What Happens If You Don’t Report An Accident At Work?
By Danielle Fletcher. Last Updated 17th October 2025. Suffering an accident at work can have a lasting physical and mental impact far beyond the initial effects. As such, you may be giving some thought to claiming compensation, but what happens if you don’t report an accident at work? If you’re unsure about whether this might affect your eligibility to claim, please read on to see our answers to some frequently asked questions about the process.
Our advisors are also available to answer any questions you might have, and can also connect you with one of the talented No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel. As an expert in the accidents at work claims process, your solicitor will use their decades of combined experience to actively support you by gathering strong evidence, aiding your recovery, and negotiating a settlement that best reflects your pain and suffering.
What You Need To Know About Accident At Work Claims
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- What happens if I have an accident at work? You will want to seek immediate medical attention and make sure that you gather evidence of what happened.
- Who is responsible for recording an accident at work? Generally, it’s the responsibility of employers with 10 or more workers to record incidents in an accident book.
- Can I be disciplined for having an accident at work? No, you cannot be dismissed, demoted or treated differently for having a workplace accident that wasn’t your fault.
- How long after an accident at work can you claim? You will typically have 3 years from the date of the accident to start the process of making a workplace injury claim.
- What are the most common accidents at work in the UK? The most common types of accidents are slips and falls, being hit by falling objects and manual handling accidents.
We are here to help you
Here at UKlaw our expert advisors are on hand 24 hours a day 7 days a week to assess your compensation claim. Should you require free legal advice we can connect you to a specialist solicitor.
Services And Information
- Can You Make A Claim If You Didn’t Report An Accident At Work?
- What Accidents, Incidents And Injuries At Work Can You Report?
- Why Is Reporting Workplace Accidents Important?
- Calculating Compensation For Workplace Accidents
- Do You Handle Claims For A Workplace Accident On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Other Information
Can You Make A Claim If You Didn’t Report An Accident At Work?
You might be wondering, “I had an accident at work but didn’t report it, can I still claim personal injury compensation?”
The accident logbook is a legal requirement for all workplaces that have 10 or more members of staff. However, if it wasn’t filled out at the time of your accident, you may still be able to claim compensation if you meet the eligibility criteria.
As part of their legal obligations, your employer must ensure that they take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees while working. This is the duty of care as set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). Should they breach this duty and you suffer an injury as a result, you could potentially claim accident at work compensation, even if the accident was not reported at the time.
We’re available 24/7 on the details at the top of the page to discuss the eligibility requirements to make an accident at work claim.
What Accidents, Incidents And Injuries At Work Can You Report?
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s workplace health and safety regulator. Certain incidents must be reported to them under The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR). According to the HSE, reportable incidents are:
- Fatal accidents leading to employees losing their lives while working.
- Specified injuries, including bone fractures, amputations or serious burn injuries.
- Incidents that leave an employee incapacitated for more than seven consecutive days. This can mean the person can’t work at all, or can’t carry out their normal duties.
- Gas incidents, particularly where someone has been harmed or lost consciousness.
- Accidents involving non-workers who are on the premises.
- Dangerous occurrences considered ‘near misses’.
When it comes to you as an employee, you can report any incident or health and safety concern that you feel your employer should know about. It’s their responsibility to tell the HSE about reportable incidents.
So what happens if you don’t report an accident at work? There are consequences to not reporting under RIDDOR, including a fine for your employer. Failing to report an accident could take away a key piece of evidence for your accident at work claim. With that in mind, make sure that the person responsible for filling in the accident at work book does so, and that you check the entry yourself.
Call today if you have any questions about alerting your employer to an incident. We can answer all questions, from “What happens if you don’t report an accident within 24 hours?” to “How does the accident report help with my claim?”
Why Is Reporting Workplace Accidents Important?
What happens if you don’t report an injury at work to your employer? By not reporting an injury at work yourself and having no record of it happening could make pursuing a personal injury claim difficult.
However, having other evidence to support the claim can make the process much easier. Sufficient evidence could include:
- Medical notes from your GP or hospital from when you suffered your injury at work
- Images of your injuries
- CCTV footage of the accident
- Witness statements, with their contact details
If you’re wondering, ‘What happens if you don’t report an injury at work?’, we can help. Contact our team of friendly advisers toda,y who can connect you with our panel of personal injury lawyers. They can investigate your evidence to see if you may be able to make a personal injury claim.
