Tinnitus compensation claims are the legal process to pursue compensation for harm directly caused by a third party’s negligent actions, such as an employer or another road user. Tinnitus is characterised by ringing, buzzing, or humming in the ears and can be a debilitating condition that may cause sleep disturbances, concentration issues, and social isolation. If you’re living with such life-altering impacts, you deserve legal representation that can expertly support you through the personal injury claims process.
Here at Public Interest Lawyers, we understand how distressing it can be to suffer an injury, let alone one that impacts hearing. Our advisors are here to provide peace of mind and answer any questions you may have, whether that’s about the claims process or compensation payouts. Our panel of solicitors are always ready to help and aim to make their assistance as accessible as possible by providing their services on a No Win No Fee basis.
If you are looking for professional legal help that prioritises pastoral care and is backed by decades of experience, our panel might be the right fit. You can reach an advisor by using the contact information below.
Jump To A Section
- What Are Tinnitus Compensation Claims?
- Am I Able To Claim Compensation For Tinnitus?
- What Accidents Might Tinnitus Be Caused By?
- What Tinnitus Compensation Could I Get?
- What Will I Need To Bring A Tinnitus Claim?
- Tinnitus Compensation Claims Time Limit
- How Public Interest Lawyers Can Help Claim Tinnitus Compensation
- More Information
What Are Tinnitus Compensation Claims?
Tinnitus compensation claims involve taking legal action against a third party responsible for a hearing injury due to their negligent actions.
If someone suffers from tinnitus, they hear phantom sounds, such as ringing, buzzing, or hissing. Those symptoms are often a sign of a blockage, hearing loss, or an injury.
Do you believe someone else is responsible for you developing tinnitus? Reach out at your earliest convenience so our advisors can talk you through the next steps.
Am I Able To Claim Compensation For Tinnitus?
You will be able to claim compensation for tinnitus if you are able to clearly prove that a third party’s negligent actions directly caused you to suffer an injury.
Specifically, your claim must meet the following eligibility criteria in order to articulate that negligence has taken place:
- You were owed a duty of care: A duty of care is the legal responsibility that businesses, individuals, and organisations have to ensure your reasonable health and safety in specific settings.
- This duty of care was breached: You must clearly show that the third party breached their duty of care towards you. For instance, your employer may have asked you to perform a hazardous work duty without providing the necessary protective gear for working from heights.
- The breach caused you to suffer from tinnitus: In order for your claim to be valid, you must have developed some form of tinnitus as a direct result of the breach. You can claim for any physical and psychological injuries that occurred in the same incident where you suffered tinnitus.
In the next section, we explore how the duty of care can look different depending on the setting.
Do you want the eligibility of your claim assessed for free or wish to speak to us in more depth about tinnitus compensation claims? Ring an advisor today.
What Accidents Might Tinnitus Be Caused By?
Tinnitus might be caused by accidents such as road collisions, defective machinery, and falls from height, as these incidents can result in whiplash, concussion, and temporal bone fractures.
Please take a look at the various types of incidents that can cause an individual to suffer from tinnitus:
Tinnitus After Road Traffic Accidents
Road users legally owe one another a duty of care to travel safely in order to avoid hurting each other or themselves. This duty also requires them to act in compliance with the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. Failing to meet their duty of care could result in an accident, such as:
- A drink driver abruptly pulls out of a junction and causes a T-bone collision with another driver. The driver who is hit suffers from tinnitus from the sound of the airbag deploying.
You can get further details on pursuing compensation in our dedicated guide to the road traffic accident claims process.
Tinnitus Caused By Workplace Accidents
Your employer owes you a duty of care to keep you safe while at work, as per the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Specifically, your employer must take reasonable steps to ensure your safety, health, and well-being.
If your employer doesn’t meet their legal obligations, the end result might be an incident like the following:
- An employer fails to provide a new construction worker with protective headgear, despite being aware that several defective machines are on site. One of these suddenly explodes, and the loud bang leaves the employee with severe tinnitus in one ear.
For more information, please read our guide on how to make an accident at work claim.
Tinnitus After Public Place Accidents
Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, visitors to public spaces are owed a duty of care by the party in control of an area. This requires occupiers to take practical actions to ensure their reasonable safety on the premises.
Any failure on an occupier’s part to meet this duty of care could lead to accidents like the one detailed in this scenario:
- A supermarket fails to clean up a large spillage in one of the aisles or to mark it with a hazard sign. This lack of timely action results in a customer slipping and hitting their head on a shelving unit, causing them to suffer brain damage and develop severe tinnitus.
Our guide on public liability claims explains the process in depth.
Tinnitus Caused By Medical Negligence
Every medical professional owes their patients a duty of care from the moment they agree to treat them. This simply means doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers must deliver a minimum standard of care to their patients. Falling short of these standards may result in a patient suffering avoidable or unnecessary harm, such as:
- A doctor mistakenly prescribes a patient too high a dose of an antibiotic that is ototoxic. This damages the hair cells in the patient’s inner ear, resulting in ongoing tinnitus.
For more information, please read our other guide on medical negligence claims.
Our panel of solicitors can handle any claim, whether it’s a road traffic accident or a case of medical negligence. Call our advisors today to see if one of them can help you.
What Tinnitus Compensation Could I Get?
The tinnitus compensation you could get ranges from £8,560 to £133,810 according to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), depending on the type and severity of the tinnitus. This publication contains lots of different injuries, severities and suggested compensation brackets. As a result, solicitors find this document particularly helpful if they use it to calculate general damages for their clients.
