Spinal injuries can be devastating, and the effect they can have on your life can be immense. Whether you were injured in an accident at work, a surgery gone wrong, or a criminal assault, we are here to help.
Key Takeaways
- You can make a spinal injury claim if your injury was someone else’s fault
- You can make a claim on behalf of a loved one who can’t pursue compensation by themselves
- Spinal injuries can affect every aspect of your life, and this is recognised in your compensation
- You can make a personal injury claim, but you can also claim for spinal injuries caused by assault or medical negligence
- You can claim with cutting-edge support from an expert No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel
Contact Our Advisors Today
We hope our guide will tell you everything you need to know, but if you’re still looking for answers or you’d like to get started, why not get in touch with our team by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8803
- Using the live chat feature
- Contacting us online
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I Make A Spinal Injury Claim?
- How Much Spinal Injury Compensation Could Be Awarded?
- How Are Spinal Injury Claims Valued?
- Can I Apply For Interim Payments During A Spine Claim?
- Is There A Spine Injury Claim Time Limit?
- What Accidents Could Result In A Spine Injury?
- What If My Spinal Injury Was Caused By Medical Negligence?
- How To Claim For Spinal Injuries From Assault
- What Are The Different Types Of Spinal Injury?
- How Can I Prove Who Is Liable For An Injured Spine?
- What Can Public Interest Lawyers Help Me With?
- More Information
Can I Make A Spinal Injury Claim?
Yes, you can make a spinal injury claim as long as negligence occurred. Negligence, in legal terms, means that you’ve been injured because someone else owed you a duty of care and breached it.
So, what does duty of care actually mean? That depends on where you are and what you’re doing. For example:
- At work: While you’re working, your employer owes you a duty of care. This is outlined in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), which states that they need to take reasonable steps to keep you safe.
- While using the roads: Every road user, from drivers to cyclists, needs to follow the Highway Code and Road Traffic Act 1986. They all owe each other a duty of care to use the roads in a way that doesn’t cause harm to others.
- In public: When you’re in a public place, you’re owed a duty of care by whoever is in control of that space. This is per the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1932, which states that they need to make sure you’re reasonably safe while you’re visiting.
If you suffered a spinal injury because someone breached their duty of care, then you may be due compensation.
Can I Claim For A Loved One’s Serious Spinal Injury?
Yes, you can claim for a loved one’s serious spinal injury by acting as their litigation friend. This means that you’ll handle their claim for them, effectively acting as the claimant and making decisions in their best interest.
But it’s important to keep in mind that you can only act as a litigation friend for someone who cannot make their own claim, whether that be because they are under the age of 18 or lack the needed mental capacity.
If you’re interested in acting as a litigation friend on behalf of a loved one, speak to a member of our team today. Or, keep reading to learn more about spinal injury compensation.
How Much Spinal Injury Compensation Could Be Awarded?
The first thing that solicitors and other professionals will consider when they value how much spinal injury compensation you could get is how severe your injuries are. This falls under general damages, which is one of two potential heads of compensation that you could receive. General damages also cover things like loss of amenity, which measures the effect your injuries have had on your quality of life.
When this heading is calculated, those responsible might reference the Judicial College Guidelines. This is a document that contains a list of injuries and conditions, each with varying severities, alongside guideline compensation brackets.
You can find some examples of these brackets below. Please keep in mind that these are not guaranteed amounts, and the first bracket in this table is not from the JCG.
| Injury | Compensation |
|---|---|
| Multiple severe injuries including a spinal injury with significant financial losses, e.g lost earnings | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Tetraplegia (also known as Quadriplegia) | £396,140 to £493,000 |
| Paraplegia | £267,340 to £346,890 |
| Severe Back Injuries (i) | £111,150 to £196,450 |
| Severe Back Injuries (ii) | £90,510 to £107,910 |
| Severe Back Injuries (iii) | £47,320 to £85,100 |
| Moderate Back Injuries (i) | £33,880 to £47,320 |
| Moderate Back Injuries (ii) | £15,260 to £33,880 |
| Minor Back Injuries (i) | £9,630 to £15,260 |
| Minor Back Injuries (ii) | £5,310 to £9,630 |
Keep reading to find out how a spinal injury claim could help you cover your financial losses. Or, you can get in touch with a member of our team to learn more.
