£450,000 For A Fractured Neck – Case Study & Claims Guide

By Richie Billing. Last Updated 29th September 2023. If you suffer a neck fracture in an accident that someone else caused, you could want to know about receiving compensation. But what would be involved in making that happen? This guide should answer those questions for you. The guide provides a case study for a £450,000 payout claim for a fractured neck. We’ll also be looking at the personal injury claims process, what you could claim and how you could go about it.

Man wearing a neck brace in a doctor's office

Also, you could contact our specialist team anytime to talk about claiming for your fractured neck injury. They could put you in touch with our panel of personal injury lawyers, who could take your claim from there.

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  1. Am I Eligible To Claim Compensation For A Neck Injury?
  2. What Is A Neck Fracture?
  3. What Is The Time Limit For Neck Injury Claims?
  4. Neck Injury Claim – Do I Need Evidence?
  5. What Is The Average Neck Injury Compensation Amount In The UK?
  6. Claim With No Win No Fee Specialists
  7. Further Info To Claim For A Fractured Neck

Case Study: £450,000 For A Fractured Neck

Mr Cartwright, 46, works as a personal trainer in Shropshire. He lives with his wife and they have two teenage daughters. In his spare time, Mr Cartwright plays amateur football with his friends, and he enjoys travelling with his family.

One afternoon, Mr Cartwright was heading up the stairs in his gym to see a colleague. However, though the floor had been recently cleaned, there was no signage warning of a slippery surface. This resulted in him slipping towards the top of the staircase. He landed hard on his right side, which included him jarring his neck in an unusual direction. In immense pain, he was unable to turn his head.

Mr Cartwright was immediately taken to the hospital. While he got the treatment needed, he was left with a substantial loss of movement in the neck. He would have to wear a neck collar for a long time.

The accident changed Mr Cartwright’s life forever, as well as the lives of his family. His career seemed suddenly over, as did his ability to play football. His hobby of travelling had also changed.

Why He Made A Claim For A Fractured Neck

Adam was left deeply distraught and depressed by the events. His life would never be the same again, having been an active person beforehand. He also felt like he could barely contribute to his family due to his injuries and the untimely end of his career. Also, he was furious at the avoidable nature of the accident. With simple signage, the incident would not have occurred. Because of that oversight, he had paid a severe price.

After seeking legal advice from a personal injury solicitor, Mr Cartwright filed a compensation claim. He received £450,000. This included £97,100 for his injuries, £50,000 for the damage to his mental health and £302,900 in special damages.

 

Type Of Special Damages Includes: How Much?
Current & Potential Loss Lost earnings from being unable to work in chosen profession £300,000
Professional Care Professional and family’s gracious care costs £1,500
Medical Expenses Prescriptions, spare neck collars and medications £200
Travel Costs Travel to and from solicitor, physiotherapist and hospital appointments £200
Other costs Lost deposit for family holiday £1,000

The case of Mr Cartwright is purely an example. It is based on our past experiences of handling and valuing claims and serves to illustrate how accidents can happen and how they are valued.

Am I Eligible To Claim Compensation For A Neck Injury?

In order to make a neck injury claim, you have to be able to establish that you were owed a duty of care, and that this duty of care was breached, leading to your injuries. 

A duty of care is a responsibility for someone else’s health and safety. For example, you could be owed a duty of care:

  • At work –The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 establishes that employers owe their workers a duty of care. As part of their duty, they should take reasonable steps to protect their workers from harm. 
  • In a public place – The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 establishes that parties responsible for controlling a public space owe a duty of care to those who visit it to ensure their reasonable safety.
  • On the roads  – Road users owe one another a duty of care to navigate the roads in a way that prevents causing harm or damage to others and themselves. To uphold this duty, they should comply with the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code.

To learn more about your eligibility to claim or to ask about other matters, such as the average neck injury compensation payout in the UK, please contact our advisors for free today.

What Is The Time Limit For Neck Injury Claims?

Generally, you will have three years to start a neck injury claim. This begins on the date that you suffer your neck injury and is outlined by the Limitation Act 1980. This legislation also outlines the exceptions to this rule. 

For example, if you are injured while under the age of eighteen, you won’t be able to claim for yourself until your eighteenth birthday. This is because the time limit is frozen until you turn eighteen when it reinstates and runs until you turn twenty-one. While the time limit is frozen, a litigation friend can make your claim on your behalf.

