Foot injuries can be terribly debilitating. When our ability to walk and move about is affected, the consequences this can have on our work, social, and domestic lives can be significant. There is often a lot of associated losses and expenses for these sorts of claims, which we know as Special Damages.
So what can you claim for and what sort of payouts can be expected?
When you make a claim for personal injury compensation there are two elements that form the entirety of the claim. One is known as General Damages which covers the pain, suffering, and loss of amenity caused. The value of this is based on the length and severity of the suffering. Generally speaking the more you suffer, the more we get for you.
We take things in to account such as:
- The severity and length of the pain
- The affect on your mobility
- Any long term consequential affects (like future risk of arthritis for example)
- The affect on your individual lifestyle – e.g. more active people who regularly exercise are likely to be affected more
- The affect on any hobbies such as sporting activities
- Whether you require any treatment or rehabilitation or operations etc
The value of this is based on you seeing a medical expert that we will arrange an appointment for. We then use the evidence they provide to us to value your claim for compensation. The report should detail all of the affects you have suffered from.
Special Damages is for your losses and expenses. This can include things like:
- Lost earnings form time off of work – which can include overtime and loss of bonuses etc
- Medication and treatment expense – which can include us recovering the cost of private physiotherapy that we can fund for you
- Care and assistance claims for any friends and family who may have needed to help you out
- Travel expenses
How much can I claim for?
The losses and expenses part will all be down to your individual circumstances. To value the injury side of things you need a medical report and a suitably qualified personal injury lawyer. But we do use official guidelines to assist with the valuation process, so I can outline these below for you to use as a rough guide:
Modest Foot Injuries – up to £9,800
- Simple metatarsal fractures, ruptured ligaments, puncture wounds etc
- Where there are continuing symptoms, such as a permanent limp, pain or aching, awards between £5,000 and £9,800.
- Straightforward foot injuries such as fractures, lacerations, contusions etc. from which complete or near complete recovery is made would justify awards of £5,000 or less
Moderate Foot Injuries – £9,800 to £17,850
Displaced metatarsal fractures resulting in permanent deformity and continuing symptoms with the potential risk of long-term osteoarthritis and/or future surgery.
Serious Foot Injury Claims – £17,850 to £28,000
This bracket will include injuries less severe than the above but leading to continuing pain from traumatic arthritis or the risk of future arthritis, prolonged treatment, and the risk of fusion surgery.
Severe Foot Injury Compensation Claims – £30,000 to £50,000
- Fractures of both heels or feet with a substantial restriction on mobility or considerable and permanent pain
- The can also include unusually severe injury to a single foot, e.g. severe degloving, extensive surgery, heel fusion, osteoporosis, ulceration or other disability preventing the wearing of ordinary shoes
- Foot drop deformity corrected by a brace will also be in this one
Very Severe Foot Injury Cases – £60,000 to £78,300
- Permanent and severe pain or really serious permanent disability
- Traumatic amputation of the forefoot where there was a significant risk of the need for a full amputation and serious exacerbation of an existing back problem
- Cases of the loss of a substantial portion of the heel so that mobility was grossly restricted
