By Daniel Janeway. Last Updated 1st September 2022. In this article, we look at burn injury compensation payouts and how a personal injury lawyer could value your claim using all the facts. In our case study, we examine the various aspects of launching a personal injury claim for an accident involving fire. We also explain the things you need to know to give yourself the best chance of receiving the fullest compensation.
Injury caused by fire compensation
Accidents in the workplace, in public, or on the roads caused by others’ negligence can happen quickly. In this guide, we show you how a No Win No Fee lawyer can advise how to hold those responsible to account and successfully claim compensation from them to ease your suffering.
In this guide, we explain the laws that seek to protect you. Also, we provide relevant links to government statistics and other sites throughout this article to help you with your decision to claim. Suing your employer, a private operator, road user or local authority is possible with the right advice.
If you have any questions as you read this guide, please feel free to call us directly on 0800 408 7825. Alternatively, you can email us and our dedicated team will be happy to help.
Select a Section
- A Guide To Calculate Compensation For An Injury Caused By A Fire
- What Are Burn Incidents?
- Financial Struggles From Burn Injuries
- Examples Of Burn Incidents
- Discuss Your Care Claim
- Fire Injuries – How Long Do I Have To Claim?
- Get Your Burn Injury Compensation Payouts Estimate
- Case Study: £140,000 Compensation For An Injury Caused By A Fire
- Fire Injury Compensation Calculation Estimates
- No Win No Fee Lawyers For Burn Injury Compensation Payouts
- Discover Top Personal Injury Solicitors
- Talk With Advisors About Burn Injury Compensation Payouts
- Additional Advice
A Guide To Calculate Compensation For An Injury Caused By A Fire
Many online sites offer on-the-spot compensation calculations for personal injury settlements. However, these can be useful but can also exclude important details of your case, leading you to over or under-value your claim. Therefore, this article demonstrates how personal injury lawyers could seek burn injury compensation payouts on your behalf.
The three main areas of liability we concentrate on in this article are employers liability, public liability, and road traffic accidents (RTAs). Before making a claim, we suggest that you ask yourself these three critical questions:
- Firstly, who had the legal responsibility (duty of care) to ensure my safety?
- Secondly, did their inaction or actions breach that duty of care?
- And thirdly, did that result in me suffering injuries?
If you can answer these questions and find that the answers point to a third party causing your preventable injuries, you could be ready to pursue a claim. Armed with the correct information and evidence, you could successfully recover compensation that exceeds what you thought possible.
We demonstrate how this is possible with a case study. If you have any questions this article does not answer please call out advisors who are available to take your call any time of the day or night.
What Are Burn Incidents?
Even with awareness and training, sadly, accidents that leave people with burns, scars and trauma still happen in the UK.
Burns can be life-altering and catastrophic. Burn injury compensation payouts attempt to recognise the devastating nature of the injuries you suffer after being involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault. Scenarios that could cause burns include:
- Contact with combustible materials.
- As well as, inability to leave a fire due to, for example, faulty door mechanisms or lack of information.
- Also, car collision resulting in a fire.
- Scalding from steam or hot water.
- Last but no means least, contact with chemicals that burn.
Given the seriousness of burn injuries, the law is very clear about different parties providing safe environments to avoid them. Certain fire precautions are mandatory in the workplace through the Health And Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. If your accident happened at work, resulting in burns to more than 10% of your body and damaging your eyes, respiratory organs or other vital organs, it should be reported through RIDDOR.
The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 requires any private operator, local authority or controller of land or premises to ensure the safety of anyone who uses their facilities. Regular fire testing procedures and adequate emergency equipment like fire blankets, extinguishers, and clear notices can be essential in preventing injury. If you suffered injuries in a public setting and are unsure who may have the responsibility of care, speak to our team for help.
Lastly, The Highway Code is a set of rules that asks all road users to demonstrate a duty of care to each other. Fire accidents can be part of a serious road collision. You may be eligible to seek compensation against a negligent road user who caused the accident.
Financial Struggles From Burn Injuries
Our case study, given later in the article, focuses on someone who was awarded significant compensation. This is based on the extreme nature of their injuries as well as their financial loss. Burn injury compensation payouts could compromise two types of damages: general and special. General damages compensate you for your physical and mental suffering.
Burns can be extraordinarily painful. If more than 40% of the skin has been affected, you could be looking at a substantial and painful road to recovery and life potentially altered forever.
The NHS advises about the consequences of burns, and there are support groups to help you cope with potentially traumatic injuries (please see Additional Advice). Your personal injury lawyer can help with the practicalities of recovering financially following your injuries.
