All employers, including farmers, owe their employees a duty of care to ensure their safety, as far as is reasonably practicable, while at work. There are many ways an employer can fulfil this duty, for example, ensuring all staff are trained on how to do their job and maintaining equipment so that it is safe to use. However, if the employer is negligent and fails to keep you safe, you could suffer a workplace injury.
By reading this guide, you will find out when you might be eligible to claim farm accident compensation after suffering a workplace injury and what effects of your farm injuries you could potentially be compensated for.
Furthermore, we discuss how the employer of a farm could be negligent and how this could lead to an accident. This is so that you can see whether the causation of your farm accident might have been due to employer negligence. We also tell you what evidence you need to prove a farm injury claim.
Our panel of specialist personal injury solicitors can work with you on a No Win No Fee basis if you are eligible to claim compensation. At the end of this guide, we explain what No Win No Fee agreements are and how they could benefit you.
To potentially be connected with our panel, have a chat with one of our advisors. For free, they can offer advice and assess your circumstances to see whether you are eligible to make a farm accident claim. Here is how you can have a free chat today:
- Call 0800 408 7826.
- Fill out our online Contact Us form.
- Message in our live chat box.
Jump To A Section
- Workplace Farm Accident Compensation Calculator
- When Are You Able To Claim Compensation For Farm Accidents?
- What Are Common Workplace Farm Accidents That Could Lead To A Claim?
- What Evidence Could Help You In A Work Injury Compensation Claim?
- Why Make A Farm Accident Compensation Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Read More About How To Claim Workplace Injury Compensation
Workplace Farm Accident Compensation Calculator
When a farm accident compensation claim is successful, there are two types of damages which can potentially be compensated. These are called special damages and general damages.
Under general damages, compensation for the psychiatric and physical impacts of your injury is awarded. As such, these things are considered while a general damages payout is being valued:
- The extent of the medical treatment you have had.
- The severity of your injury and pain.
- How long the expected recovery period is.
- What changes there have been to your quality of life.
The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) is a document that will likely be used while valuing a general damages payout. In the JCG are different guideline compensation figures for many kinds of physical and psychological injuries and illnesses.
Accident Compensation Table
In the table below, we have taken some injuries (and their guideline compensation figures) that someone could suffer following a farming accident. Apart from the first row, this has all been taken from the JCG.
However, remember that despite these guideline figures, no set value can be guaranteed. This is because the circumstances of all personal injury claims are unique.
| Injury | Severity | Guideline compensation figures | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious injuries plus special damages | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ | Compensation for sustaining multiple serious injuries plus their financial costs such as home adaptations, professional care costs, and a loss of earnings. |
| Paralysis | Tetraplegia (a) | £396,140 to £493,000 | Paralysis to the upper and lower body parts. |
| Paraplegia (b) | £267,340 to £346,890 | Paralysis to the lower body parts. | |
| Brain damage | Very severe (a) | £344,150 to £493,000 | Brain damage where there is only little capability to follow basic commands with little to no language function. |
| Less severe (d) | £18,700 to £52,550 | There may be persisting problems such as poor memory and concentration. However, the person will still make a good recovery, go back to work, and return to a normal social life. | |
| Sight | Total blindness (b) | In the region of £327,940 | Total blindness in both eyes. |
| Minor but permanent impaired vision (e) | £11,120 to £25,600 | In either one or both eyes. Double vision that is not constant will fall within this bracket. | |
| Amputation of arms | Loss of one arm (b) (i) | Not less than £167,380 | Amputated at the shoulder. |
| Arm | Simple fractures (d) | £8,060 to £23,430 | To forearms. |
Special Damages
Under special damages, compensation for your injury’s financial losses is awarded. A special damages payout is focused on restoring your monetary position. As such, here are some monetary losses which could possibly be reimbursed in a special damages payout:
- Lost wages.
- Medication bills.
- Professional care costs.
- Home adaptations.
Because a special damages payout is not always awarded when a personal injury claim is successful, it is really important to keep evidence. This evidence must prove what monetary losses you have suffered due to an injury. Such evidence can be bank statements, receipts, payslips, and invoices.
You should get in touch with us if you want to know more about how much compensation could potentially be awarded in successful farm accident compensation claims.
When Are You Able To Claim Compensation For Farm Accidents?
You may be eligible to claim farm accident compensation if you can show that your farm injury was caused by your employer being negligent.
All employers owe a duty of care to their employees, as stated in The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This duty of care includes taking reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their employees so that an injury can be avoided. Some reasonable steps involve conducting regular risk assessments to remove possible hazards.
In particular, when working on a farm, The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 and The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 are legislations that your employer must also abide by. The first piece of legislation revolves around your employer ensuring that they are supplying you with sufficient Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when needed. The second piece of legislation relates to your employer ensuring that the work equipment you are provided with is safe enough to be used for its intended purpose without risking injury.
