The Process Of Making Personal Injury Claims For Back Pain

This guide is a guide on personal injury claims for back pain. Information will be provided on how to know if you’re eligible to make a claim following a personal injury, what evidence you may need to collect to support your case, and the compensation you could be awarded following a claim that succeeds. 

personal injury claims for back pain

A guide on personal injury claims for back pain

Additionally, we will explore the duty of care you’re owed by certain third parties, such as an employer, occupier and road user. We will also look at how you could sustain an injury that causes back pain if a third party breached the duty of care they owed you.

Furthermore, we will also discuss how our panel of No Win No Fee solicitors can assist you with your case.  

If you would like to get in touch with our team directly to enquire about your potential claim, please use the details listed below: 

Select A Section

  1. The Process Of Making Personal Injury Claims For Back Pain
  2. What Accidents Could Lead To Back Pain?
  3. Proving Personal Injury Claims For Back Pain
  4. Examples Of Back Pain Payouts
  5. Why Make A Claim With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
  6. Find Out More About Personal Injury Claims For Back Pain

The Process Of Making Personal Injury Claims For Back Pain

In order to begin a personal injury claim, you must show that you were injured by third-party negligence. There are 3 steps to establishing negligence: 

  • Proving a third party owed you a duty of care.
  • Demonstrating that there was a breach in this duty of care.
  • Showing that this breach of duty caused your injury.

Detailed below is a breakdown of the duty of care owed to you by different third parties. 

Accidents at work 

Your employer owes you a duty of care within the workplace and must take all reasonable steps to prevent you from becoming harmed. This is set out in The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA).

The responsibilities your employer has as part of their duty of care are outlined in Section 2 of HASAWA. As such, examples of how your employer may carry out this duty of care include: 

  • Perform regular risk assessments and act on any findings
  • Provide adequate training 
  • Keep on top of workplace maintenance, including ensuring any equipment is safe and fit for purpose
  • Provide necessary personal protective equipment

Although they cannot eliminate all hazards that pose a risk of injury, a failure to take reasonable steps to do so is a breach of their duty of care. If this causes you an injury resulting in back pain, you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim for an accident at work. 

Road Accidents

As per the Road Traffic Act 1988, road users have a duty of care to prevent themselves and others from experiencing harm by navigating the roads in responsible way. Additionally, the Highway Code provides guidance on the responsibilities different road users have, including drivers, riders, pedestrians and cyclists. There are also rules contained within this document that are backed elsewhere in law.

According to Rule 204 of the Highway Code, road users who have the potential to cause the greatest harm have a greater responsibility. This introduced a hierarchy for road users.

If you experience harm due to a road user breaching their duty of care, you could be eligible to begin a road traffic accident claim.

Accidents In A Public Place

The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 outlines the duty of care those in control of a public space owe to members of the public visiting the space for its intended purpose. This means they must take steps to ensure the reasonable safety of visitors. 

If they fail to do so, they have breached their duty of care. You could make a personal injury claim if this resulted in an accident in a public place in which you sustained harm. 

To find out more about duty of care in relation to personal injury claims for back pain, get in touch using the number above.

What Accidents Could Lead To Back Pain?

Examples of how employer negligence could cause a back injury at work include: 

  • You may have been asked to carry a heavy load without proper training or equipment to assist you. As a result, you experience a soft tissue injury to your back in a manual handling accident.
  • If workplace machinery has not been properly checked, you may be involved in a forklift accident resulting in a broken back. 

Examples of how road user negligence could cause a back injury from a road traffic accident include: 

  • A driver may use their phone while operating their vehicle resulting in them crashing into the back of you when stopped at a set of traffic lights. This causes you whiplash and exacerbates a pre-existing back injury. 
  • A lorry driver may fail to check their mirrors when overtaking causing them to knock you off your bike. This results in you becoming injured in a bicycle accident in which you sustain a severe back injury that causes permanent pain.

Public place accidents that could be caused by negligence include:

To discuss your specific accident and learn whether you could be eligible to seek personal injury compensation, get in touch on the number above.

Proving Personal Injury Claims For Back Pain

Evidence can help you prove negligence occurred. For example, you could collect:

  • CCTV or dash cam footage of your accident. 
  • Contact details of possible witnesses. 
  • A diary detailing how your injuries have affected you mentally and physically.
  • Copies of medical reports relating to your injuries.

One of our solicitors can help you to gather evidence to support your personal injury claim. Contact us on the number above to find out whether you qualify to have them begin working on your case.

Examples Of Back Pain Payouts

If your claim is successful, your settlement will include compensation for the emotional pain and physical suffering caused by your injuries. This is awarded under general damages. 

In the table below, there are guideline brackets provided by the Judicial College. These may be used by your solicitor to help when valuing your injuries. Please only use the table as a guide because your overall settlement will differ to the amounts listed. 

Guideline Award Table

Edit
Injury Severity Compensation Guidelines Details
Back Severe (i) £91,090 to £160,980 Damage to the spinal cord and nerve root leading to severe pain and disability
Back Severe (ii) £74,160 to £88,430 Cases in this bracket have special features such as nerve root damage alongside loss of sensation and impaired function of the bladder and bowel.
Back Severe (iii) £38,780 to £69,730 Disabilities such as ongoing severe pain and discomfort from disc lesions and fractures.
Back Moderate (i) £27,760 to £38,780 Compression or crush fractures of the lumbar vertebrae that cause a future substantial risk of osteoarthritis alongside pain and discomfort which is constant.
Back Moderate (ii) £12,510 to £27,760 Injury of ligaments or muscles causing ongoing backache, or exacerbating previous conditions.
Back Minor (i) £7,890 to £12,510 Soft tissue injuries that fully recover without surgery within 2-5 years.
Back Minor (ii) £4,350 to £7,890 Similar injuries to the bracket above but a full recovery without surgery is possible within 1 to 2 years.
Back Minor (iii) £2,450 to £4,350 Injuries are similar to the above bracket but a full recovery is possible within 3 months to a year without any surgery.
Back Minor (vi) Up to £2,450 Full recovery is made within 3 months.

Examples Of Special Damages

Special damages can be awarded to you to cover financial losses, both past and future, that you have incurred as a result of your injury. For example:

  • Travel expenses
  • Medical bills
  • Loss of income 
  • Care costs 
  • The cost of home modifications 

To claim these costs back, it is important to be able to provide evidence, such as:

  • Transport tickets
  • Receipts
  • Payslips
  • Invoices

For more information on the compensation you could be awarded following a successful claim, get in touch on the number above. An advisor can provide a free valuation.

Why Make A Claim With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?

A solicitor from our panel, with experience handling personal injury claims for back pain, could represent your claim on a No Win No Fee basis. They could offer to work your claim under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This particular kind of No Win No Fee contract means you will not owe upfront fees for your solicitor’s services. Fees also won’t be owed during the claims process.

In successful claims, you will owe a fee from your compensation. The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 means that the percentage that you owe your solicitor will be capped by law. 

If you would like to ask us more about how a No Win No Fee solicitor could benefit you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us via the details below. 

Find Out More About Personal Injury Claims For Back Pain

For more of our guides relating to personal injury claims:

For more external resources:

Thank you for reading this guide on personal injury claims for back pain. If you have any other questions, please get in touch using the details provided above.

Writer BL

Checked by AC