LEG INJURY CLAIMS

There are many different types of injuries that can form the basis of a leg injury claim. Each injury affects a different part of your leg, and each injury will look and feel different, but leg injuries generally have one thing in common – they prevent you from being able to carry on with your normal daily life.

Below are just some of the types of leg injuries that Free Legal Justice encountered in compensation claims:

Leg Strains and Sprains

A sprain happens when the tissue that connects two bones together- the ligaments- are stretched or torn. Sprains often happen in the ankle, but they can also occur in the knee if you suddenly hit or twist it. A strain on the other hand happens when a muscle or tendon is stretched or torn. Strains can easily happen in the hamstring muscle, which is found at the back of your thigh.

Strains and sprain injuries in the leg can both cause excruciating pain, and can leave you unable to walk properly, drive or exercise for up to 6 weeks after the injury. In some cases, usually where you need surgery for the injury, it could take several months to recover and get your life back.

Fractured or broken leg bones

Any sort of fracture or broken bone is extremely painful. Breaking a bone in your leg, knee or foot can have a huge impact on your life and can prevent you from working, walking and fulfilling daily tasks without assistance. If you break a bone in your leg, you will usually need a split or a cast, ‘moonboot’ or crutches just to be able to walk and move around. It can sometimes take up to 6 months or longer to make a full recovery after breaking a leg, and in extreme cases you may even need surgery.

Leg amputations

An amputation is the most extreme leg injury that we can claim for. If you’ve had to undergo an amputation because of your leg injury, we’re truly sorry. We know how difficult it can be to adjust to life after such a severe injury. As a result of a leg amputation, you may have to adapt your home, travel procedures and routines, family schedules and daily routines to account for your injuries. These adjustments cost a lot of money and effort, and on top of it all you may need to change or pause your occupation if you cannot return to work after a leg amputation.

As a victim of an accident, you should not have to pay for all these extra expenses incurred as a result of an accident caused by another person. Free Legal Justice is here help you to make your leg injury claim against the person that caused you harm. We know that finances might not be the first thing on your mind as you recover from a leg injury, but the compensation that you may receive from a leg injury claim can help you pay for the equipment and support you need to get your independence back. Contact Free Legal Justice for a free consultation today on 0800 567 7074 or 0121 565 4317, and get the compensation you deserve- as soon as possible.

Slip, Trip and Fall Leg Injury Claims

Many kinds of leg injuries can be caused by slipping, tripping or falling. Slip and trip accidents are relatively common, and can occur in the workplace, at a public place such as a school or shopping mall, in the street or in your house. Falling over in public is not only embarrassing and unsettling – it can easily cause painful leg injuries.

Slip And Trip in Public Places

In public places, slips, trips and falling accidents generally happen because businesses and local councils didn’t take the proper safety measures to keep members of the public safe on their premises.

Most slips or falls in shopping malls, restaurants, bars, and pavements or roads are caused by:

• Wet, sticky or slippery substances being left on floors;
• Uneven flooring and loose flooring or floor coverings;
• Cracked or uneven pavements;
• Exposed wiring or potholes in the ground;
• Other unexpected obstacles in the pathway; and
• Inadequate lighting.

Your local council is responsible for keeping public pavements, steps and walkways safe, and have a duty of care towards the public to maintain these spaces in safe and good order. Businesses on the other hand, for example shopping centres, stores, supermarkets, cinemas, sports grounds, pubs and restaurants also have a responsibility to keep you safe from slips and trips. These businesses need to properly mark out wet floors, keep walkways clear and free of obstacles, and clean up spillages as quickly as possible. If there is a danger posed to a member of the public, the business needs to take all necessary steps to remove the danger, or warn the public of the danger sufficiently.

In some cases, even if there was a sign warning you of a hazard such as a wet floor, you may still be able to claim for compensation for your leg injury. The shop or restaurant is still responsible if the measures put in place do not suitably reduce the risk to the public. For example, the spillage may have been there for a long time, or may extend beyond the warning sign that has been erected.

To find out who is responsible for the leg injury that you suffered in a public place, your solicitor will need to know exactly where and how the accident happened. If you fell in a building with public access, such as a public library, the parking lot of a shopping centre, or the local park, then responsibility for your leg injury would most likely lie with the owners of the building or space. If your leg injury happened in a shop, restaurant or a pub, then liability may be ascribed to the owner of the business. If you trip and fall into a hole in the pavement, a broken stairwell, or a broken public bench, then the person or body that is in charge of maintaining and upkeep of the public infrastructure will be responsible for your injuries. This is usually the local council or authority.

