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Psychological Injury Compensation – Claiming For Damage To Your Mental Health

By Ian Morris | Updated June 12th, 2024

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When most people think of a personal injury claim, they usually consider physical injuries such as a broken arm or whiplash. However, as well as physical injuries, a claimant should be aware that they can also claim psychological damage compensation.

At Direct2Compensation, we realise that making a claim for personal injury compensation is not just about the money. Indeed, we regularly see many different motivating factors that lead to people contacting us for help, and we know that there are many benefits to making a claim other than a financial settlement.

One of these benefits is being able to access psychological rehabilitation therapies to speed your recovery, at the expense of the third-party you are claiming against.

Psychological injuries shouldn’t be ignored

By ignoring the psychological effects of their accident, a claimant of personal injury compensation could well be undervaluing their compensation settlement. When working out the value of a claim and what settlement a claimant is likely to receive, a solicitor will take in to account medical evidence and special damages. If a claimant has not properly reported their accident and injury details, including psychological injuries, it is harder to claim compensation for them.

As with all injuries, getting professional diagnosis and treatment of a psychological injury is vital when it comes to pursuing a claim for personal injury compensation.

Examples of psychological injuries that can lead to a compensation claim

One example of psychological injuries could be a claimant who was injured in a serious car accident. Let’s say they drove for a living and as a result of their accident suffered physical injuries, but were also left feeling unable to get back behind the wheel due to the psychological trauma. They may lose their job or have to change career. If they reported the injuries to their doctor and had treatment or a referral for psychological therapy, this would form a large element of their claim when the various criteria that make up the settlement value are evaluated.
Psychological trauma after a motorcycle accident. These accidents are notorious for serious physical injuries, with often permanent disabilities resulting from a serious crash. Psychological trauma often links with such incidents with people no longer confident to ride their motorcycle or being left suffering flashbacks or nightmares. This can also apply to witnesses.
Post traumatic stress disorder after being involved in a serious accident at work. Workplace accidents can cause nasty injuries, often with permanent repercussions for the victim. A serious accident at work could lead to an employee losing the confidence to return to the workplace.
Some high pressure jobs may give rise to claims for stress at work.
People surviving after being involved in fatal accidents, or anyone who has witnessed something in which someone has been very badly injured or killed in an accident.
Panic attacks. Sometimes what can initially seem an innocuous accident like an elderly lady falling on a damaged section of pavement can result in more than just a fractured wrist. We’ve come across people who have lost all confidence after a tripping accident and are no longer able to go out in to their local town alone. The fear of a repeat of an accident and the subsequent injuries is a real problem and although most people realise that they are unlikely to suffer the same kind of injury twice, they sometimes suffer a psychological barrier to getting out of the house.
One very common accident type that leads to ongoing psychological injuries involves people who have suffered brain or head trauma. In many cases, those who suffer such injuries are often left with severe post accident psychological trauma, behavioural changes or memory loss. Whilst such injuries are hard to see, they do exist and claimants often don’t know where to go for help.

Why claim psychological damage compensation?

An obvious outcome of any successful personal injury claim is that the claimant will receive a compensation settlement. Whilst this is always welcome and can help the claimant move on after a nasty accident, there is no financial settlement amount that means that injuries or trauma can be forgotten and put away.

With Direct2Compensation, your psychological injuries compensation claim will be made on a No Win No Fee basis, so you will never be charged any fees at all if your claim does not succeed. A successful claim can lead to a compensation settlement being made to you, with the value of the claim including all lost income and incurred costs along with the potential access to rehabilitation therapies.

Remember, any person injured in an accident that was not their fault – whether physically injured, psychologically traumatised (or both) can make a claim for compensation, and Direct2Compensation can help.

Making a claim for psychological injuries compensation is a legal right for any person diagnosed with such a condition as a result of an accident that was not their fault
A successful claim will lead to the claimant receiving a financial settlement covering the extent of their psychological injury and how it has affected their life.
A successful claim settlement will include a special damages claim covering any loss of income caused by the psychological trauma.
The claimant could well access specialist rehabilitation therapies such as counselling, CBT treatments and other suitable therapy.

Access mental health therapies

Fortunately, most psychological injuries can be treated with therapies, where a psychologist will help an injured person to learn to re-programme the brain to reduce the symptoms of conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

One of the potential outcomes of making a claim for psychological injury compensation, other than a financial settlement, could be accessing excellent medical treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), psychotherapy, counselling and other treatments. These can help people overcome the severe effects that psychological injuries can have on those who have been involved in nasty or distressing accidents.

