What Could Your Paralysis Injury Claim Be Worth?

This is a guide on when you could be eligible to begin a paralysis injury claim after a serious accident. It also explores how long you have to begin legal proceedings, and how you can support your claim with evidence.

Paralysis injuries can be very serious and life-changing. If you make a successful claim, you could be awarded compensation to address the impact your injuries have had on your quality of life. In this guide, we will discuss how serious injury claim payouts are calculated and what they could comprise.

paralysis injury claim

What Could Your Paralysis Injury Claim Be Worth?

Additionally, we outline the duty of care certain third parties, including employers, occupiers and road users, owe and the laws by which they must abide. We also offer examples of how an accident could lead to a paralysis injury if the duty of care owed to you is breached.

To conclude, we discuss the possible benefits of working with No Win No Fee solicitors and the services they could potentially offer to assist you in seeking serious injury compensation.

If you have any questions about serious injury claims, our advisors are available to help. You can get in touch on a 24/7 basis. To do so:

Select A Section

  1. How Much Could I Claim For A Paralysis Injury?
  2. Paralysis Injury Claim Eligibility Criteria
  3. Time Limits For Serious Injury Claims
  4. Evidence Needed For A Successful Paralysis Injury Claim
  5. Make A No Win No Fee Paralysis Injury Claim

How Much Could I Claim For A Paralysis Injury?

Injuries to the spinal cord can cause different levels of paralysis, including quadriplegia which is the paralysis of the upper and lower body, or paraplegia, which is the paralysis of the lower body. As such, the amount of compensation for paralysis you receive following a successful claim can depend on the specific circumstances surrounding your case.

Generally, though, the settlement you receive could comprise up to two heads of loss. The first is called general damages which compensates for the pain and suffering caused by the injury. Legal professionals, such as personal injury solicitors, can use medical evidence and a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them value your injuries. The JCG contains a set of guideline award brackets for different injuries.

JCG Table

We’ve included some figures from the JCG in the table below. However, use them only as a guide.

Edit
Injury Description Amount
Multiple Serious Injuries Compensation for more than one injury plus financial losses. Up to £1,000,000+
Paralysis (a) Quadriplegia – Paralysis of the upper and lower body. £324,600 to £403,990
Paralysis (b) Paraplegia – Paralysis of the lower body. £219,070 to £284,260
Brain Damage (b) Moderately Severe – A very serious disability, such as those of a physical nature involving limb paralysis. £219,070 to £282,010
Back (a) (i) Severe – Damage to the nerve roots and spinal cord. £91,090 to £160,980
Neck (a) (i) Severe – Incomplete paraplegia from an associated neck injury. In the region of £148,330
Special Damages Loss of earnings – Compensation to reimburse lost income incurred due to time taken off work for injuries. Up to £100,000 and above

Special Damages In Paralysis Injury Claims

Settlements following a successful paralysis injury claim can also include special damages. This is the head of loss that awards compensation to reimburse you for the financial impact of your injuries. For example:

  • Travel costs.
  • Medical expenses.
  • Loss of earnings.
  • The cost of adaptations to your house.
  • Domestic care costs.

It’s important to be able to prove that these losses occurred and that they were the result of your injuries. Keep hold of documentation such as receipts and payslips, as these can be helpful in doing so.

Call our team for a free valuation of your potential claim for paralysis injury compensation.

Paralysis Injury Claim Eligibility Criteria

In order for you to be eligible to make a personal injury claim for paralysis following a serious accident and receive compensation, you need to show the following:

  • You were owed a duty of care by a third party, such as an occupier, employer, or road user.
  • The duty you were owed was breached.
  • You experienced harm as a result of the breach.

The criteria above form the basis of what is known as negligence in claims for a personal injury. If you can prove negligence, it may be possible for you to begin a paralysis injury claim.

Below, you can find further guidance on the duty of care different third parties owe you and the laws they need to adhere to. We have also provided examples of how a serious accident involving paralysis could occur.

Public Accident Paralysis Injuries

Those with control over a public place owe a duty of care to ensure the reasonable safety of those visiting the space for it’s intended purpose. This duty can be found in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. If they fail to uphold this duty, it could lead to an accident in a public place. For example:

  • A customer falls down the stairs in a shopping centre due to a faulty handrail that was reported but not fixed in a reasonable time frame. This causes them to sustain brain damage which leads to paralysis.

Workplace Paralysis Injuries

Your employer’s duty of care can be found in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It states that they must take all steps that are deemed reasonable and practicable to avoid their employees from sustaining harm in the workplace. A failure to do so could lead to an accident at work. For example:

  • An employee may be asked to operate a forklift truck without any training. This could result in a forklift accident if the employee loses control of the workplace vehicle and cause them to sustain a spinal injury resulting in quadriplegia.

Road Traffic Paralysis Injuries

The rules and regulations in both the Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act 1988 should be adhered to by all drivers. This is how they can uphold their duty of care to other road users to prevent harm or damage when using the roads. A failure to do so could result in a road traffic accident. For example:

  • A pedestrian could be hit by a car when crossing at a zebra crossing due to them failing to stop. This could lead to the pedestrian suffering paralysis injuries, such as paraplegia.

To find out whether you could be eligible to make a paralysis injury claim following a serious accident, please contact an advisor on the number above.

Time Limits For Serious Injury Claims

As per the Limitation Act 1980, you generally have 3 years from the date you were injured to begin a personal injury claim. However, there are certain exceptions to this limitation period.

One of these is if the injured party is under 18. In this instance, the time limit is paused. During this time, a litigation friend could be appointed by the courts to start the claim on the child’s behalf. Alternatively, if this isn’t done, the child will have three years from when they turn 18 to begin legal proceedings for themselves.

Also, if the claimant does not have the mental capacity to start the claim for themselves, the time limit has an indefinite pause placed on it. A litigation friend, appointed by the courts, could start a claim on their behalf during this pause period. If no claim is started for the person and they recover their mental capacity, they will have three years from the recovery date to start their own case.

To find out more about the time limits surrounding how long you have to claim compensation for paralysis, get in touch with our advisors.

Evidence Needed For A Successful Paralysis Injury Claim

You need to be able to support a paralysis injury claim with evidence as it can help prove third party liability as well as provide information on your injuries and the extent to which they’ve affected your life. Examples of the evidence you could gather include:

  • Photographs of the accident and any visible injuries.
  • Dashcam or CCTV footage.
  • Copies of your medical records, including scans and other test results.
  • Contact details for witnesses.
  • Police report, such as following a road traffic accident.
  • A copy of the report from the workplace accident book following an accident at work.

If you have a valid claim and choose to work with a serious injury solicitor from our panel, they could assist you throughout the claims process by helping you gather evidence and build your case. Find out if you could work with them by calling the number above to speak with an advisor.

Make A No Win No Fee Paralysis Injury Claim

The No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel work under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means you do not have to pay an upfront fee or make payments for the continued work on your case as it proceeds.

If your claim succeeds when working with a solicitor on this basis, they take a success fee from your compensation in the form of a legally capped percentage. If your claim fails, they don’t take a success fee.

You can reach out to our advisors at any time to discuss your potential paralysis injury claim. They could connect you with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel if your claim is valid. A solicitor could then help you begin the personal injury claims process. However, you are not obliged to begin a claim just by speaking with our advisors.

For more information, you can:

Further Guidance On Serious Injury Claims

The links below will take you to additional resources you may find helpful. 

More of our guides: 

Information from other sources: 

If you have any other questions about making a paralysis injury claim, please contact an advisor on the number above.

Writer IB

Checked by AC