanation of Ms Jenkins’ payout for her fractured knee plus ligament damage claim, please refer to the table below: 

Edit
Type of Special Damages: Includes: Value:
Travel Expenses To and from medical appointments As Ms Jenkins knee injury left her unable to drive, she recovered £480 in travel expenses over her recovery period.
Medications/Prescriptions Prescriptions, treatment, walking aids, etc. Ms Jenkins received £220 for pain medication.
Adaption To Property For injuries that cause loss of functions (i.e. disabilities) Ms Jenkins’ knee injury left her incapacitated, particularly during her non-weight-bearing period. She had to make adaptations to her house to enable mobility. For costs incurred, she recovered £290 for a wheelchair ramp and grab rails, £60 for a shower seat and £2,950 for a stairlift.
Additional Care Professional care, gracious care, childcare, domiciliary care etc. As Ms Jenkins’ injury meant she was unable to complete day-to-day tasks as normal, she received £1,950 for the gracious care she received from family and friends.
For the usual care she was unable to provide, Ms Jenkins recovered £5,450 in childcare costs and £1,300 in domiciliary care costs for her elderly mother.
Future Loss Loss of earnings or potential future financial loss Earning £30 an hour and working 30 hours a week, Ms Jenkins suffered financial shortfall after taking 6 months off work to recover. For loss of earnings, she was awarded £23,400.
Cleaning/Gardening Cleaning, gardening, areas that require consistent attention For help with domestic tasks that she was unable to complete over her recovery period, Ms Jenkins was awarded £1,600 for a gardener and a cleaner.

 

Please note that the case of Ms Jenkins is purely an example that we created based on our experience with personal injury claims. It merely serves to illustrate how accidents happen and how the value of compensation is calculated.

 Average Compensation Payout For A Knee Injury In The UK

If you have grounds to start a claim, you may ask, “what is the average compensation for a knee injury?”. Unfortunately, this is not something we can provide. This is because every claim differs since every injury has unique circumstances and consequences. Your settlement will reflect all these different aspects.

Having said that, though, we can provide strong estimates for what you could get if your claim wins. That’s why we have the table below for you to take a closer look at. The figures in this table come from the Judicial College Guidelines and their 2022 brackets. This is a publication that legal professionals use to assist them in assigning value to claims.

Edit
INJURY SEVERITY COMPENSATION DESCRIPTION
Loss Of Both Legs N/A £240,790 to £282,010 Both legs are lost above the knee due to a crush accident.
Below-Knee Amputation Of Both Legs N/A £201,490 to £270,100 Both legs receive an amputation below the knee after an accident.
Above-Knee Amputation Of One Leg N/A £104,830 to £137,470 One leg receives an amputation above the knee after an accident.
Below-Knee Amputation Of One Leg N/A £97,980 to £132,990 One leg receives an amputation below the knee after an accident.
Knee Injury Severe (i) £69,730 to £96,210 An injury that involves joint disruption, osteoarthritis and/or gross ligamentous damage.
Knee Injury Severe (ii) £52,120 to £69,730 A leg fracture that extends into the knee joint with such issues as permanent pain and movement limitations.
Knee Injury Severe (iii) £26,190 to £43,460 A significant injury causing a less severe disability.
Knee Injury Moderate (i) £14,840 to £26,190 A less serious injury such as a dislocation, a cartilage tear or a meniscus tear.
Knee Injury Moderate (ii) Up to £13,740 A modest injury that causes significant pain but with a full recovery expected.
Minor Injury N/A £1,370 to £2,450 A minimal injury with a full recovery.

We should also note that the figures in the table above relate to general damages. This head of your claim covers the physical and psychological injuries sustained in your accident along with any loss of amenity. Special damages relate to financial losses such as loss of income, medical bills and travel costs. You could be reimbursed for these, too, provided that you have sufficient evidence.

Hopefully this information answers any questions you may have. However, should you require further information, you can always get in touch with our helpful team. They can advise you on how to move forward with a claim for knee injury compensation.

Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis

Our panel of personal injury lawyers always works on a No Win No Fee basis, so you can make a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim with financial peace of mind. 

If you’re unfamiliar with these agreements, they simply mean you don’t have to pay your solicitor’s fees if they don’t win your case. In addition, there aren’t any hidden fees for you to worry about, so you can pursue the compensation you deserve regardless of your financial situation. 

If your solicitor does win your case, you’ll pay them a ‘success fee’ out of your compensation payout. However, this fee is legally-capped so you only need to set aside a small percentage to cover their legal costs. 

Please speak to one of our specialist advisors today to learn more about how our panel of personal injury lawyers could help you.

High-Quality Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help

A solicitor can not only ease the process of making a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim but boost the amount of compensation you could receive. 

As modern law firms use technology to communicate with their clients, it doesn’t matter where they’re based. Therefore, we advise you to consider whether you could be hindering your claim’s chances of success by searching for a solicitor in your local area. 

From making a phone call or sending an email, our panel of personal injury lawyers can provide regular updates on your claim. We’re even happy to meet face-to-face to meet your needs. 

To help narrow your search for a solicitor, we recommend using online reviews. Not only can they give you an insight into the services on offer but you can compare reviews of former clients to see what they recommend. However, to save you this time, why not get in touch with our expert team?

Speak To Us

If you’re looking to make a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim, our panel of personal injury lawyers are here to help. With years of experience winning clients the compensation they deserve, why not get in touch today to see what we could do for you?

More Advice

Thank you for reading our guide to personal injury claims. If you’re looking to make a fractured knee plus ligament damage claim, we’ve provided some additional links below that may be of help:

We hope this guide, that has addressed topics including the average compensation payout for a knee injury, has been helpful. If you would like to speak to an advisor about knee injury compensation amounts or other related topics, then get in touch with Public Interest Lawyers using the contact details found on this page.

Guide by OA

Edited by RI