How Much Compensation For Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Claims?

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas. Prolonged exposure to it can lead to a variety of different health complications and can even be fatal. In homes, carbon monoxide may be produced by appliances burning wood, coal, oil or gas, such as gas fires. In our guide to carbon monoxide poisoning claims, we look at how a specialist solicitor from our panel could help you make a personal injury compensation claim.

Key Things To Remember In Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Claims

  • Carbon monoxide is a clear, colourless and odourless gas.
  • Statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 160 people per year die in England and Wales from carbon monoxide poisoning.
  • Further statistics from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) show that each year, there are 4,000 visits to A&E departments in England due to CO poisoning.
  • You could claim compensation if a third party has breached their duty of care to you and you have been injured.
  • The size of compensation is affected by the injuries suffered and any claimable financial losses.
  • One of our panel of expert No Win No Fee solicitors could help you.

Please contact one of our advisors if you suffered carbon monoxide poisoning due to someone else’s negligence.

  • Please phone 0800 408 7826 to discuss your claim.
  • Get live advice now using our online chat.
  • Ask us to call you back using our ‘contact us’ page.

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What Is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?

As stated above, carbon monoxide (CO) is a poisonous gas. It is odourless, tasteless and does not have any colour. It is also non-irritating. This means that you can not tell if you are being exposed to it. It is produced as a by-product when everyday fuels, such as coal, diesel, wood, oil and gas, do not properly burn off. Even mild exposure to carbon monoxide could cause harmful symptoms. Heavy exposure could cause neurological symptoms, dementia, cardiovascular problems and even death.

Carbon monoxide poisoning could occur when there is a build up of the gas in an indoor space which is either poorly ventilated or fully enclosed. It may be dangerous if, for example, petrol-based equipment is used indoors or in an enclosed space.

You could make a personal injury claim for harm caused by carbon monoxide poisoning if you can show that another party was to blame. In the subsequent section, we look at the criteria your claim must meet.

Get advice on how to make a successful personal injury claim by contacting our team.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Claims Criteria

You could make a carbon monoxide poisoning compensation claim if you can show another party was at fault. Circumstances in which another party may be at fault could include:

  • A landlord or occupier of a public place who failed to maintain a gas appliance or other fuel-burning appliance and it starts to leak carbon monoxide.
  • A petrol-powered generator is used indoors at a workplace. There is poor ventilation, and staff contract carbon monoxide poisoning.
  • A gas service company fails to meet their duty of care to a customer when it lets an unqualified employee install an appliance. The installation is done incorrectly and the appliance leaks carbon monoxide. This would be a breach of The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

This is not an exhaustive list of when another party may owe you a duty of care. The basic criteria to make any type of compensation claim is that:

  1. Another party owed you a duty of care. This could include a landlord, an employer or someone who controls a public space.
  2. This duty has been breached in some way.
  3. You (or another person, such as your child) suffered carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of this.

Can I Claim If I Suffered Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Work?

Employers have a legal responsibility to take reasonable steps to ensure their employee’s safety and welfare under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. If a job role or workplace poses a higher risk of exposure to carbon monoxide, employers must implement appropriate measures to protect employees.

Steps an employer could take may include installing an extractor fan, ensuring workspaces are properly ventilated and making sure staff are provided with the correct personal protective equipment for hazardous substances. Your employer should also make sure that any gas appliances are serviced on a regular basis.

If an employer has failed to properly ensure the health and safety of employees, they could be liable for a compensation claim if this causes an injury. Please contact our team for further information on carbon monoxide poisoning claims.

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Do Landlords Need To Supply Carbon Monoxide Alarms?

If you live in a rented property, your landlord has a duty of care to you. Those renting out a property must ensure that the property is safe and in a good state of repair. A landlord must make sure that any gas appliances, such as gas boilers or gas fires, are serviced on a regular basis and that they are appropriately checked.

Under The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, landlords are required to ensure that detectors are placed in rental properties where a leak could happen.

You could claim compensation if you contracted carbon monoxide poisoning because your landlord has failed to uphold their duty of care to you as a tenant.

Learn more about making a tenant injury and illness claim against a landlord by contacting our team.

How Can Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Happen?

Carbon monoxide is called the silent killer because, as stated earlier in this guide, it is colourless, odourless and toxic. This makes it hard to know that you are inhaling it. We may be exposed to small levels of CO during our everyday lives, such as through vehicle emissions or cigarettes.

Potential causes of carbon monoxide poisoning may include any of the following.

  • A faulty gas appliance, such as a faulty boiler or other part of a (central) heating system. Such heating systems will generally be in the home. However, your workplace may use a gas burning heating system.
  • Gas appliances not having been correctly installed.
  • A damaged or faulty vehicle exhaust.
  • The use of petrol based equipment such as generators or cut-off saws indoors or in enclosed spaces.
  • Poor ventilation either in a rental property, workplace or public space which uses coal, wood or gas burning heating systems.
  • Disturbing a gas flue when renovating a building.
  • A carbon monoxide leak caused by a faulty portable generator.
  • Car exhaust fumes.

Further, paraffin heaters and other types of fire could all produce carbon monoxide. Such equipment should be properly maintained and used in a space with appropriate ventilation.

Please get in touch with our team for further information on making a carbon monoxide compensation claim.

Someone pushes the test button on a smoke alarm with carbon monoxide sensor.

Symptoms Of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Carbon monoxide poisoning can occur without you realising that you have been exposed to it. The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can be similar to migraines, food poisoning or the flu.

The symptoms of mild carbon monoxide poisoning may include:

  • Tension headaches.
  • Dizziness.
  • Confusion and tiredness.
  • Sickness and vomiting (nausea).
  • Stomach pain
  • Difficulty breathing/ shortness of breath.

These symