Carehome Accident Claims

Care Home Accident Claims Explained?

Care home accidents can happen to anyone inside a care home, or in the grounds. This includes staff, residents and visitors. All of these groups have a legal right to be safe whilst they are within the care home environment and the management of the care home is responsible for making sure that this is the case.

The kinds of accidents that are likely to lead to carehome accident claims are different depending on which group you fall into. Residents in carehomes are more likely to suffer slips, trips or falls, and are more likely to experience serious injuries as a result of these. For staff, lifting injuries are also very common. Low staff levels can leave you feeling pressured to assist residents alone, when you should really have access to assistance. No matter what kind of accident you have experienced within a care home, you are entitled to compensation if you accident or injury could have been predicted and avoided.

Our No Win No Fee Claims Team Is Here To Help

Our dedicated team of care home accident claims solicitors are here to help you get compensation for your care home accident. We know that the period immediately after a care home accident can be particularly stressful, as you take the time to recover. For many of our clients, this can also be a period of financial hardship, if they are forced to take some time off work to allow them to heal.

A carehome accident compensation claim can seem like adding additional pressure to a stressful situation, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Our dedicated team of personal injury claims solicitors have years of experience dealing with carehome accident claims just like yours, and we can take all of the stress out of your carehome accident claim.

If you would like to discuss your carehome accident compensation claim, or if you are ready to begin your claim, call us on 0800 567 7074 or 0121 565 4317 or claim online today. We’re open 24 hours a day and our caring team are ready to take your call.

What Should You Do After Your Care home Accident?

The most important thing after any care home accident is to make sure that you are safe from any further harm and that you have access to the medical assistance you need. Only once you have made sure that this is sorted should you consider taking a few simple steps to help support your claim, if you feel that you are able to do so.

The first thing anyone who has experienced a care home accident should do, once they are safe, is to make a written record of what has happened. This should include any details that you can remember. The more detailed your account is, the better it will be as evidence. You should try to include details, even if they seem irrelevant, as they may help you remember more later.

Witness Details And Statements Is Important

It can also be worth making sure that you have a note of the names and contact details of anyone who might have witnessed your care home accident. If there is anyone who can support your description as to what happened, or who can back up your assertion as to who was to blame, this can be an advantage when it comes to making your compensation claim.

Collecting photographs or videos of the area in which your care home accident happened can also be very helpful, but you should only do this if it safe to do so. Anything showing relevant details, including anything that might have caused or exacerbated (made worse) your care home accident is particularly valuable to show.

We Are Always Here To Help

Although these are some things that you can do following your carehome accident, to help support your carehome accident compensation claim, we are still fully able to help you even if you are not able to do any of these things. Our expert team of personal injury claims solicitors are specialists in making these kinds of claims, and we can arrange for the collection of any evidence needed to support your carehome accident claim. Call us on 0800 567 7074 or 0121 565 4317 or claim online now to discuss your carehome accident claim and see how we can help.

How Much Compensation Is Awarded For Care home Accident Claims?

Although we understand the desire to know the average compensation payments for a carehome accident, every compensation payment is different, and the ranges can be very wide indeed. This is because the compensation you receive is directly related not just to the injuries you have received but also to the impact this has had upon your life.

Compensation claims for all accidents and injuries, including care home accidents, are in two main parts. The first is to compensate you for the pain and suffering that you have experienced. The guideline amounts for these are ranges set by the Judicial College, and are set nationally and reviewed regularly. These guideline ranges for any particular injury can be very broad, which allows them to take into account the individual nature of your specific care home accident case. Our years of experience helping people just like you with their care home accident compensation claim allows us to give you the best possible estimate of where in this range your injury is likely to fall.

