Have you injured your back, and it was somebody else’s fault? The injury may have impacted your life with serious consequences, such as being unable to use your lower body. You may wish to seek compensation. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the personal injury claims process and using our back injury compensation calculator.
Key Points On Back Injury Claims
- Your back injury claim could include compensation for the physical pain and suffering plus financial losses.
- You may be able to seek back injury compensation for an accident at work, a road traffic accident or a public place accident.
- Collecting evidence is an important step of the back injury claim process.
- It may be possible to make your claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.
Our advisors are here around the clock to help you use our compensation calculator. They can also advise on what you could include as part of your claim. Contact our friendly advisors for free advice and guidance on personal injury claims:
- Call us now at 0800 408 7826.
- Speak to us directly using the chat feature at the bottom of this page.
- Contact Us online through our form.
Browse Our Guide
- How Much Compensation You Can Claim For A Back Injury
- Am I Eligible To Claim Back Injury Compensation?
- Common Causes Of Back Injuries Eligible For Compensation
- How To Start A Back Injury Compensation Claim
- How Our Panel Of Solicitors Can Help You Get Compensation
- More Information
How Much Compensation You Can Claim For A Back Injury
As all claims are different with compensation awarded on individual merits, this guide cannot tell you how much compensation you can claim. However, we explore how compensation could be awarded for successful back injury claims. If you would like a more individual valuation, please get in touch with our advisory team, who will be happy to help you.
The compensation for your back injury may include two heads (or parts):
- General Damages: This is the compensation for the physical back injury and the ensuing psychological suffering caused by the accident.
- Special Damages: This is the compensation for the financial losses you may have suffered due to your injuries.
How Back Injury Payouts Are Calculated
Your personal injury solicitor may ask you to appear for an independent medical examination. This would be to determine the severity of your injuries and to, therefore, calculate the general damages you could claim. If you decide to make your back injury claim with the support of a solicitor from our panel, we’ll try our best to ensure that the examination is conducted at a time and place convenient for you.
The person responsible for valuing your claim may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) as well. These guidelines provide a comprehensive list of injuries along with a range of compensation which might be awarded.
We’ve provided a list of some of the figures in the table below. However, you must note that these figures are only guidelines, and the first row of this table is not taken from the JCG.
| Injury | Notes | Compensation Guidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries and Special Damages | Compensation could be awarded for more than one injury and certain factors would be considered like loss of earnings and if professional care is required. | Up to £500,000+ |
| Back Injury- Severe (i) | These are the cases of the most severe injury, including damage to the nerve roots and spinal cord which could lead to the most serious consequences normally involved in a back injury. The individual faces serious pain and disability combined with incomplete paralysis and gravely impaired sexual, bowel and bladder function. | £111,150 to £196,450 |
| Back Injury - Severe (ii) | This includes cases with special features which remove them from the lower brackets of back injuries. These features include impaired mobility, sexual complications, impairment in bladder and bowel function, severe scarring and nerve root damage related to loss of sensation. | £90,510 to £107,910 |
| Back Injury- Severe (iii) | This includes cases of chronic conditions due to soft tissues injuries or fracture to the discs or disc lesions. Despite treatment, some disabilities persist such as chronic and severe pain, impairment in agility, impaired sexual function and the risk of arthritis. | £47,320 to £85,100 |
| Back Injury- Moderate (i) | This bracket includes a wide range of injuries like crush and compression fractures accompanied by continuous pain and discomfort and the risk of arthritis and spondylolisthesis with constant pain and the possibility of requiring a spinal fusion. | £33,880 to £47,320 |
| Back Injury- Moderate (ii) | These are common injuries to the back such as soft tissue injuries exacerbating a previous injury, disturbance to the muscles and ligaments causing backache. Certain factors would be taken into consideration such as the degree of pain, severity of the previous injury, impact on the individual's life and extent of past and present treatment. | £15,260 to £33,880 |
| Back Injury- Minor (i) | A complete recovery or recovery from the level of nuisance is made within 2-5 years without any surgery. This is also applicable to shorter-term exacerbation of injuries, usually between 2-5 years. | £9,630 to £15,260 |
| Back Injury- Minor (ii) | A complete recovery is made between a year or two without any surgery. This also includes very short-term exacerbation of past injuries, usually within a year or two. | £5,310 to £9,630 |
| Back Injury- Minor (iii) | There is a complete recovery within three months and a year without any surgery. This also includes very short-term exacerbation of previous injuries, usually less than one year. | £2,990 to £5,310 |
| Back Injury- Minor (iv) | A full recovery is made within 3 months. | Up to £2,990 |
Special Damages And How They Affect Your Claim
As explained above, you may be able to recover financial losses in your claim for back injury compensation. This would come under the head of special damages, and some examples include:
- Current and future loss of earnings: This includes loss of benefits like pension payments and any support required to get back to work.
- Medical Expenses: This includes costs like prescriptions and physiotherapy.
- Vehicle or home alterations if your back injuries results in suffering from a disability.