Are There Consequences Of Not Reporting To RIDDOR?
Your employer has a legal responsibility to comply with health and safety laws and so could face consequences for not reporting RIDDOR-required incidents to the HSE.
The reporting of a serious incident or injury at work to the HSE will be your employer’s responsibility, but you can still report any breaches or violations of RIDDOR. If you are aware that your employer has not been properly recording or reporting serious incidents, you could contact the HSE directly to report a health and safety issue or violation.
Please reach out to a member of our team for any more questions you may have about your employer’s health and safety responsibilities or accident at work claims.
Calculating Compensation For Workplace Accidents
If you are eligible to make a claim for your workplace accident, you may want to know how much compensation you are entitled to. Compensation payouts may consist of two parts: general and special damages.
If your compensation claim is successful, you will be awarded a figure for your physical pain and psychological injuries under general damages. To help assign a sum to general damages, those responsible for valuing claims may refer to the compensation brackets found in a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG provides compensation guidelines for various types of injuries.
In our table below, we look at several of these brackets. We also look at how compensation could be awarded for more than one severe injury and any related expenses through a combination figure that has not been taken from the JCG. As every work compensation claim is different, all of the brackets are only intended to be used as a guide.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Very Severe Injuries Plus Special Damages (e.g. Lost Earnings, Travel Costs, and Medical Bills) | Very Severe | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain Injury | Very Severe | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Leg Injuries | Loss of Both Legs | £293,850 to £344,150 |
| Leg Injuries | Very Serious | £66,920 to £109,290 |
| Hand Injuries | Total or Effective Loss of Both Hands | £171,680 to £245,900 |
| Hand Injuries | Serious Damage to Both Hands | £68,070 to £103,200 |
| Arm Injuries | Severe Injuries | £117,360 to £159,770 |
| Arm Injuries | Less Severe Injury | £23,430 to £47,810 |
| Back Injuries | Severe (ii) | £90,510 to £107,910 |
| Shoulder Injuries | Severe | £23,430 to £58,610 |
Some settlements for accidents at work claims may include special damages to compensate for out-of-pocket expenses caused by the injuries. Examples of costs that could be recovered as part of a compensation claim include:
- Nursing and care costs.
- Medical expenses, such as prescriptions.
- Loss of earnings.
- Travel expenses.
However, you must be able to prove your financial losses. You could save items such as bank statements, receipts, invoices and wage slips.
If you would like to discuss what happens if you don’t report an accident at work and what compensation you could be entitled to, please contact a member of our team.
We are here to help you
Here at UKlaw our expert advisors are on hand 24 hours a day 7 days a week to assess your compensation claim. Should you require free legal advice we can connect you to a specialist solicitor.
Do You Handle Claims For A Workplace Accident On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Our panel of personal injury solicitors are happy to handle workplace accident claims on a No Win No Fee basis through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This agreement is popular with claimants as it means you have no solicitor fees to pay upfront, during the claims process, or if a case is lost.
If your case succeeds, your lawyer will take a small, legally capped percentage of your compensation. This percentage will be discussed beforehand, so you will know exactly what to expect before claiming.
Would you like to make a personal injury claim with a solicitor? Get in touch with our advisers today, and they can have a chat with you about your workplace injury. Then, they can direct you to our panel of lawyers who can discuss No Win No Fee agreements with you.
If you’re wondering ‘what happens if you don’t report an injury at work?’ our panel of lawyers can discuss this with you and explore your situation. They can then look at the best way to go forward in making a personal injury claim with you.
We recommend you get in touch with our advisers for free legal advice by:
- Calling us on 020 3870 4868.
- Writing to us and beginning your claims process online.
- Chat to an adviser through our live chat pop-up box to get an instant reply.
Other Information
In this section of our guide to workplace accident claims, we’ve included some extra guides you may find useful.
- Read our guide to cycle accident claims
- Find out how to claim if injured at work in the UK.
- NHS information on broken bones.
- An NHS overview of broken ankles.
Thank you for reading our guide exploring what happens if you don’t report an injury at work. Hopefully, now, we’ve answered questions such as ‘I had an accident at work but didn’t report it, could I claim?’
