Shoulder injuries can be painful, debilitating, and more often than not they can result in lengthy periods of time off work. Even minor shoulder injuries will affect most forms of employment; particular those who are employed in manual jobs, driving jobs, construction work, etc.
Let’s take a look at what you can claim for when it comes to shoulder injury compensation amounts and consequential losses.
Typical Payouts
I must stress that it all depends on the individual case, and using this information as fact is a very dangerous thing to do. We base this information on official guidelines that are used with proper medico-legal evidence to value a claim. The terms for minor, moderate, and severe are in the legal sense – which isn’t the same as what your GP or the hospital may say!
Minor Shoulder Injuries
Minor shoulder injuries are often basic soft tissue injuries involving strains or minor tears to the ligaments in the area. These can be caused from whiplash injuries in car accidents, or manual handling injuries from work, or perhaps fall injuries where you have jarred your shoulder or fallen heavily on to one side.
- If the recovery is made within a year, the upper limit for a payout is normally £3,100
- If the recovery is perhaps two years, the upper limit is around £5,600
Moderate Shoulder Injuries
A frozen shoulder is typically classed as a moderate shoulder injury in the sense of the official guidelines we use to value claims.
- Payouts are typically between £5,600 and £9,100 – largely dependent on how long and how badly you suffer for
Clavicle Fracture
Where you fit on the scale here is largely dependent on how bad the fracture is and what the future prognosis is.
- Payout ranges, unless it ends up being very serious, are £3,650 to £8,700
Serious Shoulder Injuries
The serious shoulder injury category is often reserved for injuries such as dislocations, which are often caused by fall injuries or severe manual handling injuries in the workplace. Damage to the brachial plexus causing associated pain in the neck, elbow, arms, etc with the potential for loss of strength of grip. Rotator cuff injuries requiring surgery may also fall within this bracket too.
- A payout range for the above is £9,100 to £13,700
Severe Shoulder Injuries
When we get to this sort of stage, it’s important to remember that it’s all about medical evidence and the length and severity of your own suffering. These figures are also only guideline figures for the injury alone, and associated losses and expenses can be claimed on top – and I’ll go in to this in more detail later. These are generally for the ones that leave significant and ongoing disability.
- Payout ranges can be between £13,700 – £34,300
Additional Losses and Expenses
You are entitled to claim compensation for the injury using the guidelines mentioned above and you are also entitled to claim for what we call Special Damages. These can include things like:
- Lost earnings from time off work – including future lost earnings if you cannot work in the same capacity as you could before
- Private medical care costs – such as the costs of private physiotherapy to aid your recovery
- Travel expenses, such as car journeys or taxi and bus journeys if you cannot drive yourself
- Care and assistance claims – which is additional hourly rate money you can claim for friends and family having to help you out
What to do to get the best payout possible
Whilst it is all about how long and how badly you have suffered for, getting the right lawyer can get you more money. For instance, we don’t always take the full 25% from the claim that most lawyers do, and there are never any additional or upfront fees.
We’re also a specialist personal injury law firm so our experience means we know how to get the best possible payout for you.
For help and advice, call us on 0800 634 75 75 today.