Special damages are designed to ensure that you are not a victim twice, the second time to your financial loss. When a lawyer is advising you personally about special damages, you should try to be precise about your records of costs. Financial losses your injuries have caused you to incur could include medical bills, as well as travel to and from appointments and also. prescriptions. Keeping evidence of these can give you the best chance of winning them back from the defendant.
Examples Of Burn Incidents
Workplace accidents are not uncommon, with over 690,000 people reporting an injury at work during 2019/20. Road traffic accident statistics also underline the ease with which it’s possible to be involved in an accident that was not your fault. Both areas of accidents could involve burn injuries. Likewise, anywhere not correctly maintained in a public place could be a potential hazard.
Whether it was a simple scald, minor burn or something more tragic as in our case study, you could potentially launch a claim for burn injury compensation payouts if you feel the accident could have been avoided. Protecting someone’s safety through duty of care is an important obligation. Also, providing your wellbeing was impaired or breached due to their negligence, you might not be liable for the cost it creates.
Some causes of burn incidents might include:
- Incorrect tools or utensils failing, burning, or scalding you.
- Insufficient or improper fire prevention procedures.
- Fire-extinguishing equipment that is faulty or out of date.
- Lack of information on how to leave a burning building.
- Being caught in a burning wreckage.
There are many others and if you sustained injuries because of the negligence of someone else, speak to our team to discuss your options.
Discuss Your Care Claim
If you have been the victim of severe burns, you will undoubtedly need care and attention as you recover. The hospital burns unit, such as Nottingham University Hospital’s, may advise you. Still, when you return home, you may find that everyday tasks are simply too painful or too emotionally distressing to attempt alone.
Family members can help, and if you keep a record of the time they spent looking after you in the form of hourly rate invoices, this money can be reclaimed under special damages. However, if they cannot give up this time, the costs of self-funded care can be very high.
Importantly, your No Win No Fee solicitor, if you have chosen to use one, can advise you on keeping detailed records of these costs that can be presented against the defendant. With the right advice, it’s possible to win back all this money as part of your burn injury compensation payouts and completely transform your prospects.
Fire Injuries – How Long Do I Have To Claim?
If you’ve sustained an injury from a fire that was started due to negligence, then you could be entitled to compensation. However, it’s important to be aware of the time limits involved in making a claim. As stated in the Limitation Act 1980, you typically have 3 years from the date you were injured in which to begin a claim.
However, following a fire, injuries caused by negligence may still be claimed for after this time limit has expired – in certain circumstances.
For example, if the injured party is under 18, the time limit to start a claim does not being until their 18th birthday. The child cannot legally make their own claim before this time, but they can have a litigation friend appointed to claim for them.
For those with a reduced mental capacity, the situation is similar. The time limit for claimants in this category also have a suspended time limit. It only begins when (and if) they are ever deemed capable of making their own claim. If not, a litigation friend can also act on their behalf.
To find out if you could still file an injury by fire case, we can offer free legal advice on a 24/7 basis. Get in touch today.
Get Your Burn Injury Compensation Payouts Estimate
An independent medical assessment would be essential to your case if you chose to claim. Importantly, there would potentially be evidence from the hospital that treated you for minor or severe burns in the form of medical records. A medical assessment, taken during your claim, is designed to examine the severity of your injury and report on the prognosis.
The medical report can help to seek two types of damages. General damages attempt to recognise and compensate you for the pain and suffering caused by minor to severe burns.
The compensation of special damages is aimed at helping you recover from the financial loss you suffered due to your injuries. The costs you incurred from altering your life to deal with your injuries can be presented against the defendant. Therefore, special damages could increase burn injury compensation payouts. Typical expenses include:
- Loss of earnings from missed work.
- Lost future work opportunities.
- Costs of care from family or professionals.
- Modifications to home or lifestyle.
- Specialist plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures.
- Physio or prosthetic costs.
- Impacted pension or work bonuses.
- Lost deposits and cancelled plans.
There could be many other costs that directly result from you needing to divert funds to handle the consequences of the accident and your injuries. Without advice from a personal injury specialist, you may think these costs are an unfortunate part of the accident and yours to bear. This is not necessarily true. Speak to our team for free to find out more.
Case Study: £140,000 Compensation For An Injury Caused By A Fire
Mr Dunn had been at the factory a short time and was still finding his way around.