How much compensation can you claim for psychological damage?

Severity of injury	Compensation amount
Severe psychiatric damage	£51k - £109k
Moderately severe psychiatric damage	£18k - £51k
Moderate psychiatric damage	£6k - £18k
Less severe psychiatric damage	£1k- £6k
Severe PTSD	£56k - £94k
Moderately severe PTSD	£22k - £56k
Moderate PTSD	£8k - £22k
Less severe PTSD	£4k - £8k

Find out if you can claim

Clearly, most victims of personal injuries sustain what can be described as fairly minor injuries from which they can expect to make a full recovery, and therefore, no psychological trauma is likely to exist. However, in accidents that involve serious trauma it is likely that the injured party will have suffered shock and psychological injuries, and these can form part of the claim.

If you want help and advice on the issue of psychological trauma after an accident and wish to discuss a possible claim for personal injury compensation, please give us a call. Your GP or health professional will also be able to assist you.

At Direct2Compensation we know how to help you pursue a psychological injury claim successfully. We’ll ensure that your rights are protected and help you begin to move on with your life with our supporting claims process and expert solicitors.

If you have suffered psychological injures as a result of an accident that was not your fault, you are entitled to claim. We can also advise you on how to report your injuries to the right people if you haven’t already done so. Contact us on 01225 430285, or if you prefer, .

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Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming...

A deer ran into the front of my car and insurance company have written the car off. I am suffering with PTSD and am unable to get behind the wheel without feeling very anxious and fearful. Am I able to claim for PTSD via my insurance company?

In this case, your accident and subsequent psychological injury was not caused through the negligence of another insured party. Assuming that the deer was a wild animal and ran out as you approached, there is no party against whom you can make a claim. If you were fully comprehensively insured, your vehicle insurers will be liable for the loss of your vehicle and paying out an appropriate market rate to you in order that you can replace it. However, on the basis of standard vehicle insurance cover, the insurers would not be liable to compensate you for your injury as they have no party against whom you can make a claim.

I’ve been hit by a tile from the ceiling inside of a hotel at an event, luckily I seen it coming and stepped out of the way but it hit my leg which has a large bruise. I’m traumatised, it could have ended badly, am I entitled to claim?

Please call us on 01225430285 as we’d like to speak with you regarding this matter. You are likely to have grounds to pursue a claim and we can help you to understand your rights after an accident and have one of our Solicitors make a claim for you on a No Win No Fee basis. Alternatively, request a call from us via our website.

I was helping a child whilst at work when the 13 year old autistic child smashed me in the face with a TV handle. I felt very humiliated and have suffered from depression for three years myself. I have been crying from the moment I was hit until now. It feels like a lot of damage has been done to my heart. How much money should I claim?

It is impossible to state the value of any potential settlement at this stage. In order for a settlement value to be reached in a claim for personal injury compensation, the injured claimant would need to have relevant medical expert consultations and a Solicitor would then obtain a report from the specialist regarding the physical and subsequent emotional injuries. This report would provide a prognosis for the injuries, listing relevant treatments and an expected recovery period and from this, a settlement valuation can be reached.

I was physically attacked while at work and I was punched in the face from the side/behind and resulted in me having a broken jaw, this has left me on a liquid diet for minimum 6 weeks, also unable to work until my jaw is fully recovered and possibly needing surgery consisting of a mental plate and few screws, this has also affected my daily life PERMANENTLY and in so many different ways that I couldn’t even begin to explain via this comment.

However I am having extreme difficulty with my work even just getting the insurance details etc and I am looking for some help so that I can take legal action and claim compensation for the injuries and losses I have suffered. Any help would be highly appreciated and there is a lot more, however just won’t put that here but I would be happy to speak over the phone or in person, please feel free to get in touch if you feel you could help or support in anyway.

Our Solicitors can assist you in exercising your legal rights to claim personal injury compensation and recover lost income or other costs you may have incurred. Your frustration with your employer in failing to provide you with straightforward information that you have requested is sadly not uncommon and that is one of the many reasons that having a Solicitor who is a specialist in personal injury law acting for you on a No Win No Fee basis is of benefit. A Solicitor can take the stress off your shoulders and allow you to focus on your recovery and getting back to normal, whilst they get on with obtaining evidence and information and ensuring that your legal rights are upheld.

