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I Was Injured While Working For Cash, Can I Claim Compensation?

By Cat Way. Last Updated 14th October 2024. Have you had an accident at work that has caused you an injury? Do you believe it was someone else’s fault? Did the person you were working for not take care of your health and safety while you were working for them? These are all considerations that, in normal terms, could lead to you being eligible to claim compensation. However, if you have been injured while working for cash, you might ask ‘Can I still claim compensation?’ In these circumstances, the answer may be a little unclear.

A person injured while working for in hand is tended to by an employee in a high-vis vest.

You may be wondering, “is working cash in hand illegal?” This guide has been created to help you if you’ve been injured while working for cash. In the sections below, we explain what working for cash means, and how you may need to prove your employment status in order to make a claim for compensation.

We also explain more about making a personal injury claim for an accident at work in general terms and give you some idea of how much compensation personal injury claims for accidents at work could bring you.

If you have any questions after reading this guide, or you believe you could be in a position to claim compensation, our team could help you.

Simply call Legal Expert on 0800 073 8804 for assistance. We could even provide you with a personal injury lawyer to help you make a claim.

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A Guide In If You Could Claim If Injured While Working For Cash

‘I was injured while working for cash – can I still claim compensation?’ This is a complex question and the answer depends on a number of factors.

Employment rights are a complex issue, and your status of employment has a significant bearing on whether you could claim compensation if you were injured while working for cash. In the sections below, we answer questions such as:

  • Are cash in hand payments legal in the UK?
  • What happens if you get caught working cash in hand?
  • Can I claim compensation if I’ve been working cash in hand and been injured at work?

We also explain the personal injury claims time limit that could apply to an accident at work claim and talk you through the compensation you could claim if you have a valid claim.

Is Working For Cash In Hand Illegal?

You might be wondering, ‘are cash in hand payments legal in the UK?’ This method of payment itself is not illegal, as long as relevant taxes and National Insurance deductions have been carried out before you are paid. Your employee should always give you a pay slip, which you can use to determine what deductions have been made.

Although paying cash in hand is legal, if taxes have not been paid, then this is against the law. By doing this your employer could also be in breach of health and safety laws that apply to the workplace. Therefore, if you were injured in an accident at work and were paid cash in hand without paying taxes, you could sue your employer for negligence.

Get in touch at any time for free advice from our friendly team of advisors. They can put you in touch with our accident at work solicitors and can answer any questions you might have, such as, ‘is working cash in hand illegal?’.

Proving That You Were Owed A Duty Of Care

Whether you were employed or self-employed at the time of the accident, you have the legal right to safety while you work. Two laws are relevant to making a personal injury claim for accidents that took place while working for cash in hand. These are:

  • The Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974 states that employers must take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their employees. Whether you were paid in cash or by bank transfer for your work, this duty of care applies.
  • The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 stipulates that those in control of public spaces must take steps to ensure the reasonable safety of all visitors. So you were working as a contractor on unsafe premises, and you were injured because of this you could be entitled to compensation.

Whether you are an employee or self employed individual, the criteria to begin a personal injury claim are the same:

  1. A third party owed you a duty of care at the time of the accident.
  2. This duty was breached in some way.
  3. As a result of this breach, an accident occurred in which you were injured.

For a free assessment of your eligibility, contact our advisors today using the details provided above.

Work For Cash In Hand – Claim Time Limit Exceptions

If you work cash in hand or work a job for cash, the time limit for starting a claim remains the same as it is for all personal injury claims. This is three years starting from the date the accident occurred, as set out by the Limitation Act 1980. This legislation also outlines the exceptions in place, which include:

  •   Claimants under the age of eighteen: The time limit is frozen for those under the age of eighteen and is reinstated on their eighteenth birthday. A litigation friend can claim on their behalf while the time limit is suspended.
  •   Those who lack the mental capacity to claim for themselves: The time limit is suspended indefinitely for those who lack the mental capacity to make a claim for themselves. If they recover the appropriate capacity, the time limit will reinstate on their recovery date. Otherwise, a litigation friend can make their claim on their behalf.

To learn more about the accident at work claims time limit or to start your claim after being injured at a job paying cash in hand, contact our team today.

How To Prove A Personal Injury Claim

There are various ways in which you could prove that an accident took place if you were injured while working for cash. You could use:

  • A report in an accident book
  • Photographs of the scene
  • Photographs of your injury
  • Witness details
  • RIDDOR reporting – if you have sustained a specified injury in the workplace, you would be required to report this under RIDDOR yourself if you were self-employed. Your employer has a duty to report specified injuries to RIDDOR if you are an employee too.
  • Medical report – you would need to see an independent doctor as part of your claim. They could verify you were injured while working for cash and could provide a medical report to back up your claim.

