If you suffer a femur injury in an accident through no fault of your own, you may have the grounds to pursue a compensation claim. In order to achieve this, you would have to prove that a third party who owed you a duty of care had caused your injury through negligence. Personal injury lawyers could help you throughout the claiming process when claiming for a femur injury payout. Contact our team today in one of three ways:
- Telephone (0800 408 7825);
- Live Chat (Located in the bottom corner);
- Online Form.
There are 12 chapters in this guide covering elements relating to a femur injury compensation claim. This includes an in-depth example case study whereby a victim of the same injury received an £18,000 compensation payout. Read ahead to find out more.
Choose A Section
- A Guide To Calculating Settlements For A Femur Injury
- What Is A Femur Injury?
- Financial Loss From Broken Femurs
- Common Fracture Accidents Involving Femurs
- Who Could Receive A Care Claim?
- Calculating Femur Injury Compensation
- Case Study: £18,000 Claim For A Femur Injury
- Compensation Estimates For Broken Femurs
- No Win No Fee Contracts
- Best Personal Injury Solicitors Outside Your Area
- Call Our Specialists
- More Links
A Guide To Calculate Settlements For A Femur Injury
Making a compensation claim is more straightforward than you may think. This guide explains what comprises the claims process, and what could influence the settlement for your fractured femur. We’re covering such topics as No Win No Fee, financial problems due to an injury, as well as claiming for care. We should also mention here the personal injury claims time limit, the rules for which are as follows:
- You have 3 years to claim after suffering your injury after an accident caused by a third party’s negligence;
- Alternatively, you have 3 years to claim after date of knowledge
- A close relative or another appointed representative could handle a claim for a child or anyone lacking the mental capacity to claim;
- But once the child turns 18 or if the victim regains control of their mental capacity, their 3-year window would then commence.
Our specialist team is here should you have any points that you would like us to clarify.
What Is A Femur Injury?
The femur is the official term for the thighbone. This sits at the front of your upper leg, connecting the hip to the knee. The femur is the longest and strongest bone in the whole body. And for this reason, a femur fracture only occurs due to a significant amount of force colliding with the bone. For example, a severe fracture of the femur might be the result of a serious car accident. It’s reassuring to know that the femur can withstand pressure that might dislocate or shatter other bones in the body. But it doesn’t change the fact that a femur fracture could therefore prove to be very painful and have a major impact on your life.
The symptoms to look out for a femur fracture are intense pain, a reduction in movement for your leg, swelling and bruising. In addition, the corresponding leg could bend in an unusual manner or even seem shorter than your other leg. Surgery would almost always be the solution to a fractured femur due to its significance for your mobility. A full recovery from an operation on a thighbone fracture would be between 3-6 months. You could begin to walk before then, but you would want to avoid applying too much pressure and disrupting your rehabilitation.
Financial Loss From Broken Femurs
If you fracture your femur, it could mean that you’re unable to work for the duration of your recovery. As a result, therefore, such an injury could severely hamper your financial situation. You could find that the costs of medication and public transport usage coming out of your own pocket prove to be very significant. And these expenses, along with any required home care from a nurse, would all leave a gaping hole in your bank balance. So the loss of earnings, which could be for up to 6 months, could give you real concerns. Thankfully, the settlement for your femur fracture could encompass all of these expenditures and return you to your pre-accident financial stability. Chat to our friendly team to receive more guidance about how to handle the financial impact of your injury.
Common Fracture Accidents Involving Femurs
A duty of care breach would signify negligence. And if that was the primary cause of the accident that led to your fractured femur, you could viably file a compensation claim. We’ll discuss what your fractured femur settlement could comprise a little later on. At this point, we want to discuss the scenarios where you could claim negligence due to a breach of duty. Here are some statistics for you to ponder:
- 95% of major slips, trips and falls at work result in broken bones
- Over 181,000 road accidents occurred on British roads in 2016, with 1,792 losing their lives
- Over 17,000 cyclists were injured on British roads, and with 99 cyclists dying, in 2018 alone
These figures emphasise how accidents continue to occur, sometimes causing serious injuries and even occasionally resulting in deaths. For your femur fracture, it could occur due to a workplace accident. This would be employer’s liability (EL), with a breach under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Perhaps you’ve suffered a major fall off a loading dock, resulting in your injury. Any accident at work that was due to your employer’s negligence could allow you to claim for a work injury payment. In this case, it would be a fractured femur at work claim; however, it could be a multiple injury claims if you suffer multiple injuries via the accident.
