By Joanne Jeffries. Last Updated 12th November 2021. Welcome to this case study covering personal injury claims payouts for a prison worker.
If you have been involved in an accident, whether you suffer an injury due to lack of manual handling training, slips, trips and falls, another type of accident or you were the victim of an assault, there are a number of reasons why you should make a claim. This includes the following:
- Money for the recovery process – There is only one place to begin, and this is with the fact that you will receive a sum of money that is designed to help you through the recovery process if you successfully claim compensation.
- Cover out of pocket expenses – It is likely that you will experience other costs because of your injuries, from loss of earnings to travel expenses, yet you will not need to fund these yourself if you make a compensation claim, as you will be able to claim for these expenses as special damages.
- Peace of mind – Unfortunately, there are a lot of people that can torture themselves when they have been involved in an accident. The damage is not always physical. It can be easy to second guess yourself and wonder whether you could have done something differentially. A personal injury claim can help you to draw a line on the situation and move on.
Assault compensation
One man made a claim for these reasons after being the victim of a prison worker assault. In this case we came across when researching prison claims, the 54-year-old victim was attacked by a prisoner who had made threats towards him in the past. The prison service accepted liability because they had failed to act upon these threats. The man suffered severe psychological trauma, resulting in a payout of £109,007.
If you have been involved in an accident of this nature, our team of personal injury specialists can help you to get the personal injury compensation you deserve. It is also important to note that you can claim on behalf of someone else if you are a dependent of a prison officer killed on duty. Here at Accident Claims UK, we have many years of experience, and as you can see, it is so important to make a claim if you have been a victim. However, before you get in touch, read on to discover more about this case and the interesting statistics surrounding it.
Prison Guard, Worker And Prison Staff Assault Statistics
The Ministry of Justice has provided the most recent statistics regarding prison staff assaults. The assaults on prison staff statistics show that the situation in the UK is getting worse and worse. They have reached a record high of 7,437 assaults on prison staff in Wales and England. The total number of assaults in jails on a whole have also increased to a new high, with that figure amounting to 27,193.
What Physical And Psychological Injuries Were Suffered?
In this case, it was the psychological injuries that were the most significant to the claimant. Of course, the claimant suffered physical injuries too, as he was punched to the head, which caused physical pain and other symptoms that lasted for a month. However, the psychological impact was much more severe, and it is an important case in terms of showing that compensation is awarded for both mental and physical trauma, with neither being deemed more significant than the other. The symptoms the victim experienced included feeling worthless, a loss of confidence, flashbacks, sweating, and insomnia. He tried to return to work but he was medically retired because he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This illustrates how serious this can be.
How Was The Prison Officers Case Handled?
Rather than making a claim through the Criminal Injuries process, this claim was brought against the Ministry of Justice, which was the man’s employer at the time. This resulted in a higher payout. When making the claim, the solicitors showcased how the attack had impacted the victim’s life by a huge degree. He was no longer able to work and the psychological trauma impacted the way he felt about himself and his quality of life on the whole.
How Was The Settlement Figure Agreed?
Before we take a look at the settlement that was awarded, it is important to acknowledge that compensation is split into two parts: general damages and special damages.
First and foremost, you have general damages. This is the compensation you will receive for the injury itself – both the physical and psychological injuries. This is calculated based on the severity of the injury and the impact it is having on your life now and in the future. Therefore, those with more serious injuries will receive a greater amount of compensation.
There is another part of compensation and this is special damages. This is designed to compensate you for any out of pocket expenses you have incurred because of the incident. Here are some popular examples…
- Cost of medical treatment
- Counselling expenses
- Travel costs
- Loss of income
- Repair costs
- Childcare expenses
If you have encountered any expenses because of the injury, you should keep the receipt or any other proof you have, as you will need this when it comes to making your claim.
In this case, the victim was awarded £109,007 in personal injury compensation. This was broken down into different settlement fees. For the PTSD, he was given £17,000. For future loss of earnings, he was awarded £29,895.99. For past loss of earnings, he was awarded £30,217.08. He was also awarded for pension loss, and this amounted to £31,893.58.
No Win No Fee Prison Worker Assault Claims
Here at Accident Claims UK, our service is entirely No Win, No Fee. All of our connected solicitors work on this basis. This means that you don’t have to pay any legal fees if we do not manage to secure compensation for you. This lowers the risk that is associated with making a claim by a considerable degree. This also leads to many knock-on benefits.