The factory was a food-producing outlet. It provided all kinds of packaged food. It had great big ovens that were used to cook the hot food before it was cooled down and packaged. Mr Dunn’s job was to work on a conveyor belt. Putting various types of produce in packaging. He actually worked quite close to the big ovens. As the weeks passed one of the ovens began to make loud banging noises. Mr Dunn asked his colleagues what was going on. They replied that the oven needed repairing but management had failed to take any action.
On this particular day, the sound of the oven was almost deafening. But the factory workers were told to keep working nonetheless. All of a sudden the oven blew up. Causing a massive fire. Mr Dunn being so close felt the brunt of the heat.
When he was pulled from the burning factory, he had suffered third-degree burns to over 40% of his skin. Part of his face was disfigured. He was rushed to the burns unit and began a long and painful recovery.
Mr Dunn and his family were traumatised, but their suffering soon turned to anger when it became apparent that insufficient maintenance was the cause of the fire. Facing the rest of his life with severe scarring and the trauma of the event, they consulted a No Win No Fee lawyer to see how compensation might help.
Mr Dunn’s Burn Injury Compensation Payouts
With evidence to back up his claim of what happened that day, the personal injury solicitor took up their case. The company admitted liability, and Mr Dunn was awarded £91,350 in general damages. However, he also received special damages. Please see the table below.
| General damages | Special damages |
|---|---|
| £91,350 as 40% of body was covered in burns. Mr Dunn suffered great psychological injury also. | He was unable to work for two years: £35,000 |
| Mr. Dunn required extensive cosmetic surgery: £5,000 some procedures not covered on the NHS | |
| Travel costs to hospital: £650 | |
| He need counselling for the trauma: £2,000 | |
| The use of prosthetics and hair replacement techniques: £1,500 | |
| He needed help to retrain for a new career: £4,500 |
Mr Dunn’s case is purely an example. It serves to convey how injury claims are processed and valued.
Fire Injury Compensation Calculation Estimates
The table above demonstrates that if a No Win No Fee lawyer acts on your behalf, they could listen to every detail of your case and interpret that into potential compensation for you. There could be many aspects to your claim that have cost you money which might be won back.
Compensation amounts are never guaranteed, and every case is evaluated differently. Speak to our team today to see how you might get the best result possible in burn injury compensation payouts.
No Win No Fee Lawyers For Burn Injury Compensation Payouts
No Win No Fee is an expression you may be familiar with. There are multiple advantages to hiring a solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis, such as:
- Having no fees to pay upfront to your solicitors.
- Having no fees to pay your solicitor while your case progresses.
- If your case does not succeed, there are no fees to pay your solicitor.
- If your case wins, you only pay a small fee to your solicitor, which is capped by law to keep it low and fair to you.
- Also, not needing to pay this fee until after you have received your compensation payout.
- As well as, receiving expert legal advice and support every step of the way.
To conclude, if you feel reluctant to launch a negligence case against your employer, another driver, or a private operator because of the cost of a solicitor, choosing a No Win No Fee solicitor might be the solution you are looking for. For many people though, it represents an opportunity to access legal representation even if you do not have the funds.
Discover Top Personal Injury Solicitors
If you have decided to start a claim, you might be wondering what to do next. Some people may seek out the law firm in the high street closest to them or perhaps do an internet search for ‘no win no fee’. However, this is likely to produce thousands of search results and not necessarily refine your search.
Reviews are a helpful insight into how a company works. And, it can be a good idea to ask questions such as:
- How quickly do they settle cases?
- How much would they settle burn injury compensation payouts at?
- Are they experienced in cases like this?
- And, how good is client communication?
These questions are all important. However, there is a more straightforward way, which is to make contact with us. We have access to skilled personal injury lawyers who handle cases across the country, remotely and online.
With years of experience, when you call our team and let them assess your eligibility to start a claim, you could be availing yourself of their shared expertise in valuing burn injury compensation payouts properly.
Talk With Advisors About Burn Injury Compensation Payouts
Getting in touch is very easy. You can:
- Call direct on 0800 408 7825.
- Email us at Public Interest Lawyers.
- Speak to our live support option.
We hope that this article has helped in your decision to start a negligence case and that it can support you through this challenging period. Our team is available 24/7 and happy to help in any way they can with burn injury compensation payouts or any other injury that was not your fault.
Additional Advice
You can read more about accident claims against the council.
Also, you could read here for more details about accidents in public.
And there is also further reading is available about accidents whilst shopping.
as well as information about serious burn treatment.
Article by EA
Publishers UI/LC/II//NI