Compensation For Hearing Loss Guide

By Jo Anderson. Updated 29th January 2024. Welcome to our guide to compensation for hearing loss. Below, you’ll learn more about industrial deafness compensation amounts. We look at questions surrounding hearing loss claims average payout amounts, and reveal the latest hearing loss compensation tables for the UK. If you’re looking at claiming for deafness or hearing loss compensation, this guide could prove useful. We provide an alternative to a hearing loss compensation calculator, and explain how we could help with claims for loss of hearing compensation. Plus, we explain how much from hearing loss claims would go to your lawyer for their legal fees when you make No Win No Fee claims for loss of hearing.

However, sometimes deafness can be the result of someone else’s negligence or mistake. In such circumstances, the victim may be entitled to make a personal injury claim for compensation for hearing loss.

Select A Section

• What Is Deafness And When Could I Claim Compensation For Hearing Loss?
• Time Limits To Claim For Deafness
• What Evidence Could Support My Claim?
• Compensation For Hearing Loss
• No Win No Fee Hearing Loss And Deafness Compensation Claims
• More Information On Hearing Loss

What Is Deafness And When Could I Claim Compensation For Hearing Loss?

In order to claim compensation for hearing loss, you will need to prove that you meet the personal injury claims eligibility criteria. This is:

1. Someone owed you a duty of care.
2. This person breached their duty of care.
3. Due to this breach, you suffered an injury.

There are various instances where you are owed a duty of care.

Road Traffic Accidents

While you are on the road, you are owed a duty of care by other road users. All road users have a duty of care to use the roads in a safe and responsible manner that avoids causing harm to themselves and others. They must adhere to the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code as part of their duty of care.

If another driver were to fail to stop at a red light, this could cause them to crash into the back of your vehicle. The sound of the airbag deploying or the impact of the airbag hitting you could cause damage to your hearing. In this case, you may be able to make a personal injury claim.

Accidents At Work

While at work, you are owed a duty of care by your employer under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Per their duty of care, they must take reasonable steps to ensure your health and safety while in the workplace.

If your employer were to fail to maintain a piece of machinery at your warehouse job regularly, this could cause the machine to malfunction and, in some cases, explode. In this case, the sound of the machine exploding could cause damage to your ear canals and you may be able to claim compensation for your hearing loss.

Accidents In Public Places

Those in control of a public space owe you a duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. Per their duty of care, they must take necessary precautions to ensure your reasonable safety while you are using that space for its intended purpose.

If a retail shop fails to properly hang a display sign, this could result in the sign falling and hitting you on the head. Depending on the force of the head blow, this could cause you to suffer some hearing loss, and you may able to make a personal injury claim.

To learn more about the other situations where you are owed a duty of care and to see whether you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim for hearing loss, you can contact our advisors.

Time Limits To Claim For Deafness

If you are eligible to make a personal injury claim for your hearing loss, you will need to ensure that you adhere to the relevant time limits. Under the Limitation Act 1980, you will generally have three years to start your claim from the date the accident occurred.

Certain exceptions apply to this time limit, however. These apply to:

• Those injured under the age of 18 will have the time limit paused until their 18th birthday. They will then have three years to start the claiming process from this date.
• Those lacking the mental capacity to make their own claim will have the time limit paused indefinitely. It will only be reinstated if they regain this mental capacity, in which case, they will have three years to start a claim from the date of recovery.

In both instances where the time limit is paused, a litigation friend could make a claim on the injured person’s behalf. This is an adult who will act in the claimant’s best interest, such as a parent or solicitor, for example.

To see whether you are within the time limit to claim compensation for hearing loss, you can contact a member of our advisory team today.

What Evidence Could Support My Claim?

When making a claim for compensation for hearing loss, you will need to provide sufficient evidence that supports your case. This could include:

• Video footage of the accident that caused your injury. For example, if you were injured in a road traffic accident, this could have been captured on a dashcam or CCTV.
• Medical records detailing your injury, the severity of your hearing loss and any treatment you have received for it.
• Photographs of the accident scene.
• The contact information of anyone who witnessed your accident so that they can provide a statement at a later date.

If you decide to work with a solicitor on your case, they could help you with gathering this evidence to support your claim.

To see if you could be eligible to work with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, you can contact a member of our advisory team. They are also available to offer you free advice on your case and answer any questions you may have about the personal injury claims process.

Compensation For Hearing Loss

If you receive compensation for hearing loss following a successful personal injury claim, your settlement could consist of general and special damages.

General damages is awarded to all successful claimants and compensates you for the pain and suffering your injury has caused you.

Those responsible for valuing this head of your claim could refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for guidance. This is a document that provides a list of compensation guidelines for a variety of injuries at different severity levels.

In our table below, we have used some of these compensation guidelines, except for the first entry. Please note that this table should only be used as a guide. How much compensation you could receive will be affected by the factors of your claim.

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Reason For Compensation	Average Amount Paid	Comments
Combination of severe injuries along with financial costs and losses.	Up to £500,000+	Combinations of severe injuries causing pain, suffering and financial expense, such as care costs or loss of income.
Total Deafness	£90,750 to £109,650	The lower amount will be for those who have suffered total deafness but have had no tinnitus or speech impediment, the higher end for those that have suffered all of the above.
Total Deafness In One Ear	£31,310 to £45,540	The higher end of the compensation would be for those who are also suffereing other associated side effects such as headaches, dizziness and tinnitus.
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (i)	£29,710 to £45,540	Severe NIHL and tinnitus.
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (ii)	£14,900 to £29,710	Moderate NIHL and tinnitus together, or moderate to severe NIHL or tinnitus alone.
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (iii)	£12,590 to £14,900	Mild tinnitus with some NIHL.
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (v)	£7,360 to £12,590	Occasional or slight tinnitus with some NIHL.
Partial Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus (vi)	Up to £7,010	Slight NIHL or tinnitus without the other.

Special damages is the second head of claim that you could be awarded. It compensates you for the financial losses you have experienced due to your injury. Some examples may include:

• A loss of earnings if you have required to take time off work due to your injury.
• Medical expenses, such as prescription costs.
• Travel costs, such as taxi fares to and from medical appointments.

You will need to provide evidence of these losses in order to claim for them under special damages. Evidence could include payslips and bank statements, for example.

For a free valuation of your personal injury claim, you can contact a member of our advisory team.

No Win No Fee Hearing Loss And Deafness Compensation Claims

If you would like help claiming compensation for hearing loss, one of our No Win No Fee solicitors may be able to assist you, provided you have a valid case. They could help you with gathering evidence and could negotiate for compensation on your behalf.

They may offer to work on your case under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement. Typically, under a CFA, you would not have to pay for the solicitor’s work on your case upfront or throughout the claims process. You also won’t be expected to pay for their services if your claim ends unsuccessfully.

If you are successfully awarded compensation, your solicitor will deduct a small percentage from it. This is referred to as a success fee. The percentage that this success fee can be is subject to a legal cap.

To check whether you could claim with the help of one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, please don’t hesitate to call an advisor. To connect with one of them today, you can:

• Call 0800 073 8801
• Use the live chat.
• Contact us via our website, and we will call you back.

More Information On Hearing Loss

Advice On Accident At Work Claims

This is another of our guides regarding making an accident at work claim.

Advice On Loss Of Earnings

Another of our guides which explains in detail how you can make a claim for loss of earnings due to your injury.

Learn about using alternatives to a wrist injury compensation calculator to help you with your claim.

Thank you for reading our guide to compensation for hearing loss.