Can You Sue Someone For Breaking Your Nose?

You might be able to make a personal injury claim if you are injured as a result of third-party negligence. With the help of a solicitor, you can claim compensation for emotional and physical harm, as well as any financial impact that your injuries have had on you. A broken nose is when there is a break in the bone or cartilage of your nose, often over the bridge or in the septum. It can happen when the nose is hit with blunt force.

If your injury was sustained as the result of a violent crime, you could make a criminal injury claim against them. Claims of this nature can be made directly or can be made through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).

Alternatively, your nose could be broken as a result of a breach of duty of care. For example, all road users owe a duty of care to one another. If someone else breaches this duty of care, causing a car accident, this could result in you breaking your nose on the steering wheel. As a result, you may be able to claim.

If you want an answer to the question “Can you sue someone for breaking your nose?” this guide can help. You can also get in touch with our team today for a free no-obligation valuation of your claim.

What Do You Do If Someone Breaks Your Nose?

Whether you have sustained a broken nose in a car accident or another way, it may require treatment. However, NHS sources tell us that you can usually treat it yourself. The injury should start to improve within 3 days, with a full recovery within 3 weeks. However, some injuries may take longer.

Pain can be managed by taking medication. The injury may also cause swelling. You can help reduce this by applying an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas to your nose. However, wrap the pack in a towel to avoid the cold surface coming into direct contact with the injury.

Once the initial symptoms have been treated, you could then look into claiming for your broken nose from the accident. Compensation can only be claimed if the injury was due to someone else’s negligence. Make sure you have a way of proving this is the case or look into gathering evidence if you don’t already have any.

If claiming for a broken nose, the compensation amount you could be owed depends on your level of pain and suffering. Get in touch with our advisors today, and we can value your claim for you.

What Are The Symptoms Of A Broken Nose?

According to the NHS, there are a few things to look out for that could mean you have a broken nose:

Pain, swelling and redness
Crunching or crackling upon touch
Difficulty breathing
Slight disfigurement
Possible bruising under the eyes
Possible bleeding from the nostrils

In some cases, you may exhibit other symptoms. If you experience any of the below because of your broken nose, you should visit A&E:

A continuous nosebleed
Clear fluid trickling from your nose
Eye pain or double vision
Numbness and tingling in your arms as well as pain or stiffness in the neck.

These could indicate something more serious than a broken nose, such as a severe head injury or brain damage. For this reason, it’s really important that you seek medical attention.

Causes Of Broken Nose Injuries

You can break your nose in a variety of ways. For example, you could trip over something in the workplace and land on your face with force. If the accident was caused by your employer breaching their duty of care as outlined in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, you could be eligible to claim.

You could also experience a broken nose as the result of a violent crime. If the person who broke your nose was known to you and has the funds to pay you compensation, you can make a civil claim. If you do not know who broke your nose, or if they don’t have the funds to pay you, you could make a claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). You would need to have reported it to the police.

If you don’t see your situation listed here, don’t worry. You could still be able to claim against someone for breaking your nose. Speak to our team today for more information.

How Long Do I Have To Claim Broken Nose Compensation?

If you are eligible to make a personal injury claim for broken nose compensation, you must start legal proceedings within the time limit set by the Limitation Act 1980. This is typically three years from the date of the incident.

However, in certain circumstances, there are exceptions to this limitation period. These include for:

Those under the age of 18. For these parties, the time limit is paused until they turn 18. Before this point, a court-appointed litigation friend could begin the legal process on their behalf. Once they reach their 18th birthday, they will have three years to start their claim if a litigation friend hasn’t already done so.
Those who lack the mental capacity to start a claim for themselves. In these cases, the limitation period is suspended indefinitely. During this time, a litigation friend could start the claiming process on their behalf. However, if the injured party regains the capacity to claim, they will have three years from the date of their recovery to start the process if a litigation friend hasn’t already done so.

If you would like to find out whether you are within the limitation period to start your personal injury claim, please contact one of the advisors from our team. They could also inform you of the time limits when making a claim through the CICA for someone breaking your nose in a crime of violence.

How To Sue Someone For Breaking Your Nose

It is helpful to collate relevant evidence that could help your case. If your accident occurred in the workplace, for example, you should make sure to have logged it in the accident log book. It could be key evidence when it comes to a case.

Other helpful evidence can include photographs of the situation or injury, CCTV footage, witness accounts and especially medical records.

A medical assessment is performed as part of making a claim, but it is always best to get medical records closer to the time of the accident rather than to the time of taking legal action. For this reason, seeking medical attention after your accident can help the validity of your claim.

Once you have collected the evidence, you can contact a personal injury solicitor, such as one from our experienced panel. Get in touch now for more information.

How Much Can You Sue Someone For Breaking Your Nose?

Please see below for our table of compensation amounts for nose fractures. These figures are taken from the Judicial College Guidelines. These guidelines are used to help value injuries.

Injury	Amount	Notes
Nose	£10,640 to £23,130	This includes multiple serious fractures that require surgery. It could result in difficulty breathing or facial deformity.
Nose	£3,950 to £5,100	This includes fractures where you make a complete recovery but only after surgery.
Nose	£2,520 to £3,150	This includes fractures requiring only the manipulation procedure.
Nose	£1,710 to £2,520	This includes fractures that are undisplaced and where there has been a full recovery.

It is important to remember that these numbers are only estimates, and each case is judged individually. For example, the severity of your injury and the impact on your quality of life will be taken into account.

You may claim for special damages as well. This covers any losses or expenses already accumulated, as well as any that may arise in the future. They can cover:

Lost wages, both past and future
Medical expenses
Travel expenses

In order to claim special damages, you’ll need to provide evidence of the costs. For example, you could show bank statements to show a loss of income or receipts for prescriptions you’ve had to pay for.

I Got Punched In The Nose – Can I Claim?

If you were hit in the nose and it breaks because of criminal behaviour such as a punch, then you may be able to claim for any injuries you’ve suffered as a result of this. You could consider making a personal injury claim directly against the perpetrator if the circumstances allow, or you could apply for criminal injury compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). Claims can potentially be submitted to the CICA even if the party who punched you in the nose has not been convicted or identified.

To make a successful criminal injury claim, you’ll need to submit evidence that confirms you were hit in the nose due to criminal behaviour and this directly caused the injuries you are claiming for. Specifically, you need to submit a police crime number.

Compensation for a CICA claim is provided through The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. The scheme includes a tariff of injuries. In the table below, we’ve included a few of the tariffs from this scheme which can be applied to nose-related injuries.

Type Of Criminal Injury	Description Of Injury	Standard Compensation Amount
Nose injury – Leading to loss of smell or taste	Injuries resulting in total loss of smell and taste	£16,500
Nose injury – Leading to loss of smell or taste	Injuries resulting in total loss of either smell or taste	£11,000
Nose injury – Leading to loss of smell or taste	Partial loss of smell or taste (or both)	£3,500
Nose injury	Partial loss of the nose (at least 10%)	£2,400

If you are able to make a CICA claim for multiple injuries, then you’ll normally receive 100% of the tariff for the highest-valued injury you claim for. 30% of the tariff is given for the second highest-value injury and 15% is given for the third highest-value.

Discuss Your No Win No Fee Broken Nose Claim

We hope this guide has answered the question, “Can you sue someone for breaking your nose?”. If you think you may be eligible to make a personal injury claim, call us today on 0800 408 7825 for a no-obligation valuation of your case. Alternatively, you can get in touch with us via our contact form.

If a solicitor from our panel decides to take on your case, they can represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. This means that if you don’t have any success with your claim, you will not have to pay anything to your solicitor, and they also won’t ask you to make upfront or ongoing payments. However, your solicitor will deduct a ‘success fee’, which is legally capped, from your compensation if you are successful.

To find out more about No Win No Fee agreements, speak to someone from our team today. You could be connected with a solicitor from our panel.

Useful Broken Bone Claim Guides

Fractured Nose Compensation Guide – A comprehensive guide to different compensation amounts for a fractured nose.

Nose Injury Compensation Guide – A comprehensive guide to different nose injury compensation amounts.

PTSD Caused by Assault Compensation Guide – A comprehensive guide to possible compensation amounts after being part of an assault that resulted in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents – A charity that aims to reduce the rate of accidental injury through advice and guidance.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme Tariff – Explains how much you could be owed for criminal injuries.

Statutory Sick Pay – An explanation on how to claim statutory sick pay from the government if you’ve had to take time off work due to your injuries.

We also have some other guides you may find useful:

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Article by AO

Publisher ET

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