Loss of sight in one eye compensation
By Daniel Janeway. Last Updated 25th July 2022. Losing the sight in an eye can be a traumatic situation to deal with. It’s especially sad when this occurs due to someone else’s lack of care and attention. If you’re the victim of this injury and you wish to claim for a loss of sight payout, this guide may help you. It’s covering key topics relating to the claims process, and it provides an £80,000 compensation settlement example case study. Read on or get in touch with our friendly team today, who can link you to No Win No Fee personal injury solicitors. You can telephone us on 0800 408 7825, complete our contact form or use our instant Live Chat.
Choose A Section
- A Guide To Calculate Loss Of Sight In One Eye Compensation
- What Is Loss Of Sight?
- Financial Issues Can Happen
- Common Eye Injury Incidents
- Further Information About Care Claims
- Solicitors Can Estimate Loss Of Sight Compensation
- Case Study: £80,000 Loss Of Sight In One Eye
- How Much Compensation For A Loss Of Sight In One Eye
- How No Win No Fee Works
- Find High-Quality Personal Injury Lawyers Today
- Discuss Today
- Quick Resources
A Guide To Calculate Loss Of Sight In One Eye Compensation
This guide handles key topics relating to the personal injury claims process such as compensation calculators and No Win No Fee agreements. All of the factors that we’re covering would influence your potential compensation settlement figure. It’s also worth keeping in mind the personal injury claims time limit ahead of making an injury claim. This means you have 3 years to claim from when you were injured or from the date of knowledge. Learn more about the terms of the personal injury claims time limit by talking to our helpful team.
What Is Loss Of Sight?
Loss of sight is when your vision suffers an impairment of any kind. It could happen as part of a gradual process, with the initial signs almost going under the radar at first. Or it could happen instantly, with complete loss of vision in one or both eyes. In any event, it could have life-changing consequences.
For minimal loss of sight, the initial vision correct tools would be prescribed glasses or contact lenses. But for a more significant loss of vision, a surgical procedure might be necessary. And if the victim has completely lost sight in their eye, then the likes of a walking cane and a guide dog would be recommended. What’s more, learning Braille and having home modifications would be necessary. Such is the impact of losing sight, even in one eye, that a person may completely have to transform how they live their life. And if it happens because of a third party failing to adhere to the correct legislation who had a legal responsibility towards your health and safety you may be entitled to make a claim for a loss of sight payout. Use our 24/7 Live Chat to find out more details.
Financial Issues Can Happen
Things to consider if someone was to lose their sight; their career could be brought to an abrupt end, meaning years of potential lost earnings. Then, while they’re handling that dilemma, they also have rising medical bills, as well as the costs of tools to help them get around. The aforementioned modifications to their home also wouldn’t come cheap. And as we’ll discuss shortly, additional care may be less of a suggestion and more of a requirement.
Even considering that the victim could apply for disability benefit allowances due to their vision problems, financial struggles are possible. And so it’s vital for a compensation claim to succeed to help them as they adjust to their new life. Our advisors are here to answer any questions you may have about the financial impact of a loss of sight injury.
Common Eye Injury Incidents
To make a compensation claim means proving that:
- You were owed a duty of care by a third party of some kind;
- The duty of care was negligently breached
- Resulting in an injury, such as a loss of sight in one eye.
Below we talk about three areas in which an eye injury accident could lead to a loss of sight payout. Employer’s liability (EL) deals with the duty of care stated by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This is to prevent potential workplace injuries. An accident at work could be that a machine accidentally sprays a liquid into your eye, thus gradually reducing your vision.
Public liability (PL), meanwhile, relates to the duty of care to avoid injuries in public places as per the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. An accident in a public place leading to a public accident claim might be that you slip or trip and fall and an object pierces your eye. If you’re injured in a public place, you may actually suffer multiple injuries, allowing for a multiple injury claims.
There is also an example of a road traffic accident (RTA). This duty of care comes as part of the Highway Code for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. A serious collision could result in you hurting your face and thus damaging your eye to the point of losing complete sight in one eye.
For more information about eye injury accidents, talk to our advisors anytime.
Further Information About Care Claims
For someone to lose their sight means them taking a completely new approach to how they live their life. Therefore, care assistance would be highly recommended to cater for their sudden care needs. Gracious care from friends and family could help you adapt to living with limited sight. And professional home care services like gardening, cooking and cleaning would also be possibilities, depending on the extent of a nurse’s duties. All of these would form part of the special damages claim, which could be significant with regards to the compensation payout for someone losing sight. Chat with us to find out more about the care that may be needed.
Solicitors Can Estimate Loss Of Sight Compensation
With a sight injury, a full medical evaluation carried out by an optician is extremely crucial. By determining the victim’s true level of vision, an optician could identify how disabled their eye has become. What’s more, they could establish a link between the original cause and their current condition. And they could also demonstrate how much of an impact this injury has had or will have on their life moving forward.
