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How Much Compensation Can I Claim For An Abdominal Injury?

By Cat Way. Last Updated 17th October 2024. Welcome to our guide to abdominal injury claims. If you have suffered an abdominal injury, such as damage to an internal organ or the soft tissue of the abdomen, you may be entitled to claim compensation for your suffering.

A man with an abdominal injury holding the side of his stomach in pain.

These claims can arise from a variety of different causes and injury types. The most common cause of abdominal injuries is blunt force trauma. However, organs can be damaged as a result of a surgical error. Courts have long recognised the impact on a victim’s life the effects of damage to one or more internal organs can have. Any (potentially lengthy) recovery period will be factored into the amount of compensation awarded.

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Select a Section

  1. How to Make An Abdominal Injury Claim
  2. Common Types of Abdominal Injury
  3. How Do I Prove An Abdominal Injury Claim? 
  4. How Much Compensation Could I Receive For An Abdominal Injury?
  5. No Win No Fee Abdominal Injury Claims
  6. Useful Links

How To Make An Abdominal Injury Claim

An abdominal injury could result in serious pain and severe consequences. However, in order to form the basis of a valid claim for personal injury compensation, you must be able to establish negligence. Negligence is when:

  • A relevant third party owed you a duty of care.
  • This party breached their duty of care.
  • Because of this, you suffer an injury.

A duty of care is a legal responsibility towards your health or well-being in a certain setting. For example, employers owe their employees a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, meaning that they must take all reasonably practicable steps to keep their employees safe. If you slip on a loose cable at work and suffer from abdominal pain after a fall on your back, this could be an example of employer negligence.

If you can prove that you have suffered an injury to your abdomen as a result of another party failing to fulfil their duty of care, then you may be able to make a claim for compensation.

Time Limits For Abdominal Injury Claims

All personal injury claims, which include abdominal injury claims, have time limits within which they can be made. In general, this time limit is up to 3 years after either the date of the accident or the date that you realised you experience some form of damage as a result of it (date of knowledge). This time limit is stated in the Limitation Act 1980.

In some situations, exceptions can apply to this 3-year time limit. For example, if a claimant lacks the mental ability required in order to make a claim, the time limit is frozen until they are able to do so. In the meantime, however, they could always appoint a litigation friend to make their claim on behalf of them. At this point, the usual time limit would begin to come into effect, leaving the litigation friend with the 3-year limitation period to make legal proceedings.

To learn whether you could make a claim within the specified time limit for your case, please get in touch today for a free consultation. In the meantime, please read on to begin our abdominal injury claims guide.

Common Types Of Abdominal Injury

Many diseases or injuries which affect the abdomen (and associated internal organs) can be very serious. These can affect your quality of life and an abdominal injury during pregnancy can be dangerous, even fatal, to both mother and baby. The abdomen includes most of the major organs, such as the bladder, kidneys and liver. For women, this also includes the reproductive system.

Abdominal injuries can be caused by injury, illness, employer negligence and even surgical error. Common types of abdominal injury include the following;

  • Food poisoning: This is the most common type of abdominal injury. There are thousands of cases of food poisoning across the UK every year. Often food poisoning is caused by bacteria in food that has been stored or cooked improperly, or when restaurant staff have poor hygiene.
  • Kidney damage: The kidney removes toxins from your body. If they experience trauma, are affected by a disease or are exposed to certain chemical pollutants their function can be impaired.
  • Stab wounds: These can be caused by objects piercing or stabbing the abdomen, severely injuring the internal organs. Such injuries can be life-threatening and life-changing. Victims can have to change their diet and lifestyle after this.

How Do I Prove An Abdominal Injury Claim?

There are a number of pieces of evidence that you can gather to help support your claim. The more you gather, the better. Examples include:

  • CCTV footage – you have the right to request the footage if you appear it. Video evidence

    could highlight whether someone acted negligently by failing to take reasonable steps to keep you safe from harm.

  • Photographs – capturing the visual evidence of your injuries or the cause of your injuries can also be useful.
  • Witness contact details – if there are others who witnessed your injury, or were injured in a similar way, then they could help corroborate your story.
  • Independent medical assessment – this would need to be carried out as part of making your claim. The assessment can help in valuing your claim. Additionally, the medical expert carrying out the assessment will provide an in-depth report on your injuries, including how they were caused.

Reach out to us today if you have any questions about the evidence required for abdomen/stomach injury claims.

How Much Compensation Could I Receive For An Abdominal Injury?

There are up to two heads of claim that could potentially be awarded in successful abdominal injury claims. These heads of claim are called general and special damages. 

General damages, awarded in all successful claims, provide compensation for the physical and psychological effects of your abdominal injury. As such, here are some factors that are looked at:

  • Loss of amenity.
  • The pain severity.
  • The length of the expected recovery time.

Legal professionals can use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), your medical records, and an independent medical report to help calculate this head of claim. 

The JCG is a document that contains guideline compensation figures for varying physical and psychological injuries and illnesses.

Guideline Compensation Figures 

Below is a list of guideline compensation figures relating to abdominal injuries. These have been taken from the JCG, except for the first figure. 

Please note that none of these figures can be guaranteed for your potential claim, as all abdominal injury claims have unique circumstances. 

  • Up to £500,000+ – multiple serious injuries with special damages.
  • Between £206,730 to £256,780 – serious and permanent damage to (or loss of) both kidneys.
  • Between £37,550 to £54,760 – loss of one kidney, but where there is no damage to the remaining kidney.
  • Up to £224,790 – double incontinence, losing the natural function and control of your bladder and bowel.
  • Up to £183,190 – loss of your natural bowel function, and you depend on a colostomy.
  • Up to £171,680 – loss of your natural bladder function and control.
  • Between £78,080 to £97,540 – serious impairment of your bladder control, with some incontinence and pain.
  • Between £25,380 to £32,090 – loss of your spleen and you are at continuing risk of internal infections and disorders.

Special Damages

Special damages, awarded in some successful claims, provide compensation for the financial effects of your abdominal injury. This can include:

  • Mobility aid costs.
  • Loss of earnings.
  • Over-the-counter medications.

To recoup these expenses, you must be able to provide evidence, such as payslips, invoices, bank statements, and receipts. 

For more information on how compensation is calculated in successful abdominal injury claims, contact us.

No Win No Fee Abdominal Injury Claims

If you’ve suffered an abdominal injury, one of our solicitors could help you claim personal injury compensation. There are many benefits that can come with working with a solicitor. For example, they can help you gather evidence to help support your claim. Our solicitors also take on claims from around the country, which means you aren’t limited to working with a local professional and can instruct a solicitor with experience handling claims similar to your own instead. 

Our solicitors also work on a No Win No Fee basis. This means that, with the help of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) which is a type of No Win No Fee contract they could offer, you can access their services without paying an upfront fee. Similarly, you won’t be expected to pay ongoing fees for their work, nor will you be expected to pay for their work if your claim fails. 

If your claim is successful, you’ll pay a success fee. The success fee is deducted directly from your compensation and is taken as a small percentage. However, this percentage is limited by a legal cap. This helps to ensure that you receive the majority share of your compensation.

To find out if one of our solicitors could help you claim abdominal injury compensation, contact our team of advisors today.

Start Your Claim

Following an abdominal injury or illness which was not your fault, you could be entitled to compensation. At Legal Expert, we can provide all the expert advice and help that you need.

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Thanks for reading our abdominal injury claims guide.