If you’re wondering, ‘how much compensation for being stuck in a lift?’, our guide will answer that question and more. From time limits and evidence to claiming on a No Win No Fee basis with our panel of lift compensation claim specialists, you’ll find all the key information you need here.
Being stuck in a lift can be extremely stressful. In the worst cases, an incident like this can lead to severe emotional distress, such as psychiatric damage or post-traumatic stress disorder. If you suffered harm due to being trapped in a lift, you could be eligible to claim compensation for your suffering.
Get in touch with an advisor today to find out if you could receive compensation for free. All you have to do is pick your preferred contact method below to begin.
- Call us on 0800 408 7826.
- Click the live chat.
- Select our online contact form.
Jump To A Section
- How Much Compensation For Being Stuck In A Lift Can I Get?
- How Stuck In A Lift Compensation Is Calculated
- I Was Stuck In A Lift, Can I Claim Compensation?
- The Common Reasons Why Lifts May Become Stuck
- How To Start A Claim For Stuck In Lift Compensation
- Get Advice From Our Panel
- More Information
How Much Compensation For Being Stuck In A Lift Can I Get?
Per the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), you could receive between £66,920 to £141,240 for severe general psychological damage due to being stuck in a lift. The JCG is a document that is used to help assign value to personal injury claims. We’ve provided further examples from the JCG in the table below.
| TYPE OF INJURY | SEVERITY | GUIDELINE COMPENSATION | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries with Special Damages | Severe | Up to £250,000+ | Multiple severe injuries with the addition of special damages (loss of earnings, medical treatment etc). |
| General Psychiatric Damage | Severe | £66,920 to £141,240 | Compensation will be calculated via consideration on how the patient's life is affected with marked problems coping with life, education and work as well as personal relationships. The future prognosis is very poor. |
| Moderately Severe | £23,270 to £66,920 | As above but with a more positive prognosis. | |
| Moderate | £7,150 to £23,270 | Although there's been problems coping with life and relationships, the injured party has seen improvements and the prognosis is good. | |
| Less Severe | £1,880 to £7,150 | Compensation will depend on how life is affected and how long disability lasts. | |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Severe | £73,050 to £122,850 | The claimant cannot work or operate at their pre-trauma level in any aspect of life. |
| Moderately Severe | £28,250 to £73,050 | Similar to above but with a better prognosis. However, severe disability is still expected into the foreseeable future. | |
| Moderate | £9,980 to £28,250 | Almost-full recovery is expected with some potential for minor ongoing effects, but these are not grossly disabling. | |
| Less Severe | £4,820 to £9,980 | Almost-full recovery is expected within two years with minor symptoms remaining for a short period of time. |
Except for the first entry, the figures in the table above are general damages taken from the JCG, a legal document containing potential compensation figures. General damages compensation covers:
- Pain and suffering.
- Emotional distress (for example, if you suffer from severe anxiety after being stuck in a lift for a long period of time and can no longer use lifts because of this).
- How an incident has affected your life (in this case, how being stuck in a life has impacted your everyday activities).
How much compensation you receive will vary. You should use the figures above as a guide only. If you have any questions about how much compensation for being stuck in a lift you could receive, don’t hesitate to contact our advisors for further information. An advisor can estimate the value of your claim for free.
How Stuck In A Lift Compensation Is Calculated
As you can see in the above table, the severity of mental harm caused by psychological injuries is determined by levels referred to as ‘Severe,’ Moderately Severe,’ Moderate,’ and ‘Less Severe.’ These levels help calculate the amount of compensation you are awarded.
For example, a person with a ‘Severe’ diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is likely to receive a higher amount of compensation than someone with a ‘Less Severe’ diagnosis of PTSD. This is because PTSD at a ‘Less Severe’ level is determined to not affect a person’s life as much as PTSD at a ‘Severe’ level does.
Other factors also contribute to the compensation settlement you receive. If you want to know more about how compensation works, call, choose our live chat option, or put your details into our contact form to speak to one of our advisors.
Can I Claim Back Any Financial Losses I’ve Incurred?
The short answer is yes. As well as general damages (awarded for your pain and suffering), most personal injury claims will include special damages, which compensate you for financial losses due to a lift accident. You can find some examples of what you can receive special damages compensation for below.
- Loss of earnings if you had to take time off work or stop working completely because you suffered harm due to physical or psychological injuries.
- Care at home. You can claim for non-professional care at home too, so long as the hours worked are logged fully.
- Medical treatment, including ongoing therapy.
- Transportation to and from relevant medical appointments.
- Prescription costs.
To claim special damages, you will need evidence including bank statements, receipts, and payslips, to prove the financial losses.
I Was Stuck In A Lift, Can I Claim Compensation?
Yes, if you suffered harm in a lift accident as a result of a breached duty of care, it’s likely you can claim compensation.
Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, an occupier of a building or area owes a duty of care to those using that space. A duty of care is a legal obligation all occupiers have to take steps to ensure the reasonable safety of visitors to a particular area. For example, carrying out regular risk assessments.