This is a key component of general damages, along with related pain and suffering. Special damages, consisting of secondary costs like lost earnings, medical expenditure, public transport usage and care, would complete the compensation settlement. A personal injury lawyer would determine this figure based on the factors above, ensuring the victim has the best chance of receiving their potential payout. Personal injury solicitors that we can connect you to can provide further guidance on this topic; call our advisors today to learn more.
Case Study: £80,000 Loss Of Sight In One Eye
Ms Hardy worked as a teacher at a primary school. She loved the job, and the children loved her in return. But her career, and also her life, were put at risk by a serious road accident.
One evening, Ms Hardy was driving home and was about to turn into the road where she lived. All of a sudden, a car came speeding by, with the driver clearly having lost control. The car collided into the back of Ms Hardy’s vehicle. The window screen shattered in many pieces with tiny pieces of glass being logged in one of Ms Hardy’s eye. Witnesses quickly called for an ambulance on her behalf.
Ms Hardy was taken to hospital, she was very worried as her eye was in serious pain and she could not see out of one eye. She had to have surgery to remove the pieces of glass but her vision has already been severely damaged.
Her left eye was still completely unusable, with her having become blind in the eye. To help her recover, Ms Hardy hired a nurse to look after her as she adapted to life with only one working eye. She also had to hire someone to help her clean the house and do the gardening for her. Her home had to be adapted to cope with her needs.
Ms Hardy returned to work 12 months after the accident, she needed to regain some normality from her situation and she was beginning to feel really down about the loss of sight. She was disgusted at the other motorist’s lack of care towards her, having completely lost control of his own vehicle. As a result, she had been seriously and permanently injured, though she was lucky not to lose her life.
After seeking legal advice, Ms Hardy filed an injury claim against the driver. She received £80,000 as an out-of-court loss of sight payout. This included £50,000 in general damages and £30,000 in special damages.
| Type Of General Damages | Includes: | How Much? |
|---|---|---|
| Complete Loss Of Sight In One Eye | Total blindness in her left eye along with a noticeable scar | £50,000 |
| Type Of Special Damages | Includes: | How Much? |
|---|---|---|
| Lost Earnings | Costs of lost earnings | £25,500 |
| Home Adaptations | £1,000 | |
| Carer | Costs of a Carer | £2,000 |
| Other Costs | Professional cleaning – Gardener – Cooked Meals | £1,000 |
| Travel Costs | £500 |
The case of Ms Hardy 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.
How Much Compensation For A Loss Of Sight In One Eye
If you were involved in an accident that caused the loss of sight in one eye, this would be compensated in the form of a general damages payment. This portion of your settlement is calculated in line with your pain and suffering. Sight loss in one eye can affect people in different ways, and thus compensation is unlikely to be the same between claims.
More serious injuries tend to be awarded more in general damages as they can have severe effects on your quality of life. For example, people with one eye may not be able to perform the same, or at all, in the workplace. This would typically be worth more in compensation than injury causing only minor sight loss.
We’ve included some example figures from the 2022 edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) in the table below. Legal professionals use the JCG to assist them in valuing a claim. However, the figures are based on past court cases so the amount you could be eligible to receive is likely to differ from the amounts shown.
| Injury | Amount |
|---|---|
| Eye | £95,990 to £179,770 |
| Eye | £65,950 to £105,990 |
| Eye | £54,830 to £65,710 |
| Eye | £9,110 to £54,830 |
| Eye | £3,950 to £8,730 |
| Eye | £2,200 to £3,950 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | £8,180 to £23,150 |
Get in touch if you’d like a bespoke valuation of your claim. Our advisors can provide this, and further legal advice, for free.
How No Win No Fee Works
No Win No Fee agreements mean that you only pay a nominal figure (called a success fee and capped by law) to your personal injury solicitor if you receive compensation. Therefore, you don’t pay your No Win No Fee solicitor anything up-front or during the case. And crucially, you wouldn’t pay them a penny if your case loses. It’s a real incentive for them to work as hard as they can on your behalf. And it’s also a way for you to receive reassurance about not spending lots of money for a case that ultimately fails. Speak to us today to discuss anything you want to know about No Win No Fee agreements.
Find High-Quality Personal Injury Lawyers Today
What makes a good solicitor? They have a track record of successful loss of sight payouts, as well as achieving maximum damages. Strong credentials and plenty of positive reviews online would also help. And a fast turnaround would be the icing on the cake.
Our panel of personal injury solicitors would guarantee the highest quality legal service possible. Call us anytime to find out the answers to any questions you may have.
Discuss Today
To get in touch with Public Interest Lawyers, you can:
- Call our advisors by ringing 0800 408 7825;
- Using our instant Live Chat;
- Or filling out our contact form.
We’re accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And you’re not obliged to pursue your claim even after establishing communication with our specialists.
Quick Resources
Thank you for reading our guide about claiming for a loss of sight payout. Further information can be found below.
The Public Interest Lawyers home page website explains the services we provide.
Here, we explain how to claim after an accident on a public highway.
The NHS has guidance on vision loss.
They also explain all of the services that they offer to patients.
The Health and Safety Executive has statistics on accidents in Great Britain.
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Publisher EC.