Chest Injury Compensation Claims & Settlement Values

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Chest injury compensation claims can arise from any type of injury or illness to the chest area. This covers between the neck and diaphragm and can include fractures to the bones of the ribs, chest and sternum, plus soft tissue damage to the ligaments and muscles around the ribs and chest.

It also relates to chronic serious health problems affecting the lungs, such as mesothelioma or as a result of inhalation of substances hazardous to health.

Compensation settlement values in claims for chest injury compensation can reach substantial sums, as in some cases, the damage can have permanent consequences.

Table of contents:

Common causes of chest injuries and illnesses

Typically, injuries to the chest area occur as a result of an impact trauma. This could be following a road traffic accident, especially motorcycle accidents, or from a fall from height or criminal assault.

In cases of road traffic accidents, heavy vehicle impacts often lead to damage to the rib cage or sternum. For motorcyclists, broken ribs and collarbones are a common outcome.

We also assist many people with chest injury compensation claims following a fall from height in an accident at work. Those who fall from ladders or other raised workspaces such as kick stools often sustain injuries to the intercostal muscles around the ribs, as well as broken ribs.

Chest-related illnesses seen in the compensation claims sector tend to be asbestosis, or mesothelioma. This condition, which can be fatal, occurs as a result of the inhalation of dangerous particles of asbestos that go on to damage the tissues of the lungs and lead to cancer. Other causes of chest illnesses in the workplace arise from the negligent handling and storage of chemicals and toxic substances, where inadequate personal protective equipment and training is enforced.

How do I know if I can make a claim?

Any person who suffers a trauma injury to their chest area, or serious illness affecting the lungs, can seek to make a claim if the cause was due to the negligence of someone else.

On the road

In cases of a motorcycle or car accident, the injured person can seek to claim chest injury compensation from the insurers of the negligent driver that caused the accident. In the event of a hit and run or uninsured driver, our specialist solicitors can pursue a No Win No Fee claim for chest injury compensation via the Motor Insurers Bureau scheme.

Work accidents

Where chest injuries were caused by way of an accident in the workplace, whether as a result of a fall or being crushed, or due to inadequate training and unsupervised use of dangerous machinery, the injured worker can succeed with a claim if it can be demonstrated that their employer was negligent and failed to adequately protect their health and safety.

Employers have statutory duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to ensure that all staff are adequately trained and that appropriate steps are taken to minimise the risk of injury in the workplace.

Work illnesses

Where chest illnesses are caused at work, usually through negligent handling of substances hazardous to health, such as those seen in breaches of the ‘Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH)’, an injured employee can seek to make a no win no fee claim for chest injury compensation on the grounds of employer negligence.

How much is my chest injury claim worth?

As with all claims for compensation, the first step to reaching a valuation is for our specialist solicitor to establish liability and gain an admission of the same from the defendant insurers. Once this has happened, the process of placing a valuation on a suitable settlement can begin.

The value of a chest injury compensation claim will be made up of two parts – the element for general damages (reached on the basis of medical evidence and length of injury or recovery) as well as special damages, where any costs and lost income can be recovered.

Your solicitor will instruct a medical expert to assess you and provide a detailed report on the extent of your injuries or illness, and what level of recovery you are likely to make. It is from the prognosis provided by an expert report and by reviewing judicial guidelines that an appropriate general damages value can be made on your claim.

In cases where the chest injury or illness is fairly minor and a full recovery is expected in a fairly short period of time, the average claim value range is £1,000 to £3,000.

More serious damage to the chest, such as that caused by inhalation of dangerous chemicals that will have a permanent impact (but not cause loss of life) can see chest injury claim values of between £4,000 and £14,000.

The most serious of chest injuries and illnesses, including terminal illnesses such as mesothelioma, can see substantial damages awarded to the claimant of values exceeding £100,000.

How Direct2Compensation can help you claim

At Direct2Compensation, our expert team know your rights and can quickly assess whether the cause of your chest injury meets the criteria to pursue a claim for compensation.

Whether you have been injured in an accident at work or on the road, we will pair you with the right specialist solicitor. We speak in simple terms and offer an easy to understand and transparent claims process that affords you the peace of mind to focus on your recovery. We work hard to maximise the value and ensure the best chances of succeeding with your claim for chest injury compensation.

You can start your claim online or , and one of our expert team will be in touch to offer help.

Alternatively, you may prefer to call us and ask some questions to find out more about your rights and whether or not you can make a claim for chest injury compensation. If so, simply call us on 01225 430285.

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Comments & Questions

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

My mum died as a result of a sternal fracture which led to pneumonia and killed her two weeks later. My mum was in a care home and had mixed advanced dementia with no mobility. My mum was care planned to have two carers stand her up to rotate to sit down. An incident happened in the bathroom where my mum sustained a sternal fracture. The coroners verdict was “sustained a fracture following a blunt anterior chest wall fracture on 8th December 2018 the precise circumstances of which remain in ascertained”. My mum was only tended to that morning by two carers no other party had been in the bedroom. I wish to pursue a claim against the care home, please could you advise, thank you.

Ian Morris

This matter certainly warrants specialist advice and guidance from an expert Solicitor. Please email me directly at ian@direct2compensation.co.uk with a summary explanation of the matter at hand along with some additional information about you (contact info) and your Mother (name, date of birth) and the location of the care home and I will have a specialist Solicitor contact you to discuss this matter in detail.

Reply

I previously wrote regarding ongoing chest infections and hospital treatment for this due to mold inhalation. The housing association have admitted liability but not to the fact that there negligence caused my ongoing chest problems. I suffer from asthma COPD and have a new diagnosis bronchiectasis since this incident, originally I could not get a solicitor to take on my case so I undertook to do it alone until they admitted liability. I was recently sent an email by the Solicitors acting on behalf of the housing association and said that now they have all my medical records they would organise me to see a chest specialist to get an expert report, and once they received the report, they would ask me to sign paperwork and enter into a settlement with me. My solicitor advised me not to attend the medical and has written to them asking what are they admitting liability to. I’m a little confused as to how it works but if my Solicitors now arrange a medical, the costs I’m guessing would come out of any award made to me? Do you think this is the right course of action since the other party was at a stage to settle my case, any advice on my case would be much appreciated.

Ian Morris

As you are being represented by a Solicitor, I would imagine that you are in good hands. Of course, you should discuss these issues with your Solicitor and refer to any instructions you have signed to authorise your Solicitor to act for you, but so long as you are being represented by a qualified Solicitor you should not worry.

In terms of advising you to refuse to go to the medical, your Solicitor appears to have acted correctly. It would seem that your Solicitor is not saying that you will not undergo a medical but that you need to know what they are admitting liability for and to what you would then be able to take in to account in any claim BEFORE you are able to undergo a medical or discuss your losses and costs.

By attending the medical now, you may end up being lead in to settling your claim for a value that is not appropriate and your Solicitor is likely to be mindful of this and will be acting in your best interests. If your Solicitor arrives a medical at a later stage, you would not pay for that. If you succeed with your claim, your Solicitor will recover the cost of the medical assessment and if you lose the claim, you won’t pay the cost.

Reply

Needed hospital due to diabetic illness, ambulance came and took me and on way the back the wheels fell off the ambulance. Had x-ray on chest while in hospital and came home and continued to use painkillers.

Ian Morris

If you were injured in a Road Traffic Accident whilst travelling as a passenger in an ambulance, you would have every right to make a claim for compensation for the physical and emotional injuries you sustained in the accident.

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