Welcome to our guide about spinal injury claims. If you suffered damage to your spine and back due to another party and want to know how to claim, we detail all the information you need to better understand the personal injury claims process.
Starting with eligibility, we explain who might have valid grounds against a third party for their spine injuries. After this, we look at what this type of injury might entail and what evidence is needed to move ahead with a claim. Time limits apply to personal injury claims and we explain those below.
The final sections of our guide look at compensation – how it is calculated and what areas of harm it can cover. You might be interested in appointing a solicitor to help you through the process. So we conclude by looking at the many advantages of working under a type of No Win No Fee contract with us.
Please get in touch as you read with any questions or concerns. We offer free information about spinal injury compensation claims and can assess your claim right now:
- Ring the team on 0800 073 8804
- Reach out to us about your spinal injury claim online
- Use the pop-up dialogue box below to start a conversation.
Choose A Section
- What Are Spinal Injuries?
- What Are Spinal Injury Claims?
- How Do I Make A Spinal Injury Claim?
- How Long Do I Have To Make A Spinal Injury Claim?
- Can I Claim Spinal Injury Compensation On Someone Else’s Behalf?
- How Much Spinal Injury Compensation Could I Receive?
- Could I Receive Compensation Before My Personal Injury Claim Is Settled?
- What Are No Win No Fee Spinal Injury Claims?
- Read More About Personal Injury Claims
What Are Spinal Injuries?
Spinal injuries can be damage to the vertebrae, nerves (spinal cord), ligaments and muscles from the top of the back of the neck to the base of the spine. These areas are called cervical, thoracic and lumbar and an injury can impact one or all of them. Symptoms range in severity:
- Mild dull aching and stiffness.
- Tingling and numbness.
- Sharp stabbing pains.
- Difficulty walking, sitting or lying down.
- Weakness and instability.
- Partial or full limb paralysis.
- Bladder and bowel problems.
- Long-term complications involving all of the above.
You can read more about spinal injuries and their symptoms in this NHS resource.
What Are Spinal Injury Claims?
A spinal cord injury claim for compensation is a legal action against a negligent third party who caused you harm. To move ahead with a valid personal injury compensation claim, it’s necessary to meet three criteria:
- A duty of care was owed to you at the moment of injury.
- The responsible third party failed to meet that duty.
- Your injuries were a direct result of this failure.
All these criteria must be demonstrated to start a claim.
Below we explore four areas where a duty of care applies and where spinal injury claims against a negligent party could be made:
Road Traffic Accidents
Road traffic accidents can create severe spinal injury either through whiplash or as part of multiple injuries in collisions. Because of the high risks on the roads, all users need to use them in a safe and responsible manner in order to prevent injuries and damage to themselves and others. This is the duty of care road users owe to one another.
To meet their duty, everyone on the roads must comply with the terms of the Road Traffic Act 1988. In addition to this, the Highway Code details other obligations to avoid accidents and injuries. An example of a duty of care breach would be:
- When a motorist speeding above the legal limit rear-ends another driver causing them a fractured spine and dislodged vertebrae.
- A drunk driver collides with a cyclist at a junction and knocks them into on-coming traffic, resulting in severe back and neck damage for the cyclist.
Accidents at Work
In workplaces, a duty of care applies as per the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HASAWA). All employers need to take reasonable and practicable steps to ensure staff safety. A breach in this area might mean your employer is liable and the person could qualify to claim for any spinal cord injuries. For instance:
- The employer provides faulty ladders or scaffolding to staff to work with and it collapses, causing the employee to fall and shatter their vertebrae.
- A wet floor in an office is left without warning signs and an employee slips, falls and suffers a broken coxxcyx.
Accidents In A Public Place
The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 applies a duty of care to those who operate areas open to the general public. They are obliged to implement reasonable actions that prevent the public from being harmed while using the facilities or services as intended. So, in an area like this, the occupier could be liable for spinal injury in the following ways:
- The owners of a department store failed to repair a handrail on a staircase (despite knowing about the problem), and a customer fell down the stairs, sustaining a back injury.
- The operators of a fun fair failed to safety test their rides, and a person suffered a serious spinal injury when the seat belt in the ride broke, throwing them out.
Medical Negligence
Healthcare providers owe their patients a duty of care and need to meet recognised standards of conduct in their particular area of medicine. Should they fail to adhere to these standards and you suffer avoidable harm as a result, then medical negligence has occurred. The basis for a medical negligence claim needs to show that injury or illness was the result of negligence.
An example would be a surgeon performing a procedure on the wrong area of the spine, thereby failing to treat the person’s problem and creating a new and unnecessary injury, such as nerve damage.
To discuss spinal injury claims and find out if you have good grounds to seek compensation, speak to a member of our team.
How Do I Make A Spinal Injury Claim?
In order to build your claim for spinal cord injury, you need evidence that points to liability for the harm you suffered. With this in mind, we have detailed below some types of evidence that you could draw together to support your personal injury claim:
- Many workplaces and roads are covered by CCTV cameras and you are legally entitled to request copies of these if it shows you and your accident.
- Workplaces of 10 people or more must have an accident book on the premises and you can request a copy of the incident entry.
- Ask your GP, specialist or health care practitioner for copies of your medical notes. X-rays and scans, as well as evidence of painkiller needs, are useful.
