By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 30th September 2024. If you are involved in a car accident, the airbag may deploy. Although airbags can save lives, they can also result in injuries. This guide looks at when you might be eligible to make an airbag injury claim.
In order to have a valid case, you must prove that you obtained your injury due to another user of the road breaching their duty of care. We look at a few examples of the injuries you might suffer should an airbag deploy, and the evidence that could be collected to support your claim. Should you have a valid case, you may be interested in how much compensation you might be able to claim. We explain how settlements are awarded.
If you have an eligible personal injury case, you may wish to have a solicitor to support you with the claiming process. We conclude this guide with a look at how you could benefit from having a No Win No Fee solicitor work on your case.
If you have any questions or would like to check your eligibility to claim, please get in touch with an advisor from our team.
To speak to an advisor:
- Call 0800 073 8804
- Enter your details in our ‘claim online’ form for a call back.
- Use our live chat feature.
Select a Section
- Can I Claim Compensation For An Airbag Injury
- How To Prove An Airbag Injury Claim
- Examples Of Injuries From Airbags
- Compensation Payouts For Airbag Injuries
- Airbag Injuries – Claiming With Our No Win No Fee Lawyers
Can I Claim Compensation For An Airbag Injury?
You may be able to seek compensation for an airbag injury suffered in a road traffic accident if another road user was wholly or partially responsible for it.
Anyone using the road automatically owes each other a duty of care. To uphold this duty, they must navigate roads in a manager that prevents themselves and others from harm. The best way for road users to achieve this is to follow the rules shown in the Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA) and the Highway Code, some of which are based in law.
If a road user does not follow these rules, they are potentially liable for a road traffic accident that happens as a direct result. For example:
- A driver could cause a collision while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- Pedestrians could run into the road when it is not safe to cross and cause a vehicle to swerve into a road barrier.
- A cyclist could make an illegal turning and cause a car to brake suddenly, leading to another car colliding with it from the rear.
Any of these incidents could result in a driver suffering airbag injuries. You could claim personal injury compensation for an accident you were in if you can prove that:
- Another road user failed to adhere to their duty of care.
- This led directly to a road traffic accident.
- As a result, you suffered physical and/or psychological harm.
If you were partly at fault for the accident, you can still make what is known as a split liability airbag injury claim if your case still hits all three of these eligibility criteria. Contact our advisors to learn more about these type of claims.
Time Limits For Making An Airbag Injury Claim
The time limit for starting an airbag injury claim is three years, beginning on the date that you suffered your injuries. This limit is outlined by the Limitation Act 1980, which also outlines the exceptions to this limit.
For those under the age of 18, the time limit is frozen as legally they cannot claim for themselves. A litigation friend can start a claim for them during this time, but they won’t be able to bring their own claim forward until the time limit begins on their 18th birthday. They would then have until their 21st birthday to issue court proceedings.
The time limit is also frozen for those who lack the capacity to claim for themselves, in these cases indefinitely. Similar to the above, a litigation friend can make an airbag injury claim on their behalf at any point while the limit is frozen; however, the time limit will only reinstate if the claimant regains the capacity to claim for themself.
To find out if you are within the correct time limit to claim for airbag injuries such as airbag burns, head injuries, and scarring, contact our team today.
How To Prove An Airbag Injury Claim
If you are claiming personal injury compensation for your airbag injuries, you must submit evidence. This will need to prove liability for your injuries as well as the injuries themselves.
Here are a few examples of items you could submit to support your road traffic accident claim:
- A copy of your medical records. These can illustrate the type of airbag injury you suffered and what treatment you required.
- Photographs from the accident scene, your deployed airbag, or any visible injuries you suffered.
- Videos of the accident, such as from a dashcam.
- The contact details from anyone who witnessed the accident. This is so they can give a statement later in the claims process.
- A police statement if the police attended the accident.
If you would like to discuss what evidence could support personal injury claims for injuries from airbags, get in touch with one of our team members.
Examples Of Injuries From Airbags
You can suffer various injuries from airbags should one deploy in a car accident. These may include:
- Tinnitus as a result of the noise that the airbag makes.
- Fractures of facial bones can occur with the force of the airbag deployment. For example, you could suffer breaks to your nose, jaw, and cheekbones.
- The force of the airbag deployment may also result in teeth damage. These may need to be extracted and implants put in their place.
- You can suffer a burn injury if the airbag ruptures. This is because it can release high-temperature gases. These burns can also result in a permanent scar.