If your employer fails to adhere to their legal responsibilities, you might be able to claim compensation if you are injured from this. As such, here are the accident at work claim eligibility criteria:
- Your employer owed a duty of care.
- They breached their duty.
- As a result of this, you were injured.
If you can prove that the above criteria apply to you, please chat with our advisors. They can validate farm accident claims.
What Are Common Workplace Farm Accidents That Could Lead To A Claim?
Here are a few examples of how farm accident claims could result from an employer breaching their duty of care:
- Faulty farming machinery. For example, a farmer is informed that the tractor has faulty brakes. However, they fail to have it repaired. An employee drives the tractor into a farm building as the brakes fail, causing them to suffer a head injury.
- Fall from a height. For example, you could fall from a ladder when fixing the roof of a cow shed due to the ladder being broken. Even though the employer was aware that the ladder was broken, they still provided you with it anyway.
- Livestock injuries. For example, if your employer leaves the gate unlocked for the enclosures where their farm animals are, you could be bitten, trampled or kicked.
- Electrical hazards. For example, there could be poor maintenance of electrical equipment which could lead to you suffering a serious electric shock.
- Lack of training. For example, you may not have been trained by your employer on how to use certain machinery and equipment, such as a woodcutter. Due to lack of training, you traumatically amputate the lower part of your arm.
These are just some examples of how a farming work accident could happen. Please have a chat with us about how your specific farming accident happened.
Common Work Injuries From A Farm Accident
Here are just some types of injuries that could be sustained following a farming accident:
- Broken and fractured bones.
- Scalds and burn injuries.
- Soft tissue injuries.
- Back injuries.
- Neck injuries.
- Loss of limbs and amputations.
- Crushing injuries.
- Lacerations.
- Brain injuries.
- Organ damage.
Please talk to us about your specific injury and find out whether you can claim farm accident compensation.
What Evidence Could Help You In A Work Injury Compensation Claim?
When making an agricultural accident claim, it is vital to have as much evidence as possible to prove your case. Providing evidence will greatly increase your chance of receiving farm accident compensation.
So, here is what you can gather to prove that your employer was negligent and how you have suffered from this:
- CCTV footage of the accident taking place.
- Recordings of your symptoms and treatment in a diary.
- Copies of your medical records from when you have received medical care for your workplace injury.
- Photographs of your injury and the accident site.
- A copy of the accident report in your employer’s accident log book. Under the law, your employer must have an accident log book if there are 10 or more employees.
- Contact details from potential witnesses.
This list may seem daunting. However, if you are connected with a personal injury solicitor from our panel, they will be able to gather evidence for you. This is just one of the ways that they can help you. Don’t hesitate to contact us to see whether you can have one of the specialist solicitors from our panel help you.
How Long Do You Have To Claim Farm Accident Compensation?
There is typically a 3-year time limit to make a farm accident compensation claim. These 3 years begin from the date the accident happened. This is established in the Limitation Act 1980.
However, exceptions to the typical time limit can be made in certain circumstances. These circumstances are:
- If the person was younger than 18 when they were injured.
- If the injured person does not have the mental capacity to be able to make a claim.
While the time limit is put on hold, a litigation friend can commence the claim on the injured person’s behalf. In cases where the injured person either turns 18 or recovers their mental capacity, and no claim has been made on their behalf, then the typical time limit will commence from either their 18th birthday or the date of their recovery.
Our team can tell you more about how long you have to make a farm accident compensation claim and confirm whether you are within the limitation period.
Why Make A Farm Accident Compensation Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
If you are eligible to claim farm accident compensation, you may have apprehensions about instructing a personal injury solicitor to help you. Well, with our panel of solicitors, you could be offered a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a specific type of agreement that works on a No Win No Fee basis.
You will not need to pay upfront or ongoing costs for your solicitor’s work under a CFA. You will also have no costs to pay for your solicitor’s work if your farm injury claim is unsuccessful.
Instead, if your claim is successful, your solicitor will charge a success fee. However, success fees come out of your compensation and never out of your pocket. Success fees are also a percentage that has a legal cap.
Contact Us
Our panel of personal injury solicitors might be able to help you claim compensation for your suffering. Our contact services are open 24/7 so you can have a chat with us at a time that is best for you:
- Call 0800 408 7826.
- Fill out our online Contact Us form.
- Message in our live chat box.
Read More About How To Claim Workplace Injury Compensation
Here are some of our other guides:
- Check out our serious injury compensation claims calculator.
- Check out our multiple injury compensation claims calculator.
- Find out how to claim personal injury compensation for nerve damage.
Additionally, here are some pages from other websites which might be useful:
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – A guide on what a good farm should look like and how to control the common risks.
- National Health Service (NHS) – where to find different NHS services near you.
- Gov.UK – an overview on how to get Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if your workplace injuries have meant you cannot work.
Thank you for reading our compensation calculator guide for farm accident compensation. If you have been in a farming accident, see whether we can help you.