Alternatively, perhaps public liability (PL) may make the occupier responsible for your accident that caused you to fracture your femur. The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 aims to safeguard visitors from being injured in a public place. However, whether it be faulty staircases, hazardous walkways or frayed thick rugs, accidents in public places could still happen. An example of an incident causing a public accident claim might be you tripping over stock left in a supermarket aisle and landing hard on your thighbone, causing a break.
Or maybe a road traffic accident (RTA) explains how you fractured your femur. A serious car accident, with another vehicle accidentally slamming into the side of your motor, might injure you severely. And a femur fracture could be the result of such an incident. The Highway Code‘s duty of care for drivers to have towards one another, and to cyclists and pedestrians, should prevent accidents. But as the statistics above show, crashes and collisions are always a concerning possibility.
Our team is here to give you all the advice you need about how to gather the evidence to claim negligence for a potential femur fracture settlement.
Who Could Receive A Care Claim?
Anyone who receives care as a direct result of their injury could request any costs be claimed back as part of their compensation claim. It would focus on assistance that you receive not only to help rehabilitate your injury but also to look after the everyday tasks that your incapacity prevents you from completing. They could include:
- Any additional support from family and friends, which is known as “gracious care”;
- The hiring of a paid carer to visit as often as you require while you recuperate;
- And also professional home care services that manage household chores while you’re unable to perform them.
A No Win No Fee solicitor would remind you to keep all receipts and invoices relating to any paid care. That way, these expenses could influence your fractured femur settlement if your case is successful. Why not drop us a line on our 24/7 Live Chat to learn more about care claims.
Calculating Femur Injury Compensation Estimates
We should emphasise the importance of you receiving an independent medical assessment. It helps to have a recovery timeline as well, which would influence the level of compensation awarded. Crucially, it could prove that, only for your accident, your thighbone wouldn’t be broken.
General damages and special damages would then be used to come to a value for your claim. So, general damages would refer to the injury itself, and how much pain and suffering it caused you. That would depend on the severity of the pain and the long-term implications on your life. Meanwhile, special damages would incorporate the financial fallout of the injury beyond the suffering itself. So, this is where the loss of earnings, medication costs, physiotherapy and public transport usage for hospital visits would be included. And we remind you to keep your receipts and invoices to clarify what the rehabilitation has cost you. Chat to our team for a breakdown of your own general and special damages.
Case Study: £18,000 Claim For A Femur Injury
Mr Hamilton works as a bus driver in Stockport. He has done the job for over 20 years, and he’s also known in his local community for his charitable work.
However, one afternoon, Mr Hamilton would be the victim of an accident that almost ended his career. He was completing his usual circular route of Stockport town centre and was heading towards a junction. All of a sudden, another bus suddenly collided into his side of the vehicle. The other bus had come through a red light and hit the side of Mr Hamiltons bus.
The accident left Mr Hamilton semi-conscious, with his vehicle being brought to a sudden standstill. Other passengers on-board were shocked and called 999 on his behalf. He was revived before heading to hospital, but he found he was unable to move his legs. This resulted in him having a panic attack as he was loaded into the ambulance.
At hospital, he regained feeling in his legs, though his thighs made it near-impossible for him to lift it. He was soon diagnosed with a femur fracture. But he was told that the consequences could have been worse and that he could avoid potential surgery. However, he would have to recuperate at home and to miss work for up to twelve weeks.
During his recovery, Mr Hamilton used a professional nurse for home care services. After four weeks, he was able to begin light rehabilitation which led to full physiotherapy shortly afterwards.