How Are Spinal Injury Claims Valued?
Spinal injury claims are also valued in line with your financial losses. Injuries to the spinal cord can have consequences far beyond your physical health, as you may need to pay for things like travel, childcare, and things to aid your recovery.
This is where special damages come in. These are the second head of compensation that you could claim for, and they cover the financial losses caused by your injuries, including:
Future Loss Of Earnings
A serious spinal injury can affect your employability, causing a significant loss of earnings. But you can claim these earnings back under special damages. You can also claim back things like pension contributions, bonuses, and more, as long as you can prove that you lost them as a result of your spinal injury.
Cost Of Care
Paralysis and quadraplegia are commonly caused by spinal injuries, and those suffering from these conditions may need around-the-clock professional care. This can become very costly very fast, but don’t worry; you can claim back the current and future cost of this care under special damages.
Rehabilitation
After a spine injury, you’ll likely need some form of rehabilitation, whether this be long-term or short-term. Special damages can help you cover the cost of both physical and mental rehabilitation, including:
- Physiotherapy
- Residential rehabilitation centres
- Counselling and therapy
Home Adaptations
If you’ve suffered a life-changing injury as a result of an accident, then you might need to pay for extensive home adjustments. These can range from the installation of a stairlift or a shower hoist to having doorways widened to fit a wheelchair. The cost of all these adaptations, and future adaptations, can be covered under special damages.
It’s important to note that you need evidence to claim back any financial losses caused by your spine injury. We’ll talk more about evidence as a whole later on in this guide, but in terms of special damages, it can be helpful to keep things like invoices and bills related to your losses.
Keep reading to learn more about spinal injury compensation. Or, contact our team today to get started on your spinal claim.
Can I Apply For Interim Payments During A Spine Claim?
Yes, you may be able to apply for interim payments during your spine injury claim. An interim payment is essentially an advance on your compensation, which you can use towards immediate costs, like the cost of:
- Medical treatments
- Mortgage payments or accommodation costs
- Mobility aids, like a wheelchair
- Childcare needs
However, it’s important to be aware that you will only receive an interim payment if the court believes that your claim has a high chance of succeeding. To learn more about this, we recommend speaking to a member of our expert team.
Is There A Spine Injury Claim Time Limit?
Yes, there’s a time limit in place that dictates when you can make a spine injury claim. According to the Limitation Act 1980, you have 3 years to start a claim for a back injury, beginning on the date of your accident.
This time limit doesn’t apply to most litigation friends. If you’re claiming on behalf of someone under the age of 18, you can do it at any time up until their 18th birthday. After that, if no one has made a claim on their behalf, they’ll have 3 years to make their own claim.
Similarly, if you’re making a claim on behalf of someone who lacks the mental capacity to claim for themselves, there is no time limit. You can bring their claim forward at any time, and the time limit will only come into play if they regain the needed capacity.
We understand that this can seem complicated, but we are here to help. If you get in touch with a member of our team, they can provide a free and accessible consultation.
What Accidents Could Result In A Spine Injury?
Spine injuries can occur anywhere: At work, on the roads, or in a public place. But it’s important to remember that you need to be able to prove that negligence occurred in order to claim. Some examples of how negligence could result in a spinal injury include:
- You work as a roofer, but your employer has not provided any necessary safety equipment for working at height, like a harness. This causes you to suffer a spine injury after a significant fall from height.
- While you’re waiting at a junction, another driver speeds through a red light and crashes into your car side-on. This causes a number of severe crush injuries, including a spine injury.
- A supermarket fails to signpost a broken guardrail on a second-floor balcony, despite being aware of the fault. This causes you to fall over the edge, resulting in serious head injuries and spinal damage.
These are only a few examples of how you could suffer spinal damage, so don’t worry if you can’t see your exact scenario here; you may still be able to claim. Contact us today to get started, or keep reading to learn more.
What If My Spinal Injury Was Caused By Medical Negligence
You can still make a spinal injury claim if you were harmed as a result of medical negligence. You’re automatically owed a duty of care by any medical professional who treats you, which means that they need to provide treatment that meets a minimum standard.
