Fractured Eye Socket Compensation Claims Guide
By Lewis Aaliyah. Last Updated 13th October 2023. Were you involved in an accident due to someone neglecting the duty of care they owed to you? Have you suffered a fractured eye socket as a result? If so, you may be eligible to claim compensation for your injuries.
A fractured eye socket bone can be extremely painful and can negatively impact your everyday life. We use our eyes to see, which enables us to live normally each day. An eye socket fracture (also referred to as an orbital fracture) can cause problems with your sight, like blurred or double vision. You shouldn’t have to suffer due to someone else breaching their duty of care towards you.
If you can prove that your accident was caused by someone neglecting the duty of care they owed to you, you may be owed compensation.
There’s no obligation to seek legal representation when making a claim.
However, you may find that the support and guidance of a solicitor helps the process run more smoothly than it otherwise would.
Get In Touch With Our Team
Our team of advisers are available 24/7 to chat with you about your situation. They can offer free legal advice about your injury and the circumstances surrounding it. If you have a valid claim, they can connect you with a personal injury solicitor from our panel. They may be able to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis.
To contact our friendly team of advisers, you can:
- Call them on 020 3870 4868. An adviser is always available to have a chat with you.
- Fill in our online claims form. One of our advisers will respond at your earliest convenience.
- Chat with an adviser via our live chat pop-up box for an immediate response.
How to claim for a fractured eye socket
Services And Information
- Can I Make A Personal Injury Claim For A Fractured Eye Socket?
- How Broken Eye Sockets Could Occur Due To Negligence
- Calculating Fractured Eye Socket Compensation Payouts
- Can I Make A Criminal Injury Claim If My Eye Socket Was Broken?
- What Is A Missed Diagnosis Of A Broken Bone?
- I Fractured My Eye Socket, What Should I Do?
- Make A No Win No Fee Claim For A Fractured Eye Socket
- Find Out More About Claiming Compensation For A Broken Eye Socket
Can I Make A Personal Injury Claim For A Fractured Eye Socket?
In order to make an eligible personal injury claim for a fractured eye socket, you’ll need to determine that your injuries were caused by a relevant third party breaching their duty of care.
A duty of care is owed to you in the following settings:
- In the workplace: The Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974 implements a duty of care on employers to ensure employees are safe in the workplace, as far as is reasonably practicable.
- On the road: Road users should take reasonable care to avoid causing harm to others and themselves. They must also adhere to the rules set out for them in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code, per their duty of care.
- In a public place: As outlined in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, those in control of public places must take steps to ensure you are reasonably safe whilst using that space for its intended purpose.
If a duty of care that is owed to you is breached, and you are subsequently injured, you may have grounds to claim compensation for a broken eye socket.
How Long Do I Have To Claim Compensation For A Broken Eye Socket?
There is a personal injury claims time limit of typically three years to start a claim. This is set by the Limitation Act 1980. The time limit usually starts on the date you suffered a broken eye socket. However, certain circumstances suspended the time limit. For example:
- Claimants who lack the mental capacity to start their own eye socket fracture claim will have the time limit suspended indefinitely. A litigation friend could start a claim for them at any time. However, should they regain their mental capacity, then they will have three years to start their claim for a broken eye socket from the date capacity is regained.
- Should a child suffer an eye socket fracture due to negligence, the time limit is suspended until their 18th birthday. However, a litigation friend could be appointed to start a claim on their behalf at any time during the time limit’s suspension.
Call our advisors to find out more about the personal injury claims time limit.
How Broken Eye Sockets Could Occur Due To Negligence
In order to make a successful personal injury claim for a broken eye socket, you’ll need to establish that negligence was a contributing factor to your injuries. Negligence occurs when a duty of care that was owed to you was breached, resulting in you being injured or suffering harm.
Examples of how broken eye sockets could occur due to negligence include:
- An accident at work: You could suffer a fractured eye socket if your employer fails to provide you with appropriate protection for your eyes, such as goggles, and your job involves the risk of falling objects hitting you from a height.
