Broken Chair Accident Claims

By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 7th November 2023. Welcome to our broken chair accident claims guide. Below, we explain what falling off chair injuries someone could suffer from a chair breaking, and why broken office chairs could lead to a personal injury claim. We also explain how a broken chair accident could lead to a claim, and how we could help with personal injury claims of this type.

Broken chair accidents can cause many injuries. Accidents involving a broken chair can happen in many different ways too. Perhaps you’ve been injured falling off a chair that was damaged, or been cut by pieces of a broken chair when it collapsed. You could be eligible to make faulty chair claims if someone else’s negligence caused your injury from a fall from a chair.

This guide explains what you may need to know when claiming broken chair injury settlements. We offer guidance on office chair accidents, whether it’s a broken computer chair or another collapsed chair.

We have over 30 years of experience in managing compensation claims – including broken chair accident claims. We can help you with your broken chair lawsuit so keep reading.

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Broken chair accident claims guide

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When Could You Claim For A Broken Chair Accident?

To be able to make a personal injury claim for a broken chair accident, you will need to prove that your injuries were directly caused by another party breaching the duty of care they owed you.

There are various instances where you are owed a duty of care. For example, your employer owes a duty of care towards you under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). Per this duty, they must take reasonably practical steps to protect you from coming to harm due to your work or workplace. For example, if you work in an office, they should perform regular risk assessments and regularly maintain any office equipment you use. If your employer were to knowingly provide you with a broken office chair, and this causes you injuries, you may be able to make a personal injury claim.

Additionally, you are owed a duty of care while in public places, such as restaurants and cafes. While in a public place, you are owed a duty of care by the party in control of that space under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. Under this legislation, they must take all necessary actions to ensure your reasonable safety when using that space. Should you suffer an injury due to falling off a chair that was faulty, you may be able to make a personal injury claim.

If you’re unsure as to whether you could qualify to make a personal injury claim for a broken chair injury, please contact an advisor. They could check this for you.

How Long Do I Have To Claim For A Broken Chair Accident?

If you want to make a claim for injuries sustained in a broken chair accident and you’re eligible to do so, we should point out that a time limit applies. Broken chair accident claims, just like most other personal injury claims, are subject to a limitation period. This is outlined under the Limitation Act 1980.

Generally, the time limit to start a claim is three years from the date of the accident, or the date you became aware of negligence.

However, there are some exceptions to this. For example, if a child was injured by a broken chair at school, they could not make their own claim until they turned 18. If this happened to your child, you could apply to be a litigation friend. If successful, you could make a broken chair accident claim on their behalf. You could have up until they turn 18 to do so. Alternatively, if no claim was made for them before they turned 18, they could make their own claim once they reach adulthood. They would usually have 3 years from the date they turned 18 to launch their claim. 

If you would like to talk to us about the time limits applicable to broken chair accident claims, please call us. We’d be happy to discuss how long you could have before your claim reaches the personal injury claims time limit.

Examples Of Broken Chair Claims

Although there are many different types of incident involving broken computer chairs there are a few injuries that crop up time and time again.

  • A head injury caused by hitting your head when you fall. These can be severe as you typically aren’t expecting the fall and take no measures to protect yourself. There may also be
  • Broken limbs can also be severe, again as the fall is unexpected. You may not be aware that you have broken a bone until you are examined by a doctor.
  • Cuts and lacerations caused by sharp edges, either exposed as the chair failed or present because the chair was already damaged.
  • Bruises are perhaps the most common result of a fall from a chair as well as soft tissue injuries.
  • Back damage can be caused by falling awkwardly onto your spine or, over a longer period of time, it can be caused by poorly adjusted or faulty chairs forcing you into poor posture.

If you suffer any type of injury due to a broken office chair, why not contact us to see if you could claim. We could help you fight for the maximum compensation for your case.

How Much Compensation Could I Receive For A Broken Chair Accident?

If you’ve been injured falling off a chair, your injuries could vary. You could have a broken bone, concussion, or even ligament damage, for example. Broken office chairs could cause many different injuries, and you could suffer mentally after such an accident too. 

This is one reason why calculating compensation for injuries caused by a broken or collapsed chair requires taking several factors into consideration.

All of the facts and circumstances of your fall from a chair would need to be assessed. These include:

  • How severe the injuries from the collapsed chair were, and what pain you went through
  • Whether they affected you mentally
  • How they affected your quality of life
  • Whether further treatment would be needed 
  • The financial impacts of the injury

Calculating compensation for a chair breaking and injuring you

The amount of compensation you could receive for your injuries after falling off a chair would depend on the circumstances and factors of your case.

