Back Injury Claims & Compensation Amounts

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If you have suffered an injury to your back that wasn’t your fault, whether it happened at work, in a road traffic accident, or after a slip or fall, you have a legal right to make a claim for injury compensation on a no win no fee basis. Back injuries can have long-lasting implications, and as such, compensation amounts can be fairly substantial. Here we look at how to make a back injury claim and what level of compensation you can expect.

What back injuries can you claim for?

Back injury claims arise from many different scenarios and have a wide range of severity. The most serious spinal injuries are life-changing for both the injured person and their family. Slipped discs, sprains and soft-tissue injuries can have an impact on your life and affect your ability to earn income.

Back injuries often follow an accident at work. Others are made after a slip, trip or fall in a public place, and commonly after a road traffic accident. They can also be caused by clinical negligence.

However it occurred, if you have an accident that hurts your back, or develop back pain, you can make a claim if it can be shown someone else is at fault for your injury.

Pre-existing back injuries that are made worse

Having a pre-existing back injury does not prevent you from claiming compensation. If it is made worse, you can claim for this aggravation. If you have a previous history of back problems reported on your medical records, they will be taken into account when determining what you can claim for.

Workplace back injury claims

Most work-related back injury claims arise after lifting or moving heavy items or falling over at work. Claims can also be made following an injury due to repetitive tasks, a prolonged time in one position, or poor seating that doesn’t support the spine, neck or shoulders properly.

Whatever your job, your employer has a duty to keep you safe, and this includes preventing you from injuring your back by providing the right training, equipment and a safe working environment. The HSE provides specific advice for employers on how to protect workers from back pain.

Road accident back injury claims

Road traffic accidents often involve back injuries to both drivers and passengers, and commonly these are to the spine and neck.

Whiplash is probably the most well-known injury to suffer in a car accident, where damage occurs to soft tissues in the upper spine, through the neck and in to the shoulders and arms.

More serious spinal cord injuries can have life-changing consequences, resulting in paralysis and the need for ongoing, specialist care. Road users such as cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians, who don’t have the same protection as those in a vehicle, are especially at risk of severe spinal injuries.

Back injury compensation amounts

How much you can claim for a back injury depends on the severity of the injury and how it impacts your life.

When you make a claim, your solicitor will access your medical records and organise a medical examination to help to form a valuation of how much compensation you should be due. The cost of the medical assessment is not something you need to worry about and you will not have to pay for it.

Settlement values are comprised of what are known as general and special damages. General damages cover the injury itself and the effect it has on your life. For instance, whether the injury affects your ability to earn money, do your job, perform your usual activities outside work and how long you are likely to experience such problems. Special damages cover the financial costs you incur because of the injury – lost income, medical treatments, travel expenses, property damage, for example.

The table below provides a guide to average compensation amounts for back injuries suffered at work or elsewhere, not including the special damages element of a claim:

Severity of back injuryCompensation amount
Severe£36k - £151k
Moderate£12k - £36k
Minor£2k - £12k

Accessing private therapy as part of your claim

Making a claim for injury compensation can be about more than money and actually help your recovery. Depending on your situation, our specialist solicitors can look to obtain a course of private or NHS therapy for you as soon as the defendants have admitted liability.

Third-party insurers are keen to help claimants recover from their injuries as quickly as possible to minimise the total settlement value. Paying for the costs of therapy early on avoids the potential for injuries to become ongoing and add to their costs for treatment and loss of wages.

There are two routes that a claimant can use to pursue rehabilitation therapies – seeking NHS or private therapy on their own, or by requesting that the party against whom they are claiming provides the therapy.

What do I need to make a back injury claim?

To make a claim, you will at least need to ensure that your injury is properly reported and recorded and medical treatment is received.

You should also see your GP or attend an A&E department to ensure that the details of your injury are noted on your medical records as this will provide evidence to support your claim at a later stage.

Don’t worry if this all seems a bit complicated – if you are in any doubt about what to do and need some clear, honest advice, tell us about your situation and we’ll be glad to help.

At Direct2Compensation making a no win no fee claim for back injury compensation is easy. With over 25 years’ experience, you can use our knowledge and expertise to get your claim off to the best start. There is no charge for assessing your case, so you have nothing to lose and much to gain if you can make a successful claim. It’s usually really quick for us to find out if you have a valid claim, just leave a question below, call us on 01225 430285, or .

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Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming, plus back injury claim examples...

Hi, I am hoping to get some advice on how to proceed with my current situation…

I went to a chiropractor for a chronic lower back issue. In the consultation/examination I was diagnosed with a lumbar spine issue. Treatment was started the same day and my lower back was adjusted. I then went for a second treatment a few days later, again my back was adjusted. At no point during any of these treatments did I complain of neck issues or even have my neck touched/examined….