Firstly, you can be sure of a much better service when you choose us, and this is because our solicitors are impacted by the outcome of your case. This also assures you that we will not waste your time. If you went for a solicitor that charged by the hour instead of No Win, No Fee solicitors, there is always the chance that he or she would simply take on your case to take your money, irrespective of how likely you are to get compensation. However, we have nothing to gain by this, and so you can be confident that we will tell you if we do not think your case is likely to result in compensation.
Contact Us Today About Personal Injury Claims Payouts for a Prison Worker
If you are planning on making a personal injury compensation claim, there is one thing you need, and this is a quality personal injury solicitor. If you take a look on the Internet, you will see that there are so many different solicitors claiming to offer the best service. However, you need to tell the best accident lawyers apart from the rest.
We make this easy for you at Accident Claims UK because we provide lawyers covering the whole of the UK. We have built up a reputation as one of the top firms of our kind in the country, which should give you great confidence when using our service.
One of the reasons why so many people turn to Accident Claims UK is because we have an abundance of experience. We are likely to have handled hundreds of cases similar to yours before.
We recognise that this is, no doubt, an extremely worrying and stressful period in your life. You want to focus on your recovery, which is what we will allow you to do. Our service is all about making a claim with as little fuss and stress as possible. All you need to do is give us a call on 0800 073 8801 and one of our experienced and friendly advisers will answer any questions you may have.
They will talk you through the claim process and give you a realistic picture of the strength of your case and how much compensation you could secure. We will then match you to the best personal injury lawyer from our panel based on the specifics of your case. They will work to secure your compensation over the phone and out of court if possible.
Could I receive personal injury claims payouts for a prison worker who was fatally injured at work?
If a family member or loved one has been killed in a fatal accident in the workplace, you may not realise that you may be able to make a claim for compensation. While no compensation settlement in the UK could truly compensate for the loss of someone in a fatal workplace accident, it could help financially, especially if there are expenses associated with your loved one’s death. A compensation award could include funeral expenses, for example, and it could also bring you some compensation for your bereavement. If you were financially dependent on the person who died in the fatal workplace accident, there could be some compensation for this also. Our specialist solicitors, who are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority could help you maximise the amount of compensation you could receive for your loved one’s death. We promise to handle your claim sensitively and with the respect it deserves. Please do not hesitate to contact us for free legal advice from a friendly solicitor who could take on your case on a no win no fee basis.
How commonly do fatal workplace accidents lead to personal injury claims payouts for a prison worker?
While we cannot give you the statistics relating to the number of claims made by prison workers’ families and loved ones, we can offer you some statistics relating to fatal workplace accidents. The Health and Safety Executive has published 2020-2021 fatal accident figures. You can see which industries were affected by viewing the chart below. You may also be surprised to see how many people died in just one year in the workplace.
How can I maximise personal injury claims payouts for a prison worker?
If you are looking to maximise the amount of compensation you receive for your injuries, you may want to take a look at the evidence you are able to submit as part of your claim. When you make a compensation claim, you could claim for general damages, for the suffering and pain you’ve experienced, and special damages that relate to the financial expenses caused by your injuries. When you are claiming for general damages, a medical report from an independent medical specialist could help to strengthen your claim and allow courts and lawyers to come to an appropriate compensation payout for your suffering and your pain. When it comes to claiming special damages, all of the documentary evidence pertaining to any costs and losses you sustained could be relevant. Therefore, we would advise you to keep any bank statements, credit card bills, receipts and pay slips in a safe place so you can maximise your compensation payout accordingly. If you would like to know what other evidence could assist with your claim, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to talk you through the claims process, and give you advice on what damages you can claim for as well as the time limits associated with claiming.
Useful Links Relating To Personal Injury Claims Payouts for a Prison Worker
We hope that you have found this guide useful while looking for more information on claiming for prison worker assaults UK. However, if you do need more assistance, the links below may interest you. The first two links take you to comprehensive guides we have put together on our website. The first is about launching an assault at work claim, and the second is about how much compensation you may receive if you may an assault claim. The third takes you to a BBC article regarding the assaults on prison staff being a record high in England and Wales.
- Assault Claims – Guidelines on what constitutes and assault, why you might have cause to claim and more.
- What amount of compensation is attracted by assault claims? – Typical brackets for different kind of injury and their payout amounts.
- Report on prison assaults – We mentioned before that there have been more assaults in the last few years, and this report shows more about this here.
We hope this case study relating to personal injury claims payouts for a prison worker has been helpful to you. Whether your employer breached their duty of care while you were working in prisons as a cleaner, or you were working in HM prison service as an officer, we could help you make a claim.