However, the responsibility for the lift may be with a different party. Typically, lifts are manufactured and installed by parties other than the space’s occupier. Lifts must comply with health and safety regulations. Additionally, the installer is responsible for investigating complaints and keeping records of these.
Therefore, your public liability claim could be made against whatever party was responsible for the lift, as long as you can prove that:
- The relevant party owed you a duty of care.
- This duty was breached.
- You suffered harm, such as emotional distress, due to this breach.
An advisor can help assess your eligibility to claim, as well as discuss who might be liable for the lift.
The Common Reasons Why Lifts May Become Stuck
Lifts can get stuck for many reasons, causing those inside harm. Some of the most common reasons include power outages, lack of maintenance, and a damaged console. You can find examples of how negligence contributes to these situations below.
Power Outages
Power outages can happen out of the blue, and not all lift accidents caused by this issue are considered negligence. Nevertheless, sometimes negligence can contribute to the situation, for example:
- A storm occurs and affects the power supply to a building with a lift. Once electricity is restored, the power supply to the lift is not properly checked, leading to it trapping several people inside. A couple of those trapped suffer general psychiatric damage because of the incident.
Lack of Maintenance
It’s vital that a lift receives regular maintenance, especially if it is in a busy building. This can be done via regular risk assessments to see where maintenance is needed. An example of how a lack of maintenance can lead to incidents:
- A person uses a lift that hasn’t been maintained for several years. The lift breaks down due to a lack of maintenance, causing the person to be trapped inside and left alone for several hours. The person develops moderately severe PTSD following the traumatic event.
Damaged Console
A console (where the buttons for each floor are located) can stop working or become damaged due to misuse or overuse. However, it’s important for the individual or organisation responsible for the lift to check that the console is working as it should. An example of an incident related to this issue could be:
- A person gets in a lift with a damaged console. Because some of the buttons do not work as they should, the lift gets trapped between floors. The person stuck inside finds it difficult to receive help as the help button on the console is also damaged. Because of this, the person is left with moderate psychological injuries after being trapped for an hour.
If you have become injured in any way because of a faulty lift, you could make a compensation claim. Simply get in touch with our advisors to begin.
How To Start A Claim For Stuck In Lift Compensation
You have 3 years to begin a lift injury compensation claim. You will also need evidence to prove negligence, the specifics of which you can find in this section.
Time Limits
Per the Limitation Act 1980, you must begin personal injury claims within 3 years. This time limit most often begins on the date of the accident, in this case, when you got stuck in the lift.
While this time limit is relevant to the majority of cases, there are 2 exceptions.
- If the person claiming is a minor. Those under 18 cannot claim by themselves, though they can be represented by a litigation friend. If preferred, the harmed minor can wait until they turn 18, from when they have 3 years to claim themselves.
- If the person claiming lacks the required mental capacity to manage a claim. While they can be represented by a litigation friend, no time limit applies to those who lack mental capacity unless capacity is regained. In which case, they would have 3 years from the date capacity was recovered to begin the claims process.
Evidence
Evidence needs to show not just your injury but who was liable for the lift.
- Your medical records, to show the extent of your physical or psychological injuries.
- CCTV footage of the incident, if possible.
- Contact details of any witnesses willing to give a statement later on, such as anyone stuck in the lift with you.
- Photos and videos of the lift and any physical injuries you sustained.
- Proof of any special damages you are claiming, such as invoices from a therapist.
Questions about evidence, time limits, or exceptions? Our advisors are here to help discuss how much compensation for being stuck in a lift and how you can support your personal injury claim.
Get Advice From Our Panel
When you get in touch with an advisor, they will assess whether your lift accident claim could be valid. If it is, they could connect you to one of the personal injury solicitors from our panel. In addition to assessing your claim, they can estimate how much compensation for being stuck in a lift you could be eligible for and advise you on evidence as well as the claims process.
If you decide to continue with a claim and one of the solicitors from the panel agrees to support it, they will do so on a No Win No Fee basis.
This No Win No Fee service is offered via a Conditional Fee Agreement. This means:
- You only pay a success fee to your solicitor if your claim is successful.
- This fee is legally capped and the percentage cannot be higher than 25%.
- You do not pay this fee if your claim is unsuccessful.
- Furthermore, there won’t be any solicitor’s fees when the claim commences or as it moves through the claims process.
Contact Us
It’s completely free of charge to speak to our advisors. For questions, concerns, and to see if you can claim:
- Call us on 0800 408 7826.
- Click the live chat.
- Select our online contact form.
More Information
We’ve included some more of our guides that you may find useful.
- See how much compensation you can claim for an injury at work.
- Find out how to claim for multiple injuries.
- See how much compensation you could claim for serious injuries.
The links below will take you to external sources that contain additional relevant information.
- Find out how to get help with stress via NHS.UK.
- Read about post-traumatic stress disorder via NHS.UK.
- Search for land and property information via GOV.UK.
We hope this guide answered your question of ‘How much compensation for being stuck in a lift?’ Our advisors are here to offer free advice about any of the topics covered in this guide.