Special Damages For Care Home Injury Claims

The second part of your care home accident compensation claim is the more variable part. This is designed to make sure that you are not left financially worse off as a result of your care home accident. Ideally, this should mean that you are left in the same position as you would have been if your care home accident had not happened. This includes compensating you for the loss of earnings if you are unable to work for a period while you recover, and even for the loss of potential future earnings if your injuries mean that you are unable to return to your former line of work. Additionally, you can claim for any expenses you might have incurred as a result of what happened to you, including any additional transportation costs, care you may have had to pay for and rehabilitation help that you have needed to access privately, such as physiotherapy. In the case of very serious injuries, you may also be able to claim for modifications to your home and vehicle to allow you get your life back as close as possible to where it was before.

Working with our dedicated team of care home accident claims specialists means that you can rest assured that your compensation claim includes all aspects of your financial losses as a result of your care home accident and that you are making the most appropriate compensation claim for your personal circumstances.

How Free Legal Justice Can Help With Your Care home Accident Claim

Making a carehome accident claim can seem daunting, and many of our clients are worried that they might struggle with the paperwork or that it will be very time-consuming. At Free Legal Justice, we want to take the stress and worry out of making a carehome accident compensation claim. We are available 24 hours per day, seven days a week, meaning that you can always get in touch with us if you need us. Whether you prefer to call us on 0800 567 7074 or 0121 565 4317 or to apply online and have us call you back for free at a time of your choosing, we are here to help.

We Are Highly Trained In No Win No Fee Care Home Accident Compensation Claims

Our teams of care home accident claims specialists are highly-trained, and know how important it is to take the time to listen to what happened to you. We want to make sure that we fully understand the details of your case, especially the circumstances surrounding your care home accident, who you believe is at fault, the full extent of the injuries you have sustained and the impact this has had on your life. Once we have all of this information, we are able to give you personalised care and advice that we believe you deserve.

Our experienced team are also able to complete almost all of the paperwork, admin and forms that are required for your carehome accident compensation claim. We will write to the person responsible for your carehome accident making the case for them to accept liability and settle out of court. We will also carry out the negotiations on your behalf. For the few documents that you will need to complete yourself, we are happy to arrange a home visit to help you in the comfort of your own home.

Making a carehome accident compensation claim doesn’t have to be difficult or stressful, and with our help, it won’t be.

Can I Get No Win No Fee Help With My Care home Accident Claim?

At free Legal Justice, we believe that justice should be available to everyone, without the need for large up-front payments or large solicitor’s fees. As a result, we offer our services on a we offer our services on a no win no fee basis to the vast majority of our clients.

Our no win no fee agreements mean that you can get the best legal advice and assistance, without having to pay anything up front. You will only pay for our services once we have obtained the compensation you deserve. If we are unsuccessful in obtaining compensation for you, you won’t have to pay anything. We also cap our fees as a minor percentage of your compensation payment, meaning that you will always be significantly better off as a result of winning your compensation claim and that you will always receive the lion’s share of your payment.

NOT All Claims Are No Win No Fee!

In a very small number of cases, we are unable to offer a no win no fee agreement. In the unlikely event that your care home accident claim falls into this category, we will make sure that you understand this straight away, and we will make sure to discuss possible alternative funding options with you to make sure that you have an affordable route to the help you need.

If you are considering making a carehome accident compensation claim, don’t hesitate. Our expert team are waiting to take your call. Call us on 0800 567 7074 or 0121 565 4317 now or claim online and let our expert team of carehome accident claims solicitors help you with your claim.

Will I Get Into Trouble At Work For Making A Care home Accident Compensation Claim?

You should never be made to feel that your job is at risk if you make a carehome accident compensation claim. It is actually illegal for your employer to punish you in any way for making a compensation claim following any accident at work, and the penalties can be very severe. They must not fire you, cause you to miss out on promotions or change your job to a less desirable one as a result of you making a carehome accident compensation claim.

Most companies and organisations would not want to make life difficult for an employee who had suffered a carehome accident. Most businesses understand that you need the financial support from your compensation to assist with your recovery, and to get back to work as quickly as possible.

