By Daniel Janeway. Last Updated 5th April 2023. In this guide, we’ll look at how to claim fractured sternum compensation. If you’ve been injured as a result of negligence, you could be entitled to claim compensation for the pain and suffering caused.
Fractured sternum compensation claim guide
You may have some questions before you read this article, such as:
- What are the long term effects of a fractured sternum?
- How can you fracture your sternum?
- What are some symptoms of this kind of injury?
In this guide, we will answer these questions and a range of others to offer as much information as we can. Our team of advisers are on hand 24/7 to offer free legal advice and assess your situation. Once you’ve had a chat with an adviser, they can connect you to a personal injury lawyer from our panel provided you have a valid claim.
They may be able to begin working on your claim on a No Win No Fee basis. Our personal injury lawyers are experienced in claims and know how to get you the maximum amount of fractured sternum compensation you’re owed.
You can get in touch with our team of advisers by:
- Giving them a call on 0800 408 7825.
- Filling out our online claims form to receive a response when you’re next available.
- Chatting with an adviser on our live chat pop-up box for an immediate reply.
Select A Section
- What Is A Fractured Sternum?
- How To Tell If You Fractured Your Sternum
- Causes of Fractured Sternums
- Broken Sternum Pain And Suffering – Claim For General Damages
- What Are The Long Term Effects Of A Fractured Sternum?
- Discuss Your Fractured Sternum Compensation Claim
- More Resources On Claiming Fractured Sternum Compensation
What Is A Fractured Sternum?
A fractured sternum occurs when the bone in the middle of your chest breaks. Some common accidents that can cause this type of injury are falls from a height, road traffic accidents and being hit by a moving object. A broken sternum can cause serious long-term health effects, such as bruised lung tissue or damage to the heart.
The below table includes statistics from the Health and Safety Executive, who provide guidance and advice relating to workplace safety. It shows the number of reported non-fatal injuries by the site of injury in Great Britain in 2019/20. Although sternum injury statistics aren’t readily available to the public, we can look at workplace trunk injuries to have an idea of how common they are.
As you can see, there were 1,199 neck injuries in the workplace in 2019/20. There were also 9,514 back injuries and 2,987 trunk injuries. This shows that trunk injuries were the second most common out of the 3 torso locations, with back injuries being the most common.
How To Tell If You Fractured Your Sternum
Here are some common symptoms of a sternum fracture:
- Pain in the chest, especially when taking deep breaths, laughing or coughing.
- Chest discomfort when lifting objects or moving arms.
- Aching chest, especially at night and in the morning.
- Increased pain when lying on your side or stomach.
- Bruising and swelling.
Although sternum fractures are painful, the pain usually eases after around 6-8 weeks. However, if you needed surgery for a more severe sternum injury, the recovery process may take longer. If you suspect you may have a fractured sternum, it’s important to seek medical attention as soon as possible.
This will allow you to receive a diagnosis promptly and begin treating your injury. Therefore, your injury will have a better chance of recovering smoothly and quickly. If you’ve suffered this injury due to someone else’s negligence, you can contact our team of advisers today to discuss your situation.
Causes of Fractured Sternums
Some common accidents that can cause a sternum fracture include:
- Falls from a height – This could happen in the form of an accident at work. For example, if your employer fails to complete safety checks of equipment, this could mean that a ladder is faulty and results in you falling off it and breaking your sternum. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 states that employers have a duty of care to protect and safeguard their employees from harm. This includes completing regular safety checks of equipment to prevent workplace accidents.
- Car accident – The Highway Code outlines the things that road users are expected to do to keep one another safe. All road users have a duty of care to one another. If a road accident happened because of a breach of duty of care, this could result in you being forced forwards into the steering wheel, fracturing your sternum.
If you’d like to discuss making a claim, you can contact our team of advisers who are available 24 hours a day. They’d be happy to discuss your case and look at how much fractured sternum compensation you may be entitled to.
If you have a legitimate claim, you can be connected to a personal injury lawyer from our panel to begin the claims process. They could represent you on a No Win No Fee basis.
Gathering Evidence For Your Broken Sternum Claim
If you’ve fractured your sternum, or even just bruised your sternum from a fall or another type of accident, you could be owed compensation. However, you need to be able to prove that the injury was caused by negligence. You can do this by gathering evidence such as:
- Visual evidence – You could request access to CCTV footage of the incident, or take pictures of hazards and injuries.
- Medical evidence – Accessing your medical records is within your rights. Information pertaining to your injury, including its severity, will be amongst the evidence within.
- Witness contact details – Make sure you have a way of getting in touch with anyone who saw how you sustained your injury. They could submit a statement to support your version of events.
Get in touch today for more information on evidence you could gather to support a claim for a broken sternum.
Broken Sternum Pain And Suffering – Claim For General Damages
Your personal injury compensation could include two heads; special damages and general damages.
General damages seeks to compensate for your broken sternum and the pain and suffering you experienced. The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) could be used to value the suffering caused by the injured sternum. It is a document often used by legal professionals to provide rough claiming figures for pain and suffering.
