If you are wondering about the wheelchair injury claims process, this article may help. We will go over the conditions that could make you eligible to claim personal injury compensation, who could be liable for your injuries, and the time limit that applies to personal injury claims.
If you sustained an injury due to a breach of duty of care, you might be able to start a personal injury claim. A claim could be made following a road traffic accident, an accident in a public place or one that occurred at work. If you were injured as a result of negligence, you could be due compensation for your suffering.
Read on to learn more information about wheelchair injury claims and wheelchair-related injuries. You can also get in touch with our advisers to discuss your specific circumstances. Contact us in the following ways:
- Call us at 0800 073 8801
- Contact us via the live chat feature below
- Fill in our online contact form with your query
Select A Section
- What Are Wheelchair Injury Claims?
- Injured In A Carehome Wheelchair
- Injured In A Hospital Wheelchair
- Injuries Caused By A Defective Wheelchair
- Settlements For Wheelchair Injury Claims
- Talk To Us About No Win No Fee Wheelchair Injury Claims
What Are Wheelchair Injury Claims?
Wheelchair users could be injured in a number of ways. Wheelchair injury claims could be made if an accident that results in injury happened because of a breach of duty of care. When a duty of care is breached in a way that causes injury, this is an example of negligence.
In order to bring a successful personal injury claim, you must be able to show three criteria apply to your circumstances:
- A party owed you a duty of care, some examples of which will be discussed later.
- That party breached this duty.
- As a result of their breach, you sustained harm in the form of an injury.
Read on to find out more about how you could claim compensation for a wheelchair injury that stemmed from negligence.
Disability Rights
The Equality Act 2010 states that certain individuals and organisations must take reasonable steps to remove barriers preventing someone with a disability from going the same places, performing the same tasks, or receiving the same services as someone who does not have a disability. Barriers can include:
- Certain practices
- Physical features of a space
- A lack of auxiliary aids, such as extra assistance
If a person or organisation does not make reasonable adjustments, this is an example of discrimination. Contact our advisers to find out more or to ask more about wheelchair accident claims.
Injured In A Carehome Wheelchair
If you are a wheelchair occupant and you are injured as a result of care home negligence, you may be able to claim compensation. You are owed a duty of care if you’re a service user or a resident in a care home.
If this duty is breached and you’re injured as a result, then this is an example of negligence. For instance, you might need a wheelchair to move from one room to another, and you’re given one by the care home. However, you’re given one that is known to be faulty because another one cannot be found. As a result, you fall from the chair and experience a shoulder injury.
To find out more, contact our advisers about your care home wheelchair injury. They can answer specific questions you may have about wheelchair injury claims.
Injured In A Hospital Wheelchair
As a patient in a hospital, you are also owed a duty of care. You are entitled to receive care of a minimum standard. Medical professionals should act in a way that ensures that their patients don’t experience unnecessary harm.
If you were caused unnecessary harm by the negligence of a medical professional, then you could be entitled to claim compensation. For example, if a doctor attempted to move you from a bed to a wheelchair and were too rough, causing you to fall out of the chair and injure yourself, you may be able to claim.
Contact our advisers to find out more about how wheelchair injury claims may be handled if they occur in a hospital.
Injuries Caused By A Defective Wheelchair
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 offers people who have been injured as the result of a defective product a way of claiming for the harm that they have experienced. Defects in a wheelchair that could result in an accident causing injury include:
- Defective braking mechanisms
- Mechanical failures
- Faulty batteries, which can go on to leak or explode
In order for you to claim, you need to show that the product was faulty when you received it. To learn more, contact our team of advisers. They can walk you through the process of making wheelchair injury claims.
Settlements For Wheelchair Injury Claims
The amount of personal injury compensation you’re awarded may differ depending on the circumstances surrounding the accident. It can consist of up to two heads of claim.
General damages, which is the first head of claim, relates to the pain and suffering caused by your injuries. Special damages, the second head of claim, may be awarded to reimburse you for financial losses related to your injury.
Rather than linking to a personal injury calculator, we’ve included a table containing compensation brackets for certain injuries. These figures come from the Judicial College Guidelines, which a personal injury solicitor will usually turn to when valuing a potential claim.
| Injury Type | Compensation Bracket | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Back Injuries (a) (i) | £91,090 to £160,980 | Very severe injury that involves nerve or spinal cord damage. Severe pain and disability. |
| Back Injuries (a) (ii) | £74,160 to £88,430 | Loss of sensation due to nerve root damage, impaired mobility, impaired bladder and bowel function. |
| Knee Injuries (a) (i) | £69,730 to £96,210 | Serious injury that disrupts the joint. Considerable pain, loss of function, and lengthy treatment. |
| Shoulder Injuries (a) | £19,200 to £48,030 | Associated with neck injuries and damage to the brachial plexus. Injury will cause significant disability. |
| Wrist Injuries (a) | £47,620 to £59,860 | Damage that leads to complete loss of function. |
| Fractures of Jaws (e) (i) | £30,490 to £45,540 | Serious multiple fractures that lead to permanent after-effects, including severe pain and difficulty eating. |
| Fractures of Jaws (e) (ii) | £17,960 to £30,490 | Serious fracture that creates permanent consequences, such as difficulty eating, opening mouth, or paraesthesia of the jaw. |
| Other Arm Injuries (d) | £6,610 to £19,200 | Fractures in one or both forearms that do not create lasting disability. |
| Fractures of Cheekbones (d) (i) | £10,200 to £15,780 | Fractures requiring surgery with lasting consequences, such as disfigurement. |
| Damage to Teeth (f) (i) | £8,730 to £11,410 | Serious damage or loss of several front teeth. |
Please remember that these figures are guidelines only. Your actual compensation could differ.
Special damages can be awarded in addition to general damages. This head of claim is a means to recoup the financial losses accrued because of your injury. For example, they can include:
- Loss of earnings, including future earnings
- Prescriptions and medical consultations
- Travel expenses resulting from getting to and from medical appointments
To find out more about how general and special damages could apply to wheelchair injury claims, talk to our advisers today.
Talk To Us About No Win No Fee Wheelchair Injury Claims
Accident Claims could be able to help if you’re thinking about hiring legal representation. If our advisers feel your claim is valid, they may put you in touch with our solicitors, who could offer you a kind of No Win No Fee agreement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
When using this agreement, you don’t have to pay for the services of a solicitor if your claim fails. Neither do you pay to start the claim or during the claim.
Instead, you only pay at the end of the process if your claim is successful. You would pay a small percentage of your compensation amount. This percentage is capped and cannot exceed a legal limit.
Find out more about wheelchair injury claims today. Our advisers call be contacted using the following details:
- Call us at 0800 073 8801
- Contact us via the live chat feature below
- Fill in our online contact form with your query
Related Wheelchair And Mobility Injury Claims
More guides you may find useful:
What Steps Should I Take When Injured At Work? – View Online Guide – What To Do?
How to claim compensation for an accident in a public place
Could You Claim Compensation For An Accident At Work When Not An Employee?
Other resources that could help:
Statutory Sick Pay – Government resource about getting statutory sick pay after an absence from work
Request CCTV Footage – Information about requesting CCTV footage of yourself
Walking Aids, Wheelchairs, and Mobility Scooters – Government guide about selecting mobility aids
We hope this wheelchair injury claims guide has useful to you. If you have any more questions, contact our advisers using the details below.
Guide by MF
Edited by FS