- There could be witnesses to your accident. Try to obtain their contact details so that if you choose to work with a legal team, the solicitors can approach these people for evidentiary statements.
- If you can, take photos of the injuries and the cause. Or ask another person to take some.
Call our advisors to discuss further supporting evidence for spinal injury claims.
How Long Do I Have To Make A Spinal Injury Claim?
In most personal injury claims, a time limit of three years applies in which to begin one. This is outlined in the Limitation Act 1980. Typically, this period starts from the date of the accident. However, in cases of medical negligence, it can also start from the date that the person identified a breach of duty as the root cause of their subsequent illness (known as the ‘date of knowledge’).
Can I Claim Spinal Injury Compensation On Someone Else’s Behalf?
The Limitation Act 1980 states that time limits can vary under certain circumstances and there can be an option for someone else to make the claim on the person’s behalf:
- People under the age of 18 cannot start a personal injury claim independently, so the time limit is paused until they turn 18. Alternatively, the courts are able to appoint a litigation friend to begin the claim on their behalf. Typically this is a parent, guardian or adult with their best interests at heart.
- There is a freeze on the three-year time limit for claimants with insufficient mental capacity to start a claim themselves. The limitation period may re-start from any date that their mental capacity returns. Alternatively, a litigation friend can begin a claim for them at any time.
How Much Spinal Injury Compensation Could I Receive?
If successful, the compensation amount in a spinal injury claim can be formed of two heads of loss called general and special damages. General damages compensate the victim for the physical pain caused to them, as well as any psychological suffering. This category of damages will also take into account the impact on the overall quality of life and whether the person has been left permanently disabled.
To calculate an appropriate amount for general damages, those involved in the process often consult available medical proof and publications like the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This publication offers a cross-section of common injuries to areas of the body based on their severity.
Below is a table using entries from the JCG associated with the back and spine. Please be aware that these are guideline amounts only and our table includes a topline figure that is not from the JCG:
Compensation Guidelines
| Injury Type | Severity Level | Award Guidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple and severe types of injury with special damages for rehabilitation, professional care and lost capacity to earn. | Severe | Up to £1 million plus. |
| Neck | (a) Severe (i) | In area of £181,020 |
| Back/Spine | (a) Severe (i) | £111,150 up to £196,450 |
| (a) Severe (ii) | £90,510 up to £107,910 | |
| (a) Severe (iii) | £47,320 up to £85,100 | |
| (b) Moderate (i) | £33,880 up to £47,320 | |
| (b) Moderate (ii) | £15,260 up to £33,880 | |
| (c) Minor (i) | £9,630 up to £15,260 | |
| (c) Minor (ii) | £5,310 up to £9,630 | |
| Pelvis | (a) Severe (i) | £95,680 up to £159,770 |
Financial loss and expense are other areas of harm that can factor into spinal injury claims. Special damages are the head of loss that reimburses the person for these issues. You will require documented evidence of these financial losses. So keep hold of all paperwork that shows an incurred expense because of your injuries, such as:
- Payslips that indicate a drop or loss in earnings caused by absence from work after the injury.
- Medical costs for seeing specialists or private doctors.
- Receipts that prove travel to essential appointments
- The costs of over-the-counter medications.
- Invoices that prove the cost of any domestic care provided to you.
- Estimates and invoices for the costs of modifying your home and vehicle to deal with a new, permanent disability.
Speak to one of our advisors to discuss what items could be included as part of your claim.
What Are No Win No Fee Spinal Injury Claims?
You do not have to manage a spinal injury claim alone. If the case is eligible, one of our solicitors could step in and handle the entire process. Their expertise and insights might help you receive a higher compensation award if the claim is a success.
In addition to gathering witness statements and helping you to collect evidence of negligence, your solicitor will handle all the Pre-action Protocol steps that personal injury claims involve. These are legal steps that the courts need to be satisfied have taken place.
Solicitors acting for you can chase up reports from medical specialists. And argue with the defendant for the maximum amount of spinal cord injury compensation owed to you. Allowing you the time and space to focus on your recovery and rehabilitation needs.
Our solicitors offer a type of No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This has a host of advantages to you:
- A CFA requires no fees upfront to get started.
- No fees for solicitor’s services are due while the claim moves forward.
- If the claim fails, no solicitors fees are due to be paid for their completed services.
- A successful spinal injury claim outcome requires a percentage of the compensation awarded to you to be paid to the solicitors as a ‘success fee’.
- A legal limit is in place for this percentage. Therefore, the person claiming will receive the bulk of the compensation payout.
With spinal injury solicitors, starting a compensation claim could be much easier. Take this opportunity to see if they could help you:
- Ring the team on 0800 073 8804
- Reach out to us about your spinal injury claim online
- Use the pop-up dialogue box below to talk about how a spinal injury solicitor could help you.
Read More About Personal Injury Claims
In addition to this guide about spinal injury claims, you might find these other resources from our website useful:
- This article looks at lumbar spine injury compensation claims.
- Here we look at a case study for a claim for lower back injuries.
- Also, we have another case study for a moderate back injury claim.
External resources:
- Information from the NHS on back pain.
- The law relating to working at height from the HSE.
- Lastly, here’s information about how Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is paid from the government.
We appreciate your interest in this guide about spinal injury claims. Reach out to our team of advisors to learn more about how specialist spinal injury solicitors could help you start a claim compensation today.
