By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 5th September 2024. On this page, we explain laser eye surgery claims and everything worth knowing about laser eye surgery compensation. Here you’ll find a full guide to the legal process of making a compensation claim for laser eye surgery that has gone wrong in some way due to negligence by another party, causing harm in the process.
Some people may ask “is laser eye surgery safe?” and the answer is that it usually is a very safe medical procedure. On rare occasions, however, something could go potentially wrong, leading to injuries to the patient. If you have suffered harm through a botched laser eye treatment, you could be able to make a personal injury claim, and this guide will educate you about the process of making such a claim.
If you would rather talk over your claim, instead of reading this whole guide, you can call Legal Expert on 0800 073 8804 today, and we will do everything we can to help you begin a claim. You can also reach us online using our contact form
Select a Section:
- Eye Injury Claim – Am I Entitled To Claim?
- Laser Eye Surgery Claims – Time Limits
- Evidence That Can Support Laser Eye Surgery Claims
- Laser Eye Surgery Gone Wrong – Compensation Examples
- No Win No Fee Laser Eye Surgery Claims
Eye Injury Claim – Am I Entitled To Claim?
If you have suffered unnecessary harm during laser eye surgery, you could potentially make an eye injury claim. However, you would need to prove that you were injured due to a breach of duty of care.
Medical professionals are expected to deliver a minimum standard of care. Clinical negligence can take many forms, including misdiagnosis, wrong diagnosis and delayed treatment.
If you have a valid claim for eye injury, our solicitors at Legal Expert could support you. Our specialist solicitors have years of experience in helping clients make successful eye injury claims and could guide you through the entire process.
Laser Eye Surgery Claims – Time Limits
Generally, there is a three year time limit in which you must start a claim. This is under the Limitation Act 1980.
There can be exceptions to this rule. For example, if a claimant was under the age of 18 when they suffered from laser eye damage, they would not be able to pursue a claim until they were 18, at which point they would have until they were 21 to begin a claim.
The time limit is suspended indefinitely for someone who lacks the mental capacity to claim. It would only begin if they regained their mental capacity.
A litigation friend may be enlisted to start a claim on the behalf of someone who lacks the mental capacity or a child.
Speak to our advisors to find out how you can work with the best medical negligence solicitors near you for laser eye surgery claims.
Evidence That Can Support Laser Eye Surgery Claims
A valid medical negligence claim should be supported by evidence that can prove laser eye surgery has gone wrong and you were harmed unnecessarily as a result. If you cannot provide supporting evidence, your claim is unlikely to be eligible for compensation.
Therefore, to prove medical negligence, you may consider collecting evidence such as:
- Any written correspondence between you and your opticians, including e-mails
- Medical records that can show you have had treatment for your laser eye damage
- Photographs of your affected eye A diary of your symptoms to show how you have been affected
- Proof of any special damages, i.e. receipts for any medication you have bought to alleviate symptoms
Get in touch and our advisors can offer you free insight into other evidence you could obtain. Alternatively, continue reading to find out how our No Win No Fee solicitors can help you gather evidence during the medical negligence claims process.
Laser Eye Surgery Gone Wrong – Compensation Examples
Compensation in successful laser eye surgery claims can be awarded under up to two separate heads of loss, general and special damages. The physical and psychiatric effects of negligent laser surgery are compensated under general damages, whereas you will receive compensation for associated financial impacts under special damages. We’ll look at special damages further down.
Coming up with a potential compensation figure is something our solicitors can assist you with. The legal team assigned the responsibility of calculating a possible general damages amount can use your medical evidence alongside the guidelines from the Judicial College.
Referred to as the JCG, this detailed publication contains compensation guidelines for various types of harm. We have provided some guidelines relevant to eye surgery claims in our table here.
Compensation Table
It is important we emphasise that the compensation amounts given here are intended as guidance only. The first entry was not taken from the JCG
| Injury | Severity | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Very Severe Injuries As Well Significant Financial Losses. | Very Severe | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Injuries Affecting Sight | Total Blindness | In the region of £327,940 |
| Loss of Sight in One Eye with Reduced Vision in the Remaining Eye | £117,150 to £219,400 | |
| Loss of Sight in One Eye with Reduced Vision in the Remaining Eye | £78,040 to £129,330 | |
| Loss of One Eye | £66,920 to £80,210 | |
| Permanent and Complete Loss of Sight (One Eye) | £60,130 to £66,920 | |
| Serious But Incomplete Loss of Vision (One Eye) | £28,900 to £48,040 | |
| Minor but Permanent Impairment (One or Both Eyes) | £11,120 to £25,600 | |
| Minor | £4,820 to £10,660 | |
| Transient | £2,690 to £4,820 |
Special Damages
As we touched on above, the financial losses you incur due to damage to your sight can be compensated under special damages. A total or even partial loss of vision can have significant impacts on your day-to-day life.
Special damages aim to quantify these impacts, both in terms of current and future losses. It is, therefore, very often the case that the compensation awarded under special damages will be greater than that received under general damages.
Examples of costs that may be compensated under special damages include:
- Lost earnings.
- Medical expenses.
- Cost of care.
- Transport costs.
- Accessibility modifications to your home.
Remember to hold onto copies of your payslips, invoices for care, travel tickets and any other documents that show you incurred these losses. The information given here is intended to act as guidance only. Since medical negligence claims are calculated case-by-case, we cannot guarantee a payout value. To ask any questions you may have about laser eye surgery compensation after a mishandled surgery, or to get a more in-depth idea of what your potential claim could be worth, call our advisors today.
No Win No Fee Laser Eye Surgery Claims
If you have a valid case, you could seek compensation with the expert help of one of our solicitors. Thanks to decades of experience in handling cases, our solicitors are experienced in making laser eye surgery claims and could help you get the best outcome.
Our solicitors take on laser eye surgery compensation claims under No Win No Fee terms. If a solicitor agreed to take your case, they would offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement.
This would ensure that you aren’t paying for their work upfront or as the case goes on. Furthermore, there’s no solicitor fee to pay should the claim fail.
If your laser eye surgery compensation claim successful, they collect a minor percentage of the compensation awarded to you. A legal cap, put in place by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, ensures that the percentage that goes to the solicitor is much smaller than the amount set aside for you.
Talk To Our Team Today About Your Laser Eye Surgery Claim
Have you suffered a botched laser eye surgery procedure? Did the laser eye surgery injury treatment fail to correct the problem? If so, you could seek a laser eye surgery settlement. Legal Expert can help you to do this. You can contact us by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8804
- Using our contact form
- Contacting us through our 24/7 live chat service
If you still have any questions about laser eye surgery claims or laser eye surgery compensation, you can contact Legal Expert today for help. You can speak to one of our advisors using the contact details included within this guide.