If you are concerned about what evidence you would need to claim for an accident at work that happened while you were working for cash, we could help. Our expert team could advise you on what evidence could be useful when looking to make a claim.

Compensation Calculator – Accident At Work Claims

If you were injured while working for cash in hand, and your claim is successful, you could be awarded compensation under two different heads of loss. These are:

  • General damages: compensates for the physical and as well as psychological harm caused by the accident.
  • Special damages: financial losses stemming from that harm can be compensated under this head of loss.

When solicitors or other parties involved in your case come to calculate a possible compensation figure for your claim, those assigned to this task can make reference to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) alongside your medical evidence.

The JCG publication contains guideline compensation amounts for different types of injury. We have taken a few of these values and used them to create this compensation table.

Compensation Table

Please be advised that the information given here is intended as guidance only. The top entry was not taken from the JCG.

InjurySeverityAmount Guideline
Multiple Very Severe Injuries In Addition To Substantial Financial Losses.Very SevereUp to £1,000,000 and above
Neck InjuriesSevere (i)In the region of £181,020
Moderate (i)£30,500 to £46,970
Leg InjuriesSevere (ii)£66,920 to £109,290
Severe (iii)£47,840 to £66,920
Other Arm InjuriesSubstantial and Permanent Disablement£47,810 to £73,050
Less Severe£23,430 to £47,810
Foot InjuriesSerious£30,500 to £47,840
Moderate£16,770 to £30,500
Back InjuriesModerate (ii)£15,260 to £33,880

Losses And Expenses You May Be Compensated For

In addition to the compensation you could receive for the injuries you’ve sustained you could also be compensated for costs and losses you’ve incurred as a direct result of your injuries.

These could include:

  • Loss of earnings – if your injuries have caused you to miss work, you may have lost out on income. Such losses could be included within your claim.
  • Care costs – some injuries may lead you to need help at home with tasks such as washing or dressing, for example. Care costs could be included as part of your claim.
  • Travel expenses – if you’ve attended medical appointments or appointments with your lawyer, and have incurred costs because of these, you could include them within your claim.
  • Medical expenses – if you’ve had to pay for prescription medicines, counselling or physiotherapy, these could all be included within your claim.

It is vital that you keep any proof of financial expenses that have arisen from your injuries. Bank statements, receipts, payslips and bills could all help ensure you claim everything you’re entitled to.

No Win No Fee Claims If You Were Injured While Working For Cash

If you would like the assistance of a personal injury lawyer when making a claim for compensation, you may be under the assumption that this would come with upfront costs. However, if you choose to work with a lawyer under No Win No Fee terms, this would mean you would not pay anything until your case was completed and your compensation payout had come through.

Before you begin a No Win No Fee claim, you would be sent an agreement, known as a Conditional Fee Agreement, which you’d be asked to sign. This lays out the success fee that would be payable to your solicitor once a compensation settlement has been arranged. The success fee represents a small proportion of your compensation payout and is legally capped.

Once this signed agreement had been signed, your lawyer would begin building your case and fight for the maximum compensation possible for you. You wouldn’t be expected to pay them anything throughout this process, but once they’d negotiated a payout for you, their success fee would be deducted from it.

In the event that a compensation settlement wasn’t reached, you would not pay the success fee. You would not pay the costs that your solicitor had incurred during the claims process either.

If you would like us to provide you with a personal injury solicitor who works under No Win No Fee terms, or ask us anything further about the No Win No Fee payment arrangements, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us.

Contact Us Today

Are you ready to begin a claim for compensation, or would you like us to answer some questions about your eligibility or the claims process? Whatever you need, we’re ready to help you. You can get in touch with us in a number of ways:

Quick References

Claiming If You’re Self-Employed – This guide covers all you may need to know if you’re making an injury claim as a self-employed worker.

General Guidance On Accident At Work Claims – This page gives you a wealth of information about accident at work claims.

Claiming For Being Bullied At Work – If you’ve been harassed at work, you may be able to claim compensation. Our guide explains this further.

Report Someone For Working Cash In Hand – If you know someone is working cash in hand illegally, you could report them via this link.

Injury At Work Compensation – This takes you to the government’s page regarding injury at work compensation for employers. It explains their tax/NI responsibilities.

Guide For Workers Injured At Work – This page from the government’s website explains what you could do if you were injured at work.

Other Claims We Could Help You With

Thank you for reading our guide on whether working cash in hand is illegal and if you can still claim if you are injured while working.

Guide by Jeffries

Edited by Billing