- The cost of hiring a professional carer or the care invested by a family member.
How To Use Our Back Injury Claim Calculator
Our compensation calculator is a free online tool for estimating the value of your personal injury claim. Like the table above, the figures it provides are from the Judicial College Guidelines. However, it can only provide you with an estimate.
Before using this tool, the first step is to check whether you have an eligible claim (we look at this in the next section). If yes, all you have to do is to enter the details of your injuries as directed and you will then receive an estimation of the value of your potential claim.
You can directly use the back injury claim calculator to arrive at a figure, or if you’re unsure about the eligibility of your claim, you can reach out to our friendly team of advisors. Additionally, an advisor can provide you with a more accurate valuation of your back injury claim.
Am I Eligible To Claim Back Injury Compensation?
Depending on your circumstances, certain people are responsible for ensuring your well-being and safety to a reasonable degree. This responsibility is known as the duty of care.
Before using our back injury compensation calculator, you could check if you have a valid claim by determining:
- The other party owed a duty of care towards you.
- They failed to exercise this duty of care.
- You sustained a back injury due to this failure.
You can contact our team to discuss your situation and determine the worth of your personal injury.
Common Causes Of Back Injuries Eligible For Compensation
Here are some common situations where a duty of care could be established:
Back Injuries At Work
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the employer is responsible for taking reasonable and practicable steps to ensure the safety of their employees. These steps include conducting safety checks and providing employees with personal protective equipment (PPE) where a check has identified a need for it. If the employer fails in this duty and you suffer an injury, you may have a valid accident at work claim against them.
For Example: You’re climbing up a ladder which your employer knows to be defective, and you fall from a height, injuring your spine.
Road Traffic Accidents
All road users must ensure the safety of others by navigating the roads responsibly. They must follow the Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act 1988. If a road user fails to uphold this duty and causes you an injury, you may be able to make a road traffic accident claim.
For Example: A drunk driver collides with your car from behind, causing you a soft tissue injury in your back. You may have an eligible back injury claim against the driver.
Public Place Accidents
The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 holds the occupier of a public place to be responsible for the reasonable safety of all visitors. An occupier is an individual or organisation who is in control of that particular public place. You may have a valid public liability claim against them if they fail in this duty and you suffer an injury.
For Example: You’re exercising at a gym, and due to a fault in the equipment, you end up suffering from nerve damage. The occupier of the gym is responsible for maintaining the equipment, including ensuring that appropriate safety checks are carried out. This may form the basis of a public liability accident claim.
How To Start A Back Injury Compensation Claim
After using our back injury compensation calculator, here are some steps which could be taken to start your claim:
Evidence You’ll Need To Support Your Claim
Collecting evidence is the most crucial part of your back injury claim. It is with the help of evidence that you can pinpoint the severity of your injuries and the person responsible for them. Some examples of the proof you could use are:
- Photographs of your injuries or the site of the accident.
- Medical records
- CCTV footage
- Details entered in the accident book, if the injury occurred in a public place or at work.
- Details of witnesses so that they can be contacted later for witness statements.
No Win No Fee Injury Claims
You might be concerned about the costs involved in making a back injury compensation claim. However, you need not worry since the solicitors on our panel offer No Win No Fee agreements. They offer these services in the form of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
This means that you’ll have to pay your solicitor for the work on your claim only if you receive compensation. In these successful cases, your solicitor will deduct a percentage of your compensation as their fee, known as the success fee. There is a legal cap on this percentage to ensure fairness. You won’t have to pay your solicitor any fees if you lose your case.
How Long It Can Take To Get A Back Injury Compensation Payout
After using our back injury compensation calculator to determine the amount, you must be wondering about the time the entire claim would take. There is no definite answer to this since every personal claim is different from each other. However, certain factors could impact the time it takes to conclude your claim:
- Whether the other party accepts or denies liability for your injuries.
- The time it takes to gather evidence.
- The severity of your injuries and the recovery time.
- Whether your case has to go to court or not.
If our back injury compensation calculator was helpful,but you sustained more than one injury, you may wish to use our calculators for multiple injuries. You can also speak to a member of our team for guidance.
How Our Panel Of Solicitors Can Help You Get Compensation
Apart from a user-friendly back injury compensation calculator, we also have a panel of capable personal injury solicitors. They have years of experience in handling back injury claims and will handle the entire process for you on a No Win No Fee basis.
Reach out to our team to discuss whether you have good grounds to seek compensation for your back injury. If your claim is valid, you could be connected to one of the solicitors from our panel:
- Call us now at 0800 408 7826.
- Speak to us directly using the chat feature at the bottom of this page.
- Contact Us online through our form.
More Information
Thank you for reading our back injury compensation calculator guide. You can go through some other guides from our site:
- Our guide on slip and fall compensation calculator.
- Information on whiplash compensation.
- Details on making a crush injury claim.
You can also go through these external links for more information:
- Guidance from the NHS on back pain.
- Information from the NHS on when to visit the A&E.
- Details on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from the government.