How Much Compensation For A PTSD Claim?

By Stephen Moreau. Last Updated 4th November 2025. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental health condition brought on by very distressing, frightening, or stressful events, per the NHS guidance. If your PTSD resulted from an accident caused by someone else’s negligent actions, you may be able to claim. While a PTSD compensation payout won’t erase what happened, it can go a long way in getting you the right treatment and support.

You can contact the advisory team at UK Law whenever it is convenient to check if you could make a PTSD claim. An advisor will ask a few questions about your accident and, if you have a valid claim, connect you with one of the specialist personal injury lawyers from our highly experienced panel. It is completely free to check if you can pursue personal injury compensation, and our advice lines operate 24 hours a day.

Your Questions Answered

• Can I claim PTSD compensation? Yes, you can claim PTSD compensation if another party was at fault for your accident.
• Will I get the support I need? A solicitor from our panel can support you throughout the claims process and refer you to any relevant specialists to help get you the care you need. 
• What do PTSD compensation payouts cover? PTSD compensation payouts can cover the condition itself and any financial losses this has caused you.
• How can I prove my PTSD claim? You can prove your PTSD claim with a psychiatric diagnosis, medical records, and notes from your therapist.
• Is there an average settlement for PTSD? Settlements in PTSD claims are based on unique factors, such as whether the condition prevents you from working or has impacted your daily life.

Select A Section

1. PTSD Compensation Examples, Payouts And Amounts
2. What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder And When Could I Claim?
3. PTSD Claims – Example Scenarios
4. Gathering Evidence For A PTSD Claim
5. Make A PTSD Claim With A No Win No Fee Lawyer
6. Frequently Asked Questions

PTSD Compensation Examples, Payouts And Amounts 

PTSD compensation payouts can consist of general damages and special damages. General damages are provided for anyone who makes a successful claim.

They compensate you for the pain and suffering your injury has caused you, both mental and physical. The total amount you could receive will depend on factors such as how severe your PTSD is, whether a full recovery is possible and how long it will take if it is.

Those who assess the value of a PTSD claim for general damages may use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for reference. This document contains guideline compensation brackets for various psychological and physical injuries, including PTSD.

Below, you will find a table of brackets for PTSD and general psychiatric damage, except for the first entry (which is not based on the JCG document). All brackets are purely suggestive and do not guarantee compensation.

Special Damages

You may be eligible to claim special damages in addition to general damages as part of your PTSD settlement offer. Special damages can cover any financial losses or expenses that are directly related to your PTSD. Examples of what may be covered by special damages include:

• Loss of earnings you’ve accumulated because you’ve needed to take time off while recovering from PTSD.
• The cost of certain therapies or other treatments received as part of your recovery.
• Travel costs you’ve accumulated to attend medical appointments. This could include train tickets and taxi or bus fares.

Evidence which could allow you to claim special damages can include documents such as wage slips, bank statements and receipts.

To learn more about how much compensation for PTSD you could claim if you have a valid case, contact our team of advisors for free today.

What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder And When Could I Claim?

Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder which can be caused by an event that is very stressful, frightening or distressing. PTSD can potentially be caused by traumatic events such as an accident at work, a road traffic accident or a serious accident in a public place.

You may be able to claim compensation for PTSD if you can prove that:

• You were owed a duty of care
• This duty was breached
• It resulted in you suffering harm.

You can claim for a psychological injury, such as PTSD, by itself, or alongside a physical injury.

What Is Duty Of Care?

Who may have owed you a duty of care, and what the details of that duty are will depend on what type of accident caused your condition. Different types of accidents that may occur due to a breach in a duty of care owed to you can include the following:

Accident At Work

An accident at work can potentially cause both physical and psychological injuries. They can also potentially occur as a result of your employer breaching the duty of care which they owe you. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers owe their workers a duty of care.

Per this duty, employers are required to take reasonable steps in order to protect their workers from harm. The exact steps they should take will depend on the type of work undertaken, but may include procedures like risk assessments and providing adequate training if workers need to perform manual handling or use heavy machinery.

Accident In A Public Place

If you are suffering from PTSD due to an accident in public, then the party responsible for controlling that public space may have breached the duty of care they owed you. Under what’s called the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, any parties that are responsible for having control of a public space owe a duty of care to any people who visit it to ensure their reasonable safety.

Road Traffic Accident (RTA)

If PTSD has been caused by a serious road traffic accident, then you may have grounds to claim compensation if another road user is responsible for causing it. Road users owe each other a duty of care to use the roads in a responsible manner that avoids causing harm. They should also adhere to the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the rules set out in the Highway Code as part of their duty.