In terms of your injuries, the physical side of things will clearly be evidenced by your medical records already, but given the nature of the way that your injuries were sustained, you may also be suffering psychological trauma. In incidents where people are injured in an attack, the immediate thinking of the injured party is of the pain and physical discomfort. However, it is common that in the days and weeks after the injury – when the physical pain eases a little, that the psychological trauma comes to the fore. If this is the case for you, it is vital that you discuss this with your GP and seek referral to the right medical specialist. This enables you to both seek the right help, but importantly include the psychological trauma element in your claim – which should be reflected in any settlement that you receive.

We note that we have now spoken with you and we look forward to helping you further as and when you are ready to proceed.

My Son was murdered in 2018. Since I have developed PTSD, panic attacks, depression, anxiety and insomnia. Now I can’t go out on my own (amongst a lot of other symptom)s.

Now i’m wondering if I can I sue the catalyst – my sons murderer, who was sentenced to 18 months in Prison.

Although it is possible to bring a civil case against someone responsible for a criminal matter, it is likely to be difficult to sue the individual in question. The main hurdle to overcome is financing such a claim as there is no insurers against whom to pursue a claim, meaning that even if you succeeded, there is no guarantee that the individual would have sufficient financial wherewithal to be able to pay a settlement or legal costs.

The main route open to you as the victim of a criminal act would be to pursue a claim via the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

How long do I have please to claim for psychological harm from employer after resigning as a result of that harm? Many thanks

Personal Injury claims must be made within 3 years of the cause of any injury – whether that be physical or psychological injury.

Hi I was in my flat last week with my son and a guy petrol bombed the flat above me which resulted in my front door blowing in and also my gas box blowing off the wall my son was screaming he was going to die my flat is flooded and I’m now homeless my son was about to jump off the balcony as he thought he was going to die in the blast therefore I had to grab both his legs, the guy that caused the fire and explosion is now facing life in prison as everyone in my building had to be evacuated and are now left homeless, I can’t eat or sleep and my anxiety is through the roof.

I can’t stop crying, so I’ve called my doctor who has now put me on medication to help my nerves, anxiety and also my panic attacks. I keep having panic attacks and my son keeps jumping and crying at every little bang or noise he hears. I am now put in homeless accommodation and having to move from hostel to hostel every few days which are full of addicts and alcoholics and my son is petrified. The council never fixed the main door that leads into the building of my flat and that’s how the guy got in to blow up the flat above me. The council has been asked to fix the door on many occasions, but they never did and now they have fixed the door yesterday as I told them I’m taking it to a Solicitor. The police taped the road off as CID had to come and investigate, the housing association that I am with is cadder housing in Glasgow.

As you are the victims of a criminal act, you can pursue a claim via the Criminal Injuries Claim Authority (CICA) and our Solicitors can assist with this. There may also be grounds to pursue a claim against the local authority for failing to ensure the security of the building by repairing the door despite repeated requests to do so.

Our specialist Solicitors can certainly advise you further and consider pursuit of personal injury claims for the psychological trauma caused to yourself and your son should you wish to do so.

As a result of a job termination in Feb 2021 I have been on government sickness benefit since for stress and anxiety due to bullying in workplace. I have been diagnosed with De quervian syndrome/carpel tunnel symptoms that was a result of my latest employment mentioned above. I was employed as a carer for 6 years and received no recordable training no manual handling training

As you finished with the employer in Feb 2021, we need to look at when your symptoms (carpal tunnel and de quervian syndrome) started and whether those symptoms started within the last 3 years. As you are probably aware, claimants have a 3 year period to pursue a claim, but in cases of a repetitive strain injury, the 3 year period does not start with the date of diagnosis. In such cases, the date of knowledge is used for the purpose of limitation and this runs from the date that you first noticed symptoms and were/should have been aware that the symptoms were likely to be caused by your employment.

I currently take medication for anxiety/depression but I’m doing well with my current dosage and generally feel well. I work in a secure forensic learning disability hospital. I have been bitten on my leg and arm during the restraint of a patient with learning disabilty/autism who has level of violence on a regular basis. It has become overwhelming thinking about going back to work because of the fear of the bullying/intimidation from the patient and the violence I may face. The place I work at knows that this happens routinely but seem to find fault in everything that staff do, so in affect blame us and sweep it all under the carpet.

I get anxiety going to work everyday and I am stressed out because of the volatile environment that we work in and lack of support. Where do I stand legally because I feel like my employer is letting staff be abused mentally, emotionally and physically. The patient also says that staff are not allowed to take breaks and are to do things for her although we are entitled to the breaks. In my opinion the patient is wrongly diagnosed and the NHS is letting this happen. There is a very high turn-over of staff to manage the patient due to the working environment which is just burning people out (alot of sickness).