- Road traffic accident: A car crash caused by a motorist driving over the speed limit could result in you breaking your eye socket due to the impact of the crash.
- Public place accident: You might trip over defective pavement that the council has a duty to maintain. The impact of the fall might fracture your eye socket.
Not all scenarios where you could sustain a broken eye socket are listed above. If you would like to discuss your case, our advisors can clarify if negligence has caused your injuries. You won’t have to pay for your consultation or be obligated to continue using our services afterwards.
Calculating Fractured Eye Socket Compensation Payouts
If you’ve suffered an injury such as an eye socket fracture due to someone else’s negligence, you may have grounds to claim eye injury compensation.
How much you might be awarded in compensation for eye injury in a successful claim is calculated on a case-by-case basis. It may depend on factors such as how severe your eye socket fracture is and its impact on your life. Solicitors also consider the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) when calculating the value of a claim.
These amounts shown in the table are from the JCG, which was last updated in 2022. However, they are only guideline figures and may not match the award you might receive.
| Injury: | Severity: | Notes: | Compensation: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injuries Affecting Sight | Total Loss of One Eye | This could occur due to severe eye socket injuries where treatment hasn’t worked. | £54,830 to £65,710 |
| Injuries Affecting Sight | Minor Eye Injuries | Being struck in the eye resulting in pain and problems with vision. | £3,950 to £8,730 |
| Skeletal Injuries | Multiple Fractures of Facial Bones | Some permanent deformity of the face. | £14,900 to £23,950 |
| Skeletal Injuries | Fractures of Nose or Nasal Complex | Serious fractures damaging tear ducts and causing damage to airways and difficulty breathing. | £10,640 to £23,130 |
| Skeletal Injuries | Fractures of Cheekbones | Severe fractures that need to be operated on. | £10,200 to £15,780 |
| Skeletal Injuries | Fractures of Cheekbones | Simple fractures that may need surgery but will recover fully. | £4,350 to £6,460 |
General damages are the part of your settlement that compensates you for the injury itself and the physical and mental effect it’s had on your life. The awarded bracket is based on how severe your injury is and how long it takes for you to recover.
What Else Can A Compensation Payout Include For A Fractured Eye Socket?
Special damages may be awarded as part of your broken eye socket award settlement. This head of claim is designed to compensate you for any financial harm or losses incurred as a result of your fractured eye socket.
Examples of financial harm you could experience if your eye socket is broken include:
- A loss of earnings – Given that a broken eye socket is a significant injury, you may need to take time off work. Subsequently, you could suffer a loss of earnings. A wage slip can provide proof of this loss.
- Cost of medication and treatment – An eye injury may require you to take medication to alleviate any symptoms. Keep hold of any invoices or receipts that can prove these expenses.
- Care costs – If you are left blind or partially sighted following your eye injury, you may need a full-time carer to help you carry out day-to-day tasks. These costs, whether past or future, can be included in your special damages but you must retain receipts or invoices that show you have paid for a carer.
Speak to our advisors to be connected to an injury lawyer from our panel. They could give you a more accurate estimation of what compensation for an eye injury you might be awarded.
Can I Make A Criminal Injury Claim If My Eye Socket Was Broken?
If you suffered a fractured eye socket due to a criminal injury and a personal injury claim against the perpetrator is not possible, you might be able to claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). For example, the perpetrator may not have the means to pay personal injury compensation or may not have been identified.
There are some differences between a personal injury claim and recovering compensation through the CICA. The CICA is a government body that awards compensation for injuries suffered by a victim during a crime of violence.
As such, evidence that your eye socket was broken due to the violent act of another will be different when claiming through the CICA. You will need a police reference number. From here, instead of gathering evidence that supports your claim, the CICA will liaise with the police.
In addition, you will need proof that you meet the residency requirements as well as medical evidence of your orbital socket damage. However, the CICA might arrange for this from an expert. Therefore, even if you sought treatment for your broken eye socket from a hospital, you might still need independent medical evidence.