Generally, if you are successful in making a broken chair accident claim, your payout could include general damages and special damages.

General damages is the head of loss that compensates you for the pain and suffering you have endured due to your injuries. When calculating general damages payouts, the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)may be used for guidance. This publication provides guideline payout brackets for various injuries at different severities.

You can see some figures from the 2022 edition of the JCG below. However, these are only guidance.

Nature of injuryCompensation Range
Head or brain injury (a) Very Severe£282,010 to £403,990The most severe brain injuries that leave the person unable to have any meaningful response to their environment.
Severe Back Injury (a) (i)£91,090 to £160,980This is the category that includes life changing damage to the spinal nerves and tissues. There may be chronic illness associated with the initial injury and knock-on effects such as depression, alcoholism, personality change, impaired sexual function, arthritis, chronic pain and loss of mobility. Examples could include disc fractures, disc lesions, and spinal cord damage.
Moderate Back Injury (b) (i)£27,760 to £38,780This category includes cases that lead to some form of disability but not as severe as the first category. There will probably be significant soft tissue damage, ligament strains and chronic backache. This bracket would be still impact on day to day life but to a lesser extend than the higher one.
Neck Injury (a) (i)In the region of
£148,330
Injuries causing paraplegia (incomplete) or spastic quadriparesis.
Severe leg injuries (b) (i)£96,250 to £135,920 The most serious injuries that are not involving amputations. For example, a devolving injury of the entire leg, or shortening of the leg.
Severe arm injuries (a)£96,160 to £130,930The most serious of injuries that stop just short of amputation. The injured party would have no use of the arm.
Severe Pelvic/Hip Injuries (a) (i)£78,400 to £130,930Extensive fractures of the pelvis that could cause incontinence, for example.
Severe Shoulder Injury (a)£19,200 to £48,030Could involve damage to the brachial plexus, for example.
Severe fractures to fingersUp to £36,740Resulting in deformity and loss of grip, for example.

Special damages is the head of loss that compensates you for costs and financial losses incurred due to your injuries. These could include:

  • Care costs – if you’ve needed care at home due to your injuries and there has been a cost for this.
  • Medical expenses – this could include prescription costs, for example.
  • Travel costs – if you’ve incurred costs getting to hospital appointments for your injury, for example.
  • Loss of earnings – if you’ve had time off work because of your injuries, you may have lost out on income.

You must provide evidence that your injuries caused these costs and losses. For example, you could present a copy of your bank statements and any relevant invoices.

If you have suffered injuries due to a broken office chair, and would like to receive a free valuation of your case, you can contact our advisors.

What Evidence Do I Need To Claim For Injuries Caused By A Broken Chair?

If you feel you would like to start making a claim for compensation – regardless of the type of broken chair accident claims that you intend to pursue – then your first port of call should be to talk to a member of our team.

We offer a free consultation where we can answer any questions you may have about the process, and can provide tips on making a claim if you were injured by a broken chair. We aim to remove all obstacles from your path by offering our services on a NO WIN NO FEE basis. That means you don’t pay us anything. Whether you have had an office chair accident at work or chair tipping injuries have been sustained in a restaurant or sports stadium, we can help.

If you’re still not sure if you have a claim following an injury from broken chairs, why not browse through our list of common types of claim below?

Can I Claim For Injuries Caused By A Broken Chair With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?

One of our solicitors could help you make a claim for injuries caused by a broken office chair. They could offer their services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a kind of No Win No Fee arrangement that lets you instruct a solicitor without requiring any upfront or ongoing fees for their services. Similarly, if your claim fails, then your solicitor won’t ask for a fee for their work.

They will take a fee for their services if your claim succeeds. In this case, your solicitor will deduct a success fee straight from your compensation. This fee is taken as a small percentage, and there’s a legal cap in place to help ensure that the majority of your award goes to you.

Working with a solicitor can come with many benefits, as they can help you collect evidence, and evaluate your claim. Our team of advisors are here to help if you’re wondering how one of our solicitors could help you; through a free consultation, they can assess the validity of your claim and potentially pass your case on to a solicitor.

To learn more about claiming for injuries caused by broken chairs, or to get started on your claim, contact us today:

More Helpful Guides

Thank you for reading our broken chair accident claims guide. Hopefully, now you know more about how broken chairs could cause accidents. Plus, how they could lead to broken chair injury settlements. If you would like to make a claim for falling off a chair that was damaged, please call. Or, if you want to make other faulty chair claims, we would be happy to help.