General damages are a head of loss that is paid to claimants for any pain and suffering they have experienced as a direct result of their tinnitus. More specifically, both the physical and psychological injuries that have encountered.
You can find below a table containing several JCG compensation brackets related to tinnitus, aside from the highest valued entry. However, when it comes to considering potential compensation, we kindly ask that you use our table as guidance only.
| INJURY | SEVERITY | COMPENSATION BRACKETS |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple very severe injuries with special damages | Very severe | Up to £500,000+ including things like loss of wages, loss of future earnings and travel expenses. |
| Total deafness | May be tinnitus and deficit of speech | £110,750 - £133,810 |
| Complete hearing loss in 1 ear | Connected problems can include tinnitus, headaches, or dizziness | £38,210 - £55,570 |
| Partial hearing loss and/or tinnitus (i) | Severe tinnitus | £36,260 - £55,570 |
| Partial hearing loss and/or tinnitus (ii) | Moderate to moderate/severe tinnitus | £18,180 - £36,260 |
| Partial hearing loss and/or tinnitus (iii) | Mild tinnitus, together with some form of NISL (noise-induced hearing loss) | £15,370 - £18,180 |
| Partial hearing loss and/or tinnitus (iv) | Mild tinnitus only | About £14,300 |
| Partial hearing loss and/or tinnitus (v) | Slight or occasional tinnitus | £8,890 - £15,370 |
| Partial hearing loss and/or tinnitus (vi): | Slight tinnitus | Upwards £8,560 |
Can I Claim For Financial Losses After Tinnitus?
Yes, you can claim for financial losses after tinnitus under a head of claim called special damages, which compensates claimants for financial hardship experienced directly related to their injury.
Please find some more examples of financial losses that can be compensated for under special damages below:
- Medical expenses, for example, prescription costs and private treatments (if there are any treatable causes of the tinnitus)
- Loss of income
- Any future earnings lost due to time off work, resulting in missed opportunities
- Travel costs incurred from attending medical appointments
- Therapy and counselling, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
- Specialist equipment, such as hearing aids, sound generators, and tinnitus maskers
Please be aware that you must present your solicitor with proof that you have incurred financial losses in order to be eligible to receive special damages. You can provide your solicitor with payslips, invoices and receipts.
Are you wondering how much compensation you might be eligible for, or wish to speak to us about tinnitus compensation claims in more detail? Ring an advisor for free today.
What Will I Need To Bring A Tinnitus Claim?
To bring a tinnitus claim, you will need to gather as much evidence as possible, such as medical records and CCTV footage, which clearly shows that your injury was caused by the negligent actions of a third party.
For more information, please read our other guide on the evidence needed for a personal injury claim.
Our panel of solicitors can make things a little easier for clients during this challenging time by gathering evidence on their behalf. Please reach out to an advisor today if this is of interest to you.
Tinnitus Compensation Claims Time Limit
In order for tinnitus claims to be valid, claimants must begin pursuing compensation within 3 years from the date they suffered the injury, as per the Limitation Act 1980. This is referred to as the limitation period.
Please note that there are exceptions to this 3-year window for specific individuals. You can find out more about this by heading over to our guide explaining the limitation period.
Not sure whether your tinnitus compensation claim falls within the legal time limit? Don’t worry, our advisors can assess your eligibility for free.
How Public Interest Lawyers Can Help Claim Tinnitus Compensation
Here at Public Interest Lawyers, our panel of solicitors offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis to eligible claimants nationwide. This is because accessible legal representation matters to us, as we believe it is only fair that you should be able to balance the scales as quickly as possible.
Specifically, our panel of No Win No Fee solicitors will provide you with a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means you won’t have to pay for your solicitors’ service fees at several stages:
- If your tinnitus compensation claim fails
- While your claim is in progress
- At the start of your claim
If your claim wins, you will pay a success fee to the solicitor. This is taken from your tinnitus compensation as a percentage that is legally limited by law, as per the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013. In other words, you keep the majority.
Our Services
Not only does accessible legal representation matter to our panel of solicitors, but robust pastoral care is also a priority for them. They demonstrate this by providing their clients with immediate access to a wide range of support services. The aim is to make the hearing loss claims process as manageable as possible for clients while they are recovering.
Please have a look at some examples of the services our panel of solicitors provide. They will:
- Negotiate with the defendant’s solicitors so you can put your energy into the things that matter
- Access your taxi account to establish any travel expenses you have incurred
- Gather evidence on your behalf so you can focus on the things that matter, like your recovery and your loved ones
- Keep you up to date with your claim’s progress at all times
- Translate the legal jargon and break down in plain English how legislation works
If you feel you would benefit from the services above, we’d love to hear from you. Importantly, this is not an exhaustive list, and we are excited to talk to you about what else we can support you with your tinnitus compensation claim. You can speak to us about tinnitus compensation claims by using the contact details below:
Contact Our Advisors
- Talk to us over the phone for free on 0800 408 7825
- Contact us online
- Text us using our live chat feature
More Information
Some more guides by us:
- Read our guide on hearing loss claims.
- Have a read of our guide on how to make a loss of sight claim.
- Take a look at our guide on a £49,600 compensation payout for damage to the senses.
External resources to broaden your knowledge and research:
- Read this NHS resource on hearing loss.
- Check your eligibility for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
- Read up on how to claim for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Thank you for taking the time to read our guide on tinnitus compensation claims.