Criminal injuries are compensated in accordance with the tariff found in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. This is different to the way injuries are valued in personal injury claims, like in our table above. Additionally, instead of special damages, you could claim special expenses, but as with injury payments, these are different than a personal injury claim.
Call our advisors to learn more about the differences between making a claim through the CICA or claiming directly against the perpetrator.
What Is A Missed Diagnosis Of A Broken Bone?
A missed diagnosis of a broken bone is when a fracture isn’t spotted and, as a result, you don’t receive a diagnosis or treatment. This can be classed as medical negligence.
However, NHS Resolution states that in order to make a medical negligence claim against the NHS, you must prove causation. This means that you have to prove you suffered directly due to the misdiagnosis.
It must be clear that your injury worsened due to the misdiagnosis, and this could’ve been prevented if you were given the correct treatment. If there’s a high chance that you would’ve suffered the same amount even if the injury was diagnosed, you’re unlikely to be successful in your claim.
As well as causation, you have to prove a breach of duty of care too. This simply means proving that the medical practitioner didn’t adhere to the standards of their profession when providing you with care. To prove this, the court will administer something called the Bolam Test.
In the Bolam Test, a panel of the medical professional’s peers will be asked to confirm whether they would have acted the same as the doctor being accused of negligence. If they confirm that they would have acted this way, the doctor will not be considered negligent. If they say they would have acted differently, however, the doctor’s actions will be considered negligent.
Our team of advisers would be happy to discuss how to prove causation and a breach of duty of care when claiming compensation for a missed fractured eye socket. You can contact them today for free legal advice.
How Does Misdiagnosing An Eye Fracture Happen?
Sometimes, medical negligence can lead to a fracture misdiagnosis. This could occur for many different reasons, such as:
- Failure to arrange for an X-ray or scan
- Interpreting the results of an X-ray or scan incorrectly
- Administrative errors which cause results to go missing
- Diagnostic delays which cause treatment to be less effective
If you’ve experienced a misdiagnosis that you believe is due to medical negligence, you may be able to make a claim for compensation. Our team of advisers can assess your needs and discuss the most suitable option for you.
Make A No Win No Fee Claim For A Fractured Eye Socket
If you have grounds to claim because of an injury to the eye socket (also known as the orbital socket), then you may choose to hire a solicitor who can help you claim. A solicitor may offer to help under a No Win No Fee agreement. All the solicitors on our panel operate under such an agreement.
Claiming with a No Win No Fee solicitor can mean the following:
- You won’t typically be required to pay your solicitor any fees upfront or while your case is being processed.
- You usually won’t be required to pay your solicitor’s legal fees if your case proves unsuccessful.
- If you win your case, your solicitor will usually subtract a small percentage of the compensation awarded to you as a success fee. The amount your solicitor can subtract from your compensation is legally capped.
If you’d like to find out more about making a personal injury claim for a broken eye socket, you can get in touch with our team of advisers at any time. They could potentially provide an eligibility check and an eye injury compensation value estimate. Contact us by:
- Calling an adviser on 020 3870 4868. They will be happy to give you free legal advice about your claim.
- Filling out our online claim form to receive a response whenever best suits you.
- Chatting with an adviser via our live chat pop-up box for an instant reply.
Find Out More About Claiming Compensation For A Broken Eye Socket
Broken Wrist Compensation Claims In The UK – If you’ve suffered a broken wrist injury that wasn’t your fault, our guide looks at how you can make a personal injury claim.
Shoulder Fracture Compensation Claims In The UK – Have you sustained a shoulder fracture injury? Our article explores how you can receive compensation if it wasn’t your fault.
How Do I Know If I’ve Broken A Bone? – Are you worried you have a broken bone? This NHS guide looks at the signs, treatment, and recovery process of this injury.
Eye Injuries – If you need more advice about a fractured eye socket, this NHS article gives you information about the symptoms and what you can do to seek treatment.
Highway Code- This publication sets out what drivers are expected to do to ensure the safety of others on the road.
Thank you for reading our guide about fractured eye socket claims.