Making A No Win No Fee Claim Will Make The Care Home Safer!

Your colleagues can also benefit from you making a care home accident compensation claim. In most cases, your care home accident could have happened to any of them, and it is essential that your employer understands just how important their health and safety policies are. Making a care home accident compensation claim encourages your employer to make your workplace safer for everyone.

You can also be sure that your care home accident claim is not impacting the long-term financial health of the company you work for. They are required to take our Employers Liability Insurance, which covers them for all accidents at work. This insurance means that you should never feel pressured into not making a care home accident compensation claim on the basis that you and your colleagues may be out of work if the company is not able to pay.

If you are wondering whether you can make a care home accident compensation claim, or if you are ready to begin the process, call us on 0800 567 7074 or 0121 565 4317 or claim online. Our dedicated team of claims specialists are here to help, 24 hours a day.

What Is The Carehome Accident Claim Process?

In order to make a carehome accident compensation claim, you will need to follow the standard process for making any personal injury compensation claim.

The first thing to do before starting your carehome accident compensation claim is to make sure that you have arranged the legal support and advice that you will need. To discuss your claim and your options, call us on 0800 567 7074 or 0121 565 4317 or claim online. Working with our team of dedicated personal injury claims solicitors gives you the best possible chance of getting the compensation payment you deserve.

We Contact The Other Side For You!

Working on your behalf, we write to the person responsible for your carehome accident (this person is often known as the respondent). In this letter, we explain that you are claiming compensation for your injuries and that you believe that they were at fault. We ask them to accept responsibility (the legal term for this is accepting liability) for what happened and give them a deadline by which to inform us if they disagree.

If the other side tells us that they do not accept liability (this is known as them disputing liability), we will put together a file of evidence to support your claim. This will include any evidence you have found, as well as anything we gather. It can include a visual record of the event, if one exists, witness statements and expert testimony as to accepted safety guidelines for your industry. Once presented with this information, almost all employers will accept liability.

What Happens When Liability Is Accepted?

As soon as the other party has agreed liability, we can begin negotiations to decide how much compensation is fair. This will always be completely your decision, but we will offer you advice and support to ensure that you can be confident in your decisions. The other party will often offer a very low initial amount, known as a lowball offer, to see whether you will accept less than you are entitled to. With our experience, we are able to give you the information you need to identify these kinds of tactics and get the full amount of compensation you deserve for your carehome accident.

The vast majority of carehome accident compensation claims are resolved without having to go to court, through the process described above. If it is not possible to reach an agreement as to how much compensation is fair, or if the other party refuses to accept that they were to blame, your case might need to be resolved by a judge. This is not as daunting as it might sound, especially as we’re with you the whole way through.

We only take our fees once your carehome accident compensation payment has been agreed and paid. Until that point, you don’t need to pay a penny. Our fees are capped at a minor percentage of your compensation payment, meaning that the bulk of your compensation is there to support you in your recovery following your carehome accident.

How To Start Your Care home Accident Compensation Claim

The idea of making a care home accident compensation claim can seem daunting, with clients unsure as to how to begin. Luckily, our highly-experienced team of care home accident specialists are here to help.

The first step in making your care home accident compensation claim is to call us on 0800 567 7074 (free from landlines) or 0121 565 4317 (charges at a local rate, or included in your free minutes from a mobile) or claim online and we will call you back at a time that is convenient to you. Our expert team of care home accident specialists are available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week to ensure that you can get the help you need.

We Will Listen To You

During our conversation, we will need to ensure that have the full picture of what happened with your care home accident. This includes the full extent of your injuries, the circumstances surrounding your care home accident (including who you believe was to blame) and the ways in which your life has been affected by your care home accident. As soon as we understand this, we are in a position to provide you with the kind of personalised advice that you need.

Carehome Accident Compensation Claims – How Long Do They Take To Resolve?