Given the nature of the workplace and the kinds of people who are cared for within the setting, there are some inherent risks posed to the staff that provide the services for the individuals. This is ‘normal’ and staff have to accept this, but employers are duty bound to ensure that all staff are appropriately trained and that all patients are assessed for their levels of care need, their behaviour and for the risks that they pose to the staff. In cases where a patient is routinely causing injury or inflicting fear, the employer does need to review whether the individual is in the correct setting. Our Solicitors have done a lot of successful work for people working in such environments, such as care staff and support workers and we may well be able to help you too.

In your case, you may well be able to pursue a claim – both for physical injury (for the hitting and biting injuries) and potentially for work related stress. That said, the claim for the physical injuries would be a more sensible route with emotional trauma and anxiety added in to that.

The key thing is to make sure that your concerns and the issues you are facing with anxiety are addressed to the employer in writing. You should make them aware that this individual is routinely dangerous and that they need to assess whether they are in the correct setting. You should also make sure that any physical injuries are also reported in writing along with the details of the anxiety, stress and lack of support that you have also identified.

My son and my 86 year old mother were in bed when a car was driven (by a drink driver) into their home. At present my son has been put in a hotel and my mother is residing with me. My son is on low income and is struggling to pay for take away foods as there are no cooking facilities where he is. He cannot live with me as he does not drive, so is staying a couple of minutes from his work. They are unable to live in the house as it is unsafe and my son is frightened to enter the home.

Both my mum and son are not sleeping, both are living out of a suitcase, both are very emotional. My mums home is the house that she grew up in, even throughout the war, so the emotional distress this has caused is enormous. We cannot get all of my mums possessions out of the house most of her belongings are at the front of the house where it is deemed as unsafe. This is causing a lot of strain on the whole family. Each day I am getting more angry knowing that the person that caused this awful situation is probably still comfortable in their own home if they are not now in prison (which I hope they are!)

Your Son and Mother may be able to pursue personal injury claims for the emotional trauma caused to them in the incident as they witnessed the event first hand. However, such claims are not straightforward and a claimant would need to have sought medical attention for their emotional stress and been referred to a relevant specialist medical practitioner for treatment.

After an abusive long term relationship, not a day goes by when I’m not overcome with feelings of depression, anxiety about dating & pregnancy, and also panic attacks. The individual also submitted false allegations to police, which further added to my distress as these were fabricated claims. I often find I’m haunted by nightmares, tremors and unbearable anxiety. Some days are easier than others, but it’s very clear to me that extensive counselling or therapy is needed to be able to fully recover. Is this something that can be pursued?

The only way that such action would be pursuable would be via the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) scheme for the victims of injury, whether physical or psychological caused through criminal action. This would include abusive relationships, coercive control or domestic abuse.

To be able to pursue such a claim, you need to report the alleged criminal behaviour to the Police and follow through with statement provision or pressing charges if required to do so.

There may be grounds to pursue a claim, but it is unlikely to be against her employer. In the scenario you describe, the liable party will be the taxi driver and possibly the taxi company. However, it may be more straightforward to pursue a claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) as the injury – in this case psychological trauma and anxiety, was caused by a what is likely to be seen as a criminal act. Was the incident reported to the Police?

Can I claim psychological injury if the other party is deceased? I had a fatal collision with a pedestrian who was trying to cross the motorway.

You can pursue a claim for psychological injury, but you must have an at fault party against whom to pursue the claim for negligence. Your situation is unfortunate on many levels. Notwithstanding the obvious trauma caused to you, as the at fault party is deceased, it is unlikely that there is an estate against which you can seek to pursue a claim.

I understand due to the time frames I may have difficulty with this case, but I would like to find out if I have any option. 12 years ago whilst in a Graduate job for a big name high street bank, the cash counter of our branch was violently raided by a group of men with weapons. I was threatened with assault and forced to hand over all the money I had access to.
At the time I was not given adequate emotional support or follow up counselling sessions and no follow welfare checks were done and I have always repressed any feelings of anxiety brought on by this as a coping mechanism. Recently I have been experiencing severe nightmares and social anxiety for which I have been receiving CBT. After talking through my past life events it seems this could be symptomatic of delayed PTSD triggered by this event in particular. The incident has caused me many years of mental injury that has only come to light through my recent therapy.
I was also bullied and emotionally abused by my manager in this role, which I feel contributed to my fear to speak out at the time.
Is it too late to seek legal action against my employer for their handling of this?