The local community were delighted to see Mr Hamilton back behind his wheel, but he had lost all confidence in his abilities. Although every eyewitness suggested that the other bus driver was at fault, he still blamed himself for the accident. After seeking legal advice, he learned that the bus company could be sued for negligence having breached a duty of care stated by the Highway Code.
After further consideration, Mr Hamilton filed a compensation claim against the other bus driver and his operating firm. He received £18,000 as an out-of-court fractured femur settlement. This included £12,000 in general damages and £6,000 in special damages.
Type Of Special Damages | Includes: | How Much? |
---|---|---|
Lost Earnings | Costs of lost earnings as a result of the injury, meaning 3 months away from work | £4,500 |
Professional Care | Regular professional nursing care costs during his recovery | £800 |
Physiotherapy | Professional rehabilitation costs to assist with his full recovery | £600 |
Medical Costs | Costs of prescription medication to assist his rehabilitation | £100 |
The case of Mr Hamilton 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.
Compensation Estimates For Broken Femurs
Our approach towards estimating your compensation amount doesn’t rely on online personal injury claims calculators. We recognise that no two femur fracture injuries are the same, and not just in terms of severity. To make a truly accurate estimate, we need to know exactly how your life has been impacted as a direct result of your injury. How is your mobility restricted? Has your career been affected? Have your finances suffered? And how might this change the way in which you live your life moving forward? So, if you’ve fractured your femur in a serious car accident, could this prevent you from driving again?
These are the facts that we would learn about you before determining the potential settlement for your femur fracture. But don’t feel like you’re obliged to proceed with your case after receiving this estimate. This wouldn’t be a requirement, and you would only file the claim if you’re 100% satisfied with taking legal action. Speak with our specialist team anytime to begin discussing what your compensation settlement could be.
No Win No Fee Contracts
Our panel of personal injury solicitors offers No Win No Fee agreements that would reduce any financial worries you may have about filing a claim. The potential benefits are:
- You wouldn’t pay any legal fees up-front or while a case is ongoing;
- And if your case loses, then you’re not responsible for paying any legal fees for your personal injury solicitor;
- Now, if your case wins, your No Win No Fee solicitor takes a nominal amount known as a success fee, but it’s capped by law and deductible only after you receive compensation.
There aren’t any hidden charges; we provide complete clarity for all of our cases. And our advisors would also provide a free no-obligation consultation before you decide whether or not to pursue your claim. To discuss No Win No Fee and its impact on your potential fractured femur settlement, use our 24/7 Live Chat tool.
Best Personal Injury Solicitors Outside Your Area
Don’t think that you have to stick to a local personal injury solicitor. If you want the best legal representation possible, you may have to look beyond your area and to the online universe where the choices are seemingly limitless.
We also have many positive reviews for you to read, and our panel of personal injury solicitors boast many combined years of experience. In addition, our communication with you is clear and consistent, and we can answer your questions instantly via our Live Chat. And we have a fast turnaround, as we would be covering your compensation claim as soon as you get in touch. So contact our friendly team today to find out why our panel of No Win No Fee solicitors are the right representation possible for your case.
Call Our Specialists
The only thing that remains now is for us to begin the conversation with you about your potential claim. We can advise you on any queries you may have about any of the topics within this guide. And we could also begin to build your claim for a femur injury.
You can call our advisors on 0800 408 7825, complete our contact form to put your message in writing, or simply use our Live Chat where you’ll get an immediate response. Our support is available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and remember: you don’t have to make a claim! If you decide not to take legal action, there is no obligation to do so, even after you communicate with us. But if you do decide to pursue your case, we’re ready to help you.
More Links
Thank you for reading our guide about making a claim for a femur injury. We encourage you to also use the additional links below.
Our website explains everything that you need to know about making a claim.
This page covers how to claim after a cycling accident.
Meanwhile, if you suffer your fractured femur while out shopping, this page may be useful for you to read.
The NHS has guidance on femur and hip fractures.
And their website also discusses how to identify a broken bone.
Meanwhile, the Health and Safety Executive website details slips, trips and falls resulting in injuries.
Article by AR
Publisher EC.