Claiming Compensation For Kidney Injury

Kidney injury compensation guide

Kidney injury compensation guide

By Jo McKenzie. Last Updated 16th June 2023. In this guide, we’ll look at the process of claiming kidney injury compensation. If you’ve sustained a kidney injury, this could have an effect on your health and quality of life. If you were injured as a result of a breach of duty of care, you may be able to claim.

Our guide covers many aspects of this type of personal injury claim and aims to help you establish whether you have grounds to pursue compensation. Even a minor kidney injury could be debilitating and could prevent you from working until you recover. With the help of our panel of specialist solicitors, you could receive a fair and acceptable compensation payout for a kidney injury caused by negligence.

To find out more please get in touch with one of our experienced advisers. They can assess whether you have a valid case before connecting you with a personal injury lawyer from our panel of solicitors. You can reach a member of our team by calling 0800 408 7825. All calls are free of charge. If you prefer you can complete our online contact form.

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What Is A Kidney Injury Compensation Claim?

In order to claim compensation for a kidney injury, your circumstances need to meet the following conditions:

  • A third party had a duty of care towards you
  • They breached this duty
  • You were injured as a result

The kidneys remove waste and additional fluid from your body. If they’re damaged, they may not be able to carry out this function.

There are a number of different ways your kidneys could be damaged as a result of negligence. This could happen as a result of an accident at work, an incident in a public place or a car accident. In addition to this, you could sustain a kidney injury or experience a worsening of your condition as a result of medical negligence.

To find out whether you have grounds to make a kidney injury compensation claim, please reach out to one of our advisers today. We offer free legal advice and can connect you to a No Win No Fee lawyer from our panel of solicitors.

Time Limit For Starting A Kidney Injury Claim

If you would like to claim compensation, you must start legal proceedings within the three year time limit as set by the Limitation Act 1980. This can be three years from the date of the accident that caused your injury or three years from the date you are first diagnosed. This is because according to the NHS, the early symptoms of a kidney injury may not be noticeable at first.

However, when you first notice there is a problem could be different depending on the type of kidney injury. We look further into this later in this guide.

There are some circumstances where the injured party cannot start a claim for themselves. In these cases, the time limit is suspended. However, a litigation friend may be appointed to start a claim on behalf of an injured party. They can do this at any point during the suspension.

Injured parties who cannot start legal proceedings themselves include:

  • Children cannot begin a claim until their 18th Once they turn 18, they have three years to start their personal injury claim if a litigation friend hasn’t begun proceedings on their behalf already.
  • Those without the mental capacity to start a claim have the time limit suspended indefinitely. If they regain capacity, they have three years from that date to start proceedings unless a litigation friend has already begun the claiming process.

Call our advisors to discuss if your kidney injury symptoms are eligible for compensation. If it seems like you have a valid claim, they could help you get started right away.

What Causes Kidney Injuries?

As previously touched upon, you can suffer a kidney injury for many reasons. We’ve included some of these below:

  • Employer negligence. Your employer needs to take all reasonably practicable steps to stop you from being injured or made ill at work. This is part of their duty of care, which is outlined in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. For example, dehydration could cause kidney injury. If you aren’t provided with sufficient water, this could lead to your kidney function being affected.
  • Blunt force trauma. This could happen as a result of a car accident, a slip, trip or fall or being struck by a moving or falling object. A traumatic blow to the kidneys could interfere with their function and cause you to become ill.
  • Medical negligence. There are a number of different medical conditions that can cause kidney injury. For example, dehydration or diabetes could cause injury to your kidneys. If a medical professional deviated from the accepted standards of care and causes or exacerbates your health condition, you may be able to claim.

For more advice on claiming compensation for a kidney injury, please call a member of our team on our telephone number above. We can connect you to a No Win No Fee lawyer from our panel once we know your claim is valid.

Signs And Symptoms Of Kidney Injuries

If you’ve experienced a kidney injury, this can either be acute or chronic. Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) can happen as a result of dehydration, infection or certain medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is where kidney function is lost over time.

AKI symptoms can include:

  • Feeling or being sick
  • Diarrhoea
  • Dehydration
  • Less frequent urination
  • Confusion
  • Feeling drowsy

Early-stage CKD does not generally cause symptoms. Symptoms of late-stage CKD include:

  • Weight loss and loss of appetite
  • Water retention leading to swollen feet, ankles or hands
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Fatigue
  • Blood in your urine
  • Itchy skin
  • Headaches
  • Muscle cramps

If you experience these symptoms, you should seek medical attention. It’s important that any kind of kidney injury is diagnosed and treated as early as possible.