Similarly, the time limit is frozen indefinitely for those who lack the capacity to make a claim for themselves. In these cases, the claim can be made by a litigation friend. If the claimant regains the appropriate capacity, then the time limit will be reinstated on the date of their recovery.

To learn more about time limits for neck injury claims, contact our team of advisors today. They can evaluate your claim for free, and may be able to connect you with a solicitor from our panel. 

Neck Injury Claim – Do I Need Evidence?

All personal injury claims require supporting evidence. As discussed above, you are owed a duty of care in various situations. It is when this duty of care is breached, and you suffer a fractured neck, that you might be eligible to claim. Your evidence must show that your broken neck occurred because a duty of care you were owed was breached.

Examples of evidence that could be useful in a neck injury claim include:

  • Medical records. These will show the date you sought treatment as well as your diagnosis. If x-rays were taken, these may also be included.
  • Witness contact details. If you are claiming with the support of a solicitor, they can take statements from any witnesses. These could include anyone who saw your accident as well as any who put in a complaint about a hazard, such as a broken railing if this caused your injuries.
  • Photographs of the scene and/or your injuries. For example, if a slip and trip accident was caused by faulty paving, you could have photographs that show the paving. Additionally, if your injuries caused swelling or bruising, you could also submit photographs of these.
  • You could request CCTV footage of yourself, or there could be mobile phone or dashcam footage that can be submitted.

Call our advisors if you need any help gathering evidence. Legal advice from our team is free. Additionally, if it seems like you could recover neck injury compensation, you could be connected with our panel of solicitors.

What Is The Average Neck Injury Compensation Payout In The UK?

There is no standard amount for a neck injury compensation payout in the UK. Each neck injury claim has unique factors that influence what the final payout is should they succeed. For example, the severity of the injuries you sustained and the extent to which they have impacted your quality of life.

To help provide some insight for claims made in England and Wales, you can view the compensation brackets for different neck injuries included in the 2022 edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). These brackets are based on payouts in previous personal injury claims and solicitors may use these guidelines to help calculate the value of your case. Please note that the first entry in the table is an estimate that’s not based on the JCG.

 

Type Of Injury Compensation Bracket Description
Multiple Serious Injuries Plus Special Damages Up to £500,000+ If you have suffered serious multiple injuries, then you may be compensated for all of these plus special damages like care costs or loss of earnings.
Neck injury – Severe (i) In the region of £148,330 This bracket applies to neck injuries that lead to permanent spastic quadriparesis, incomplete paraplegia or little to no movement plus severe headaches that are intractable.
Neck injury – Severe (ii) £65,740 to £130,930 Usually applies to injuries such as damage to discs in the cervical spine or serious and disabling fractures.
Neck injury – Severe (iii) £45,470 to £55,990 Typically applies to severe fractures or dislocations, ruptured tendons or severe damage to soft tissues.
Neck injury – Moderate (i) £24,990 to £38,490 This bracket may apply to fractures or dislocations that cause immediate and severe symptoms. Spinal fusion may be necessary.
Neck injury – Moderate (ii) £13,740 to £24,990 This bracket can cover neck injuries that may cause cervical spondylosis. It can also cover cases where pre-existing conditions have been accelerated and/or exacerbated (by five years or more).
Shoulder injury – Severe £19,200 to £48,030 Injuries covered by this bracket may include serious brachial plexus injuries that cause symptoms affecting the neck and arms.
Shoulder injury – Serious £12,770 to £19,200 Injuries may include dislocation of the shoulder and damage to the lower part of the brachial plexus, resulting in symptoms including shoulder and neck pain.

Claim With No Win No Fee Specialists

If you have strong grounds to claim for a neck injury compensation payout in the UK, then you could do so with the help of a No Win No Fee lawyer. If you speak to our advisors about your potential case, they could review it and they may connect you with our panel of lawyers with experience handling neck injury claims.

Additionally, they could support your case under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a type of No Win No Fee agreement which provides several benefits. One of these is that you won’t have to make any payments for your lawyer’s work either upfront or while your claim is being processed. Also, you won’t need to pay your lawyer if your claim is unsuccessful.

If your claim is a success, then your lawyer usually takes a small percentage of the compensation awarded to you as their success fee. However, this percentage is limited by law.

Contact our advisors today to ask questions or to get help with making a neck injury claim on a No Win No Fee basis. To reach our team, you can:

Further Info To Claim For A Fractured Neck

We appreciate you reading our guide about compensation claims for a fractured neck. You can find out further information by using the links below.