- The deployment force may also cause a broken rib.
However, you must remember that to be able to claim for your airbag injuries, you must be able to prove that your injuries were caused by another road user breaching their duty of care.
If you would like to discuss your airbag injury and find out if you have good grounds to make a personal injury claim, contact one of the advisors from our team.
Compensation Payouts For Airbag Injuries
So, how much compensation could you get for an airbag injury? In general, road traffic accident compensation can be split into two headings: General damages and special damages.
First, we’ll talk about general damages. This heading covers the pain and suffering you endure as a result of your airbag injuries, which includes both physical and mental suffering. This heading also covers loss of amenity, which means loss of enjoyment in hobbies.
When this head of your claim is calculated, the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) are often used to help. This is because the JCG contains guideline compensation amounts, and while these aren’t fixed, they can be used as a reference point.
Please note that the first entry in this table hasn’t been taken from the JCG. The last two entries have also been taken from the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 tariff. We talk about this a little later on in this guide.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Very Serious Injuries And Financial Loss | Serious | Up to £100,000+ |
| Fracture of Jaws | Very Serious Multiple Fractures | £37,210 to £55,570 |
| Fracture of Jaws | Serious Fracture With Permanent Consequences | £21,920 to £37,210 |
| Partial Hearing Loss And/Or Tinnitus | Severe Tinnitus | £36,260 to £55,570 |
| Skeletal Injuries | Le Fort Fractures Of Frontal Facial Bones | £29,060 to £44,840 |
| Skeletal Injuries | Multiple Fractures of Facial Bones | £18,180 to £29,220 |
| Fractures Of Nose Or Nasal Complex | Serious Or Multiple Fractures | £12,990 to £28,220 |
| Damage to Teeth | Loss Or Serious Damage To Several Front Teeth | £10,660 to £13,930 |
| Whiplash Injuries and Psychological Injuries | Lasting between 18 to 24 months. | £4,345 |
| Whiplash Injuries | Lasting between 18 to 24 months. | £4,215 |
What Are Special Damages?
Special damages are the head of your claim that cover the financial losses caused by your airbag injuries. For example, you may not be able to work while you recover. In this case, you could potentially claim back any lost earnings under special damages, along with the cost of:
- Travel
- Childcare
- Mobility aids
- Prescriptions
- Medical treatments
- Home adjustments
You will need to provide evidence of these financial losses with documents such as payslips and invoices.
Contact our team today to learn more about making an airbag injury claim.
Whiplash Reforms
The Whiplash Reform Programme may impact how you make your claim if the road traffic accident occurred in England or Wales. These reforms apply to those aged 18 or over, who suffered injuries valued at £5,000 or less as a driver or passenger in a vehicle.
The tariff found within the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 will be used when valuing your whiplash injuries. These amounts are fixed. We provided a few examples of the tariffs in our table. Additional injuries that are not covered by this tariff will be valued in the traditional manner.
Airbag Injuries – Claiming With Our No Win No Fee Solicitors
If you have decided to make an airbag injury claim after a road traffic accident, why not call our advisor to have your case assessed for free? Not only can our advisors provide free advice, and evaluate your eligibility to claim but can also advise whether one of our No Win No Fee solicitors could represent you.
Very often, our solicitors operate under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) which is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement. When making a car accident claim for airbag injuries with a No Win No Fee solicitor, you could benefit from the following:
- No fees to pay upfront for the solicitor’s service, and
- No solicitors fees to pay as your case progresses, should
- The claim not be successful, you would not need to pay for the service the solicitor has provided.
Only when the airbag injury claim is successful will the solicitor take a capped percentage of the compensation as a success fee.
To find out if you can make a road traffic accident claim with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors following injuries from airbags, call our advisors today for free advice.
Contact Us Today
A solicitor can help make sure that all areas of your claim are covered. For example, they can help gather evidence to prove liability, the costs caused by your injuries, and the suffering you’ve undergone. To find out if you are eligible to work with one of our solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis, contact our team today by:
- Calling 0800 073 8804
- Using the contact page
- Starting your claim online
Useful Links Related To Airbag Injuries
In this final section of our airbag injury guide, we’ve included some links to resources which you may find useful:
- Government safety guidance on airbags
- ROSPA airbag facts
- Legal Expert guide to car accident compensation
- Get advice on claiming for injuries sustained by lifting heavy objects at work from our guide.
This link takes you to another of our guides about car accident claims that may be of use to you.