How long a care home accident compensation claim takes to complete depends on the nature of the case itself. We understand that you want your claim resolved as quickly as possible, and we work tirelessly to get you the compensation you need to put your care home accident behind you.

Claims Are Finished Very Quickly

Cases that progress quickly will tend to be resolved within just a few weeks. These are usually very straightforward claims for smaller amounts of money in which the other party is willing to accept liability. In these circumstances, there is often very little point in the other party arguing for too long over the exact amount of compensation due, as it is rarely worth their while. It is better all round for the matter to be resolved quickly and with as little difficulty as possible.

If you are unlucky enough to have a very complicated case, for example if multiple people were to blame for what happened, or if your carehome accident resulted in very serious injuries and there are complex negotiations as to the amount of compensation that is appropriate, your case can take significantly longer to be resolved. Cases that have to go to court are the longest compensation cases.

What If My Care home Accident Wasn’t Recorded In The Accident Book?

All workplaces are required to have an accident book, and all accidents at work must be recorded as soon as is practical after the incident. It is also best practice to record any ‘near misses’ where an accident could have happened but was avoided. This means that the accident book should provide a clear record of any health and safety issues in your workplace.

Although all accidents must be recorded in the accident book, this doesn’t always happen. If an accident or injury is very serious, the most important thing is to look after the person who has been hurt. In these cases, the accident book may be forgotten and filled out later. Sometimes, however, an employer deliberately fails to record an accident or injury in the accident book, in the hopes that they will be able to deny that it took place.

Accident Not Written In The Accident Book… Now What?

The accident book is a useful piece of evidence when making your care home accident compensation claim, but it is not the only way to prove what happened and you are still able to make a claim if your accident or injury was not recorded. Our care home accident specialists have years of experience in finding alternative types of evidence to support your account of what happened and in making a compelling argument to get you the compensation you deserve.

If you realise that your employer has not recorded your carehome accident in the accident book, we recommend that you email either your manager or the HR department, asking that your carehome accident be recorded. This will provide you with a record of what happened and can be used as evidence if your employer is deliberately not recording your carehome accident.

Can I Claim Compensation After My Carehome Accident?

If you have suffered a carehome accident, you may be unsure as to whether you are entitled to claim compensation. In most cases, you will be able to make a claim, but there are a few conditions that must be met.

The first requirement is that you must have been harmed in some way as a result of your carehome accident. You can be compensated for any injuries, physical or mental, that you sustain following your carehome accident, but you are not able to receive compensation for a near miss, where you avoided injury. If you are struck by a falling object, for example, you are able to make a claim. If you narrowly miss being struck because you jumped out of the way, you are not entitled to compensation.

Someone Has To Be Blamed For Your Injury

The next requirement for you to make a care home accident compensation claim is that there must have been someone else to blame for what happened to you. This person or organisation does not need to have taken specific action, or to have been present when your care home accident happened, but they must have had some form of responsibility for your welfare. For accidents that took place in the workplace, this can be very straightforward to establish, as your employer has a statutory duty of care.

The person or organisation that you are claiming against must also have been able to predict something along the lines of what happened to you. This does not mean that you have to prove that they did anticipate it, but a reasonable person who was taking their role seriously in terms of health and safety should be able to foresee the danger.

The final consideration is what measures were taken to protect you. If no protective measures were put in place, your claim is highly likely to be successful. If they did take some steps to keep you safe, you may still be able to claim if these were not sufficient, given the degree of risk.

Contact Our Care Home Accident Claims Team

If you have suffered a care home accident and someone else was to blame, whether through their negligence or carelessness, you are entitled to compensation. If you are considering making a care home accident compensation claim, don’t delay. Call us now on 0800 567 7074 or 0121 565 4317 or claim online to discover how we can help you to get the compensation you deserve.

Helpful Links

Care Home Safety Tips 
This link gives free tips on care home safety

Health and Safety In Care Homes
This link gives the health and safety rules and regulations in the UK for care homes