For more advice on your eligibility to start a PTSD claim and how to get support from a personal injury solicitor, contact our advisors for free today.

PTSD Claims – Example Scenarios

There are numerous kinds of serious accidents that you could be involved in that could potentially cause post-traumatic stress disorder. Examples may include:

• Being involved in a serious road traffic accident. As an example, if you were hit by a drunk driver as a pedestrian crossing at a junction, this could cause you to suffer from PTSD as well as physical injuries such as a broken leg.
• An accident at work. For example, if you had your arm crushed by faulty machinery, this could also cause you to suffer from PTSD.
• While in a shopping centre, you may fall from a height do to the railing on an upper floor of the supermarket being faulty. This could cause you to suffer from PTSD and a head injury, for example.

Whatever exact kind of accident has led you to suffer PTSD, you may have a case for compensation if you can establish that another party is responsible because they breached a duty of care they owed you, and this caused your psychological injury.

PTSD Caused By A Criminal Act Of Violence

If your PTSD was caused by a criminal act of violence like assault or sexual abuse, then you may be able to make a claim via the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). This is a government-funded agency that can compensate victims of criminal violence in Great Britain in situations where they cannot make a claim against an individual or a vicariously liable third party, such as a school or an employer. 

The CICA has its own eligiblity criteria for claiming, and awards compensation under a fixed tariff set by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. Provided that you have made a report to the police and meet the CICA’s broader conditions for claiming, you could pursue criminal injury compensation even if your attacker isn’t identified, arrested, or convicted.

If you’d like to share your experience in confidence, please reach out to our team of advisors today. They are here to listen and will carefully review your circumstances for free to see if you can start a PTSD claim.

Gathering Evidence For A PTSD Claim

When making a PTSD claim, it is important to establish that the third party is liable for your suffering. It may be possible to do this by gathering as much evidence as you can.

Some types of evidence that may prove how the third party is liable for your PTSD include:

• Medical reports – these will show that you were diagnosed with PTSD and provide timeframes for this
• Accident reports – if your accident happened on a specific premises, it may have been recorded in an accident report book
• Photographs – these may show the extent of the accident and damage that caused your PTSD
• Dashcam or CCTV footage – this may show how the accident unfolded
• Witness contact details – witnesses could be those involved in the accident or your loved ones who may explain how you have been affected by the PTSD

If you are struggling to find evidence to support your claim, our panel of solicitors may help you obtain it.

PTSD Claims – Time Limits

If you want to make a PTSD claim, you must do so within three years of the date the accident took place as per the Limitation Act 1980. However, this rule may have some exceptions, depending on the circumstances of the claim, such as:

• If the claimant is a child, the three-year time limit may be paused until they reach the age of eighteen. In this case, it will run until they reach the age of twenty-one. This rule is in place because minors are legally not allowed to start a claim.
  • Per the Mental Capacity Act 2005, if the claimant lacks mental capacity, the three years are frozen completely. If the claimant regains mental capacity, the three-year time limit may commence on the date this was acknowledged. 

If the time limit on a personal injury claim has been paused for minors or those who lack mental capacity, a litigation friend may be appointed to act on behalf of the claimant. 

Contact our friendly advisors to start your claim today or for PTSD compensation examples.

Make A PTSD Claim With A No Win No Fee Lawyer

If you are eligible to make a PTSD compensation claim, you could have the support of a solicitor. They might provide their services under a type of ‘No Win No Fee’ arrangement, specifically known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

When you have the support of a No Win No Fee solicitor who can guide you through your case, they won’t ask for a payment to cover their services upfront. They also don’t ask you to pay an ongoing service fee either.

Should you win compensation for PTSD, your solicitor will take a success fee from your compensation. The law limits the percentage of this fee. If your lawyer doesn’t succeed, you won’t have to pay any fees for their services.

If you would like to discuss PTSD claims, get in touch with our advisors. In addition to answering your questions about compensation payouts, they are here to assess your potential claim. If they think your claim is eligible to you could be connected to one of the solicitors from our panel.

To speak to an advisor:

• Call 020 3870 4868.
• Start your claim online.
• Use our live chat window at the bottom of your screen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you still looking for information on making a PTSD claim? Take a look at some of our frequently asked questions below.

Learn More About PTSD Claims

Other personal injury claims guides you may find useful:

• Broken back compensation claims in the UK
• How to claim for a fatal car accident
• How to claim for an accident in a public place
• Statutory Sick Pay – Government resource about the statutory sick pay you could be due after a work absence
• Report a road traffic incident – Explaining how and when to report a road traffic accident

Call our advisors for help on how to claim compensation today.

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