3 weeks ago I went to a third appointment this time with a different chiropractor, but at the same clinic. This chiropractor is actually much more experienced than the first chiropractor I had and owns the clinic. He had my diagnosis and history on the computer in front of him, but for some reason he started looking at other parts of my body, legs, knees, shoulder, neck, but didn’t say anything about if or how any issues he found in these areas were linked to my back injury. As far as I am aware – they are not linked. He adjusted all said areas, but did not tell me he was going to do so. He did not at any point ask if it was ok. It wasn’t until I was lying down on the chiropractic bench with my head in his hands that I realised he was going to ‘adjust’ my neck.

My neck was ‘adjusted’ and from the following day onwards I have had neck inflammation, neck ache, crunching/popping/cracking noises throughout the rotation of my head. I am not sure why the chiropractor thought he should adjust my neck when I had no complaints and no issues with my neck. It was functioning perfectly well before he touched it.

Today I have contacted my doctor and await a response from them so that they can take a look at my neck. Maybe I should go to A&E instead as the wait times for a doctor’s appointment could be many days or weeks.

At what point should I contact my chiropractor about my symptoms? – should I avoid speaking with them until a doctor has diagnosed what has gone wrong?

There was a document I signed at my first appointment and to be honest I do not know what it states. If it states something along the lines of ‘You allow us to make adjustments to your body as we see fit and you take full responsibility for any injuries caused by treatment’ – would that stand up in a court of law and protect them?

I have requested a digital copy of that document I have signed.

Thanks for your help.

Ian Morris

Requesting a digital copy of the initial document that you signed with the Chiropractic surgery is a sensible move. You should also make a written report/complaint to the Chiropractor regarding the pain and discomfort that you are now experiencing in your neck and that you were not consulted about your neck or the need to undertake any adjustments prior to the treatment and seek their opinion on the same.

Depending on the response from the Chiropractor, the document you initially signed with them and the outcome of any x-rays or further tests via your GP, it may then be the case that a potential claim for negligence against the Chiropractor could be a valid course of action, in which case return to us for further help.

Reply

Personal injury claim enquiry.

I am a disabled person who was not provided with the appropriate adjustments or furniture for my working from home environment from April 2020.

Consequently, I developed severe back pain and exacerbation of my stress and anxiety.

My request for reasonable adjustments were disregarded by my employer and this impacted my mental health and resulted in me needing to go on sick leave due to severe back pain and depression in October 2020.

My medication for my mental health disability had to be increased and I was referred for cognitive behavioural therapy and an MRI. I have subsequently been referred for physiotherapy.

I am still experiencing chronic back pain despite the desk being provided recently.

I am still awaiting my physical therapy to commence.

Ian Morris

Our Solicitors have agreed with our initial view in that you have a valid claim and that your employer has been negligent in their failure to handle your work station set up requests properly.

Reply

I am wondering if I will be able to claim for Acute Thoracic spine pain? This happened during work stepping out of the side of the van.

Ian Morris

We need to know a little more about the injury and how you came to sustain such an injury from stepping out of the works van before we can advise you further. Please tell us how you were injured and we can then further consider this for you.

Reply

I was moving a heavy load on a trolley. the heavy fire doors which wouldn’t remain open and had to be propped open by myself to pass the load through. There wasn’t anyone else around to help. There were a lot of awkward twists and positions in order to complete the task. I now have severe lower back pain which has caused absence in my second employment as well, subsequently loss of earning in both jobs. I informed my employer straight away.
What is the likelihood I can make a claim?

Ian Morris

If the nature of the working environment makes it impossible to work safely or in accordance with manual handling guidance, you may well have a valid claim. It is good that the employers have provided you with a trolley, yet the nature of the fire doors and having to negotiate a path through them alone could be seen as a hazard and therefore enable a claim.

Please use the ‘start a claim’ page of our website to make further contact and find out more about your rights to claim compensation for your work related back injury.

Reply

Hi I’m currently on the sick from work I have been since August with a bad back. I started having back ache about 4 yrs ago not bad but just a bit sore then I got my current job 3 yrs ago my back was fine up until August this year when it just totally went. I’ve had mri scan and I’ve got a ruptured disc which is compressing my nerve now being referred to spinal surgeon could possibly need surgery. I know 100% that my job has caused this the amount of work I did sometimes was too much.

Ian Morris

There is a strict 3-year claim limitation in place that governs how long someone has got to make a claim for personal injury compensation. Whilst you state that some of your symptoms started 4 years ago, they appear to have been mild. However, your more recent work would appear to have caused you to suffer a more serious back injury and it could well be that you could make a claim.

We need to speak with you on the phone to find out more about what, if any manual handling training your employer provided you with, what work you were doing and when you first attended your GP or Hospital regarding these more serious symptoms.

There may be an element of exacerbating a pre-existing injury, but even so, you could still look to pursue a claim for compensation here.

Reply
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