If you have any questions or need advice on whether you have a valid case, please call an adviser today. All calls are free of charge and a member of our team can answer any questions you have.

How Are Kidney Injuries Diagnosed And Treated?

If you have CKD, this often does not cause symptoms in the early stages of the disease. For this reason, it’s often only found when you have a blood or urine test for another health issue.

Your doctor might suspect you’re suffering from AKI if you’re at risk of developing the condition and you suddenly fall ill with symptoms of AKI. This can be diagnosed with a blood test. In addition to this, your doctor might perform tests to try and pinpoint the underlying cause of the condition.

The treatment used for AKI will depend on how severe your condition is, and what the underlying causes are. The following may be required:

  • Increasing your fluid intake to prevent dehydration or if you are already dehydrated
  • Prescribing antibiotics where there is an infection
  • Stopping any medications until you recover
  • Inserting a urinary catheter to drain the bladder if a blockage is found

If the kidney injury is severe, you may need to be admitted to the hospital for treatment.  Most people who suffer an AKI recover, but sometimes it can lead to CKD.

CKD cannot be cured. However, you can get treatment to relieve the symptoms and stop them from worsening. You might be offered dialysis, a kidney transplant or medication like high blood pressure medication or high cholesterol.

Call us now to find out if you have good reason to seek compensation. An adviser can provide you with free advice and let you know whether your claim is valid.

How Do I Prove My Kidney Injury Compensation Claim?

If you are thinking about making a kidney injury compensation claim, you should gather as much evidence as you can. This includes gathering the following:

  • Witness details of anyone who saw the accident occur
  • An accident report, for instance, if this occurred in the workplace or a public place like a shop
  • Photos of where the accident occurred and your injuries
  • Medical records. For instance, if you’re claiming for a kidney injury caused by medical negligence, medical records could be used to prove the diagnosis you received and the length of time it took for you to receive the right diagnosis

The more proof you have to support your case, the stronger your kidney injury compensation claim will be. Call us now to find out more about the sort of proof you need to support a kidney injury claim. An adviser can provide you with free advice while assessing your case.

How Much Kidney Injury Compensation You Could Receive

Following a successful personal injury claim for your kidney injury, your compensation settlement could consist of general and special damages.

General damages is the head of claim that compensates you for the pain and suffering you have endured to your injury.

How much compensation you could receive in general damages will depend on the various factors affecting your claim. When valuing this head of claim, many legal professionals will use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them. This is because the JCG provides guideline compensation brackets for various types of injuries. The table below lists some of the amounts stated in the 16th edition of this publication.

Edit
Type of injury Potential Compensation Payout
(general damages based on the Judicial College Guidelines
Further notes
Kidney injury £169,400 to £210,400 Claimant suffers severe damage to both kidneys
Kidney injury Up to £63,980 Where there’s a significant risk of the function of the kidneys being totally lost
Kidney injury £30,770 to £44,880 Claimant loses one kidney but the other is not damaged

You may also be awarded special damages. This aims to compensate you for the financial losses you have suffered that have been directly caused by your injury. You will need to provide evidence of these losses in order to claim them back.

Some examples of the losses you could be compensated for include:

  • Medical costs.
  • Travel expenses.
  • Care costs.
  • Loss of earnings.

If you have any questions about making a personal injury claim for a kidney injury from the impact of a car accident, or any other type of accident, you can contact our advisors.

Speak To A No Win No Fee Claims Expert

If you believe you are ready to make a claim for compensation but you would like to discuss things with an adviser, please get in touch today. A member of our team can explain the process involved and answer questions about receiving kidney injury compensation.

Once we have assessed your case, we can connect you to a solicitor from our panel of lawyers. The solicitor will review your case and could offer you a No Win No Fee agreement if they believe you have a strong case.

When you sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) with a No Win No Fee solicitor, you only pay them when you receive compensation. This means you won’t be asked to make upfront or ongoign payments to them as they work on your claim. You also won’t be asked to pay them if you lose.

In the event of a successful claim, a “success fee” will be deducted from your compensation award. This will be legally capped, ensuring that you always get the majority of the compensation awarded to you.

You can reach an adviser on 0800 408 7825, or you can fill out our online contact form. A member of our team will get straight back to you. We provide everyone who contacts us with free advice. Once we establish your claim is valid, we can put you in touch with a solicitor from our panel.

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Thank you for reading our guide on kidney injury compensation claims.

Article by OO

Publisher ET