If they provide treatment that falls below this standard, and this causes unnecessary or avoidable damage to your spinal cord, then you may be able to make a medical negligence claim. This can happen in a number of ways, from misdiagnosis to blood clots, and the effects can be devastating.
Don’t hesitate to contact a member of our team today to learn more about making a medical negligence compensation claim. Alternatively, you can read on to find out how to claim for a criminal spinal cord injury.
How To Claim For Spinal Injuries From Assault
If you’ve suffered a spinal injury due to a criminal assault in the UK, you can claim compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) if there is no other option, for example, against an employer or occupier of a public place, such as a bar.
You typically have two years from the date of the incident to submit your claim to the CICA, although exceptions may apply, particularly in cases involving children or if you were unable to apply sooner due to illness.
To learn more about making a spinal injury claim after an assault, contact our team of advisors today. Or, keep reading to learn more about the different kinds of spinal injuries.
What Are The Different Types Of Spinal Injury?
Spinal injury is a broad term, and can cover both damage to your vertebral spine and your spinal cord.
In terms of spinal injuries, these could include:
- Breaks and fractures
- Sprains
- Soft tissue damage
- Slipped discs
- Compression injuries
Spinal cord injuries are usually more serious. These can include:
- Anterior cord syndrome: An injury that affects the nerves at the top of the spinal cord, resulting in loss of sensation
- Posterior cord syndrome: Limb movement and coordination are affected by damage to the back of the spinal cord
- Central cord syndrome: Function and sensation in the arms are affected by damage to the centre of the spinal cord
- Brown-Sequard Syndrome: One side of the body is paralysed as a result of only one side of the spinal cord being injured
If you’ve suffered any of these injuries as a result of someone else’s negligent actions, you may be able to make a spine injury claim. Get in touch with a member of our team today to get started.
How Can I Prove Who Is Liable For An Injured Spine?
Proving liability is a crucial element of making an injured spinal claim. This means that you need to be able to prove that someone else is responsible for your injuries, like your employer or another driver.
To do this, you can gather evidence to support your claim. This might include:
- Photographs of visible injuries, like bruising on your spine
- CCTV, dashcam, or video footage of the accident occurring
- Medical records and patient charts detailing the treatment you’ve received and how long it will take you to recover
- The contact details of witnesses to allow their statements to be taken later
- Police reports, in the case of a CICA or an RTA claim
- Scans, like X-rays or MRIs, that show spinal damage
Gathering evidence can seem daunting, but you don’t need to do it alone. If you choose to work with a solicitor from our panel, they can handle proving your claim, giving you the peace of mind you need to focus on your recovery.
Keep reading to learn more about how our solicitors can help you, or contact us today if you’re ready to get started.
What Can Public Interest Lawyers Help Me With?
At Public Interest Lawyers, we believe that everyone deserves access to high-quality legal help when they need it the most. This is why we partner with a panel of expert No Win No Fee solicitors, who can help you through every step of the claims process, including:
- Negotiating a settlement
- Decoding legal jargon
- Communicating with the courts and the defendant
- Collecting evidence
No Win No Fee might be a term you’ve seen before, especially in legal contexts, but what does it actually mean? A No Win No Fee agreement is a type of contract that lets you access expert legal representation without having to pay upfront. This makes it more accessible to claimants of every financial background.
Our panel specifically use something called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which means you can access their top-tier services without paying anything for them:
- Upfront
- As the claim is ongoing
- At all, if the claim fails
In fact, you’ll only need to pay a success fee if you make a successful claim. In this case, your solicitor will take a small percentage of your compensation. But don’t worry: this percentage comes with a legal cap, which helps make sure that you keep the larger share of what you receive.
Contact Our Advisors Today
Our team of advisors are here to help. Contact our team today to find out if a spinal injury solicitor from our panel could help you by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8803
- Using the live chat feature
- Contacting us online
More Information
For more information on making a compensation claim:
- Find out how to claim if you were injured by a faulty gym machine
- Learn how to claim after falling down the stairs at work
- Learn about the most common accidents at work
Or, to find more resources:
- Advice on spinal injury first aid from St. John Ambulance
- Simple health and safety advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
- Information on lumbar decompression surgery from the NHS
Thank you for reading our guide on how to make a spinal injury claim.