Slip And Trip At Work

If you slip, trip or fall at work and as a result, you suffer some form of leg injury, you may be entitled to a leg injury claim against your employer. In most cases your employer will be ultimately liable for the harm you have suffered, and will have breached the duty of care that they have towards you by failing to ensure your health and safety at work. If this is the case, there may be sufficient grounds for the employee to make a leg injury claim.

If your injury was caused by the negligence of a co-worker, your employer will still be responsible for the injuries you have suffered. As a result of a principle known as vicarious liability, your employer will be responsible for all actions of their employees, whether negligent or otherwise.

You may be worried that if you make a claim against your employer you are at risk of losing your job or may be treated differently, but this isn’t true. There are specific rules and legislation in place to protect employees making a claim against employers for work accident and injuries sustained in an accident at work. Put simply, it is illegal for your employer to fire you or even treat you differently because you have instituted a compensation claim against them.

You don’t have to worry about the financial consequences of making a claim against your employer – all employers are required by law to take out sufficient liability insurance to cover these types of claims. The insurance company takes over the claim made against your employer and will settle all costs associated with the claim.

Work accidents can be caused by a combination of unsafe behaviour and dangerous working conditions. When work accidents happen, it is crucial that an employer has adequate safety processes and policies in place to deal with the incident.

Leg injuries can easily happen in a number of industries. In the construction industry for example, a leg injury can happen if a worker falls from a building, scaffolding or piece of machinery to the ground below. Workers can also fall into holes or ditches on construction sites, and all of these accidents could result in a leg injury of some sort. In factories and laboratories, an employee can easily sustain a leg injury as a result of dangerous equipment, tools, and chemicals that could make contact with the leg. In these industries, and any other line of work that might involve hazardous machinery or toxic substances, an employer will have a duty of care towards employees to take the necessary health and safety measures to prevent accidents from happening in the workplace.

No matter what industry you are in, or what your risk profile is, your employer generally has a duty to ensure:

• the safety of the physical space at your place of work, including maintaining fire exits and escape routes;
• the safety and efficacy of the systems and processes in place at work;
• the state of plant and equipment at your place of work, including testing any electrical equipment that employees might use at the place of work;
• the security and safety of the working practices, including first aid and emergency plans; and
• that there is adequate training available to workers, including health safety training as well as job-specific training;
• to continuously conduct risk assessments; and
• that there is sufficient protective equipment at your place of work. This includes ensuring that sufficient and reasonable amounts of protective gear, first aid supplies, and protective uniforms are available to employees where applicable.

If you have suffered a leg injury at work because of the negligence of another employee or because your employer has negligently breached his or her duty of care, you may have a leg injury claim.

Leg Injuries Caused By Car Accidents

In simple terms, car accident is any type of incident that involves a car. Car accidents can happen as a result of a combination of actions by those involved, and these incidents can leave all those involved with injuries and suffering of some kind. A car accident includes a situation where two cars collide, or where a car collides with a motorbike or bicycle, and also includes incidents where a pedestrian is injured by a car.

Car accidents can cause injuries to all sorts of people – it isn’t just drivers who can claim for injuries sustained on the road. If you have suffered a leg injury in a car accident as a passenger, driver, cyclist or innocent bystander, and the accident was not your fault, you could have a leg injury claim. We know that everyone deals with an accident in a different way, and each person will be affected by the accident differently. At Free Legal Justice, we want to help our clients get the justice they deserve for the harm that has been wrongfully caused. Our solicitors have been dealing with personal injury claims for many years. We have handled numerous car accident claims with various degrees of leg injuries- fractures, bruising, crushed limbs, dislocated joints and even amputations.

Your legal right to compensation is centred on getting you back to the position you were in before you were harmed in the accident. In personal injury claims generally, compensation sums are calculated with reference to the severity of the victim’s personal injuries, and the type of assistance or treatment that the victim may need going forward to be able to live with the injuries. We will also include a claim for out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a result of the incident.

Personal injury claims consist of general and special damages. In summary, general damages are compensation for the personal injuries the claimant has suffered, whereas special damages are compensation for additional expenses incurred by the claimant as a result of the accident. Free Legal Justice will be sure to go through your calculation of general and special damages in detail once you’ve agreed to make your leg injury claim.

There are specific rules of how much can be claimed as general damages for different levels of leg injuries in claims of this type. Your general damages will be calculated by matching your independent medical report with the sums provided for in the official Judicial Board Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases. The amount of compensation that you will receive will be influenced by details such as how serious your injury was and how long you will take to recover from your injuries.

You will need to retain proof of all of the additional expenses or costs you have incurred to date, or will incur in the future, as a result of your leg injury. These costs will be included in the broad category of special damages. Special damages range from travel costs, costs of medical and rehabilitation appointments, childcare, loss of income, and broader medical expenses such as prescriptions, physiotherapy, counselling, physical home adjustments, to the cost of any special equipment that you might need during the recovery process.