We’ve provided a table below with rough figures from the latest edition of the JCG. It is only to be taken as a guideline and may not be representative of what you could get in a successful claim.
| Injury: | Severity: | Notes: | Compensation: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chest Injuries | (a) | One lung is removed and the heart suffers serious damage. | £100,670 to £150,110 |
| Chest Injuries | (b) | Traumatic injury to chest, lungs or heart. This kind of injury will cause permanent damage and may affect function and reduce life expectancy. | £65,740 to £100,670 |
| Chest Injuries | (c) | Where the chest and lung or lungs have been damaged, resulting in some continuing disability | £31,310 to £54,830 |
| Chest Injuries | (d) | Where a chest injury that’s relatively simple causes some permanent damage to tissue. However, there won’t be any effect on lung function in the long-term. | £12,590 to £17,960 |
| Chest Injuries | (g) | Rib fractures or soft tissue injuries that cause serious disability and pain for a few weeks. | Up to £3,950 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Severe | Effects are permanent and the person is unable to work or function how they did before the injury. | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Moderate | The person has mostly recovered and the remaining impact isn’t disabling. | £8,180 to £23,150 |
| Mental anguish | A fear of incoming death. | £4,670 |
Additionally, your injured sternum claim may include a second head called special damages. This head could help you recover costs related to your injured sternum. However, you might need to prove your costs, such as by presenting receipts.
You could claim injured sternum special damages for:
- Prescriptions and other medical expenses.
- Transportation costs.
- Lost wages.
- Care costs.
- Home adaptions.
Call our advisors for a free estimation of what you could claim under special damages and general damages in your injured sternum claim.
What Are The Long Term Effects Of A Fractured Sternum?
A fractured sternum can sometimes produce complications that last beyond the initial injury. For example, you might avoid moving your arms as the injury heals because it’s painful.
If this is the case, you might notice some stiffness or pain in your arms and shoulders once your sternum has healed. For this reason, it’s recommended that you keep using your arms as your injury heals, but don’t lift or push any heavy objects for 6-8 weeks.
Moreover, the sternum can become painful when you breathe. This may prevent you from taking deep breaths, laughing, and coughing. This can cause your natural lung secretions to build up as they aren’t being cleared, which can result in a chest infection.
It’s recommended for you to take at least 10 deep breaths every hour to prevent lung secretions from building up. Furthermore, you shouldn’t limit yourself from coughing if you feel that you need to. You should also get lots of rest as you recover from your injury.
Discuss Your Fractured Sternum Compensation Claim
Our panel of personal injury lawyers would be happy to discuss working with you on a No Win No Fee basis. A No Win No Fee agreement, sometimes referred to as a Conditional Fee Agreement, is a contract between yourself and your solicitor. It includes the things your solicitor must do before receiving payment.
If your case is unsuccessful, you won’t have to pay your lawyers fees. They also won’t ask you to make any ongoing payments or pay them upfront in order for them to start working on your claim.
If your claim is successful, your lawyer will deduct a small percentage of your compensation that’s legally capped. You will be made aware of the percentage this success fee will consist of before the claim starts.
You can get in touch with our friendly team of advisers today to calculate how much fractured sternum compensation you may be entitled to. If you have a legitimate claim, they can connect you to a personal injury lawyer from our panel.
If they choose to take your case on, they can then begin working on your personal injury claim to help you receive the compensation you’re owed. We recommend you get in touch with our team of advisers via:
- A phone call on 0800 408 7825 to discuss your case.
- Our live chat pop-up box to have a chat straight away.
- Our online claims form where an adviser will respond at your earliest available time.
Broken Sternum FAQ’s
How long does a sternum fracture take to heal?
After suffering a broken sternum, you might wonder, ‘how long does a sternum fracture take to heal?’. According to the NHS, fractured sternums can cause discomfort for around 6-8 weeks, though can generally heal on their own within this time. However, a more serious fractured sternum may take longer to heal, particularly if surgery is required.
Broken sternum – what is the time limit when claiming?
A claim for broken sternum pain and suffering, which could also compensate you for related financial loss, should generally be started within three years of the accident occurring. You may also begin a claim within three years from the date you established that your broken sternum was caused by the negligence of the defendant.
There are some exceptions to the time limit. For example, those aged 18 or under and those with limited mental capacity cannot represent themselves in a claim. In these cases, the time limit would be suspended, and a litigation friend could be used to claim a compensation payout for a chest injury on their behalf during this period.
More Resources On Claiming Fractured Sternum Compensation
Local Council Personal Injury Claims Guide – If you’ve suffered a public place accident due to the council’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation.
A Guide To Council Slip Trip Accident Claims – Have you suffered a slip, trip and fall injury? Our guide explores how you could make a claim against the local council.
Public School Personal Injury Claims Guide – Have you suffered an injury in an accident at a public school? Our guide looks at how you could claim compensation.
How Do I Know If I’ve Broken A Bone? – If you think you may have a broken bone injury, this NHS guide includes helpful information.
Chest Injury – This NHS guide includes information for patients about a chest injury.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents– This charity offers advice and guidance about preventing accidents from occurring.
Thank you for reading our guide about fractured sternum compensation.
Article by OA
Publisher ET