It is most likely that you are suffering delayed effects of what was a very traumatic and upsetting incident. However, in terms of any avenue to seek compensation, you will now be statute barred and unable to take action.

Dear Mr Morris

I worked for a bank for 15 years. I was made redundant but harassed as a result of my mental health and my employer failed to listen to my requests about adjustments. I now have FND and am severely impacted and unable to work.

If this has happened to you within the last 3 years and your symptoms were not present before that, you can seek to pursue a personal injury claim for psychological injury against your former employer. We have specialist Solicitors who can advise you as to whether the circumstances of your situation will enable a successful claim.

Hi, I was at work and my job was to go in these trenches, cut the cables then clean the trenches from asbestos. I ended up cutting through a 11,000 volt cable, I was in complete shock and it’s effected me psychologically big time. I found out afterwards that the site manager had a isolation cert to say the cable was still live but never passed it on to my supervisor. I’m just curious how much I would get in a claim like this please?

Assuming you reported the psychological trauma (flashbacks, anxiety etc) to your Doctor and there was an incident report completed at work, you should be able to pursue a claim for the impact that this incident has had upon you.

At this stage it is impossible to say what value your claim would have, but our specialist Solicitors would ensure that an appropriate medical expert assessed your situation in order that the maximum possible claim value could be recovered for you.

I was involved in a road traffic accident and have been suffering anxiety since, I am nervous driving and have been suffering nightmares. I have booked an appointment with the GP.

When was your road traffic accident? If it was on or before 31st May 2021, pursuing a claim should be a straightforward matter.

If you would like our specialist Solicitors to pursue your claim for psychological injury, please call us on 01225430285.

I’ve recently had someone drive their vehicle at me as i was riding to work, using it as a weapon, purely for riding a bike legally on the road. Although there wasn’t any physical contact, the incident was terrifying.

This caused a breakdown at the scene, and a second one while reporting at the local police station 15 minutes later when i went to report it; I don’t believe i can continue riding because of the behaviour of this driver, meaning that i have to find a different way to get to to work. with the associated costs involved.

The incident and breakdowns were captured on camera, and will be passed to the police for prosecution for assault and dangerous driving, which will in itself, mean I’ve got to “relive it” while making a written report tonight, so i’ll relive the event and emotional impact to trying to capture it for the witness statement.

Is there any why that I can reclaim for emotional distress caused by the driver’s behaviour – the driver’s behaviour is going to have a long term impact.

There is certainly potential to pursue a claim for compensation in this matter. As you have reported the incident to the Police and have video footage of the incident, there is evidence to support you in any claim should you pursue the same.

We recommend that you make a GP appointment to discuss the incident and seek referral to a psychological specialist in order that there will also be medical evidence available in due course.

Should you wish to seek further advice from our specialist Solicitors, please provide further information via the ‘start your claim‘ form on our website and we’ll be in touch to help you.

I worked for the NHS as a nurse for 7 years at the beginning of the pandemic 70% of the staff in my unit was off sick. The shifts were poorly managed and we ended up with shortness of staff and using a lot of bank staff. The shifts were so chaotic and putting patients at risk that led me to stop sleeping properly, increasing my levels of anxiety and led me to be inpatient for three weeks in a psychiatric ward with Non-organic psychosis and ongoing medication and psychological support. Do you think I can sue my previous employer for damaging my mental health?

Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that you would be able to establish that your employer had been negligent in this situation. Although the cause of your health issue is clear and people would have every sympathy with you, the courts will be unlikely to find the employer has acted improperly. The pandemic hit suddenly and caused much unavoidable upset and problems in various workplaces.

I was a passenger in a works vehicle when it reversed over a woman and killed her. I have given statements to the police and Hertsmere Borough Council since the accident. I was unable to return to work for 2 weeks & I’ve been in touch with a counsellor.

You can seek to pursue a claim for psychological injuries and given what you have witnessed, it would seem reasonable and just for you to do so. We have specialist Solicitors able to assist with such action on a No Win No Fee basis. If successful with a claim for psychological injuries, you could obtain a financial settlement, recover any lost income and also obtain costs for medical treatments such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapies.

It is good that you have seen a counsellor, but it is important that your GP is made aware of the issues you are having in terms of what you saw and how it is impacting you and that you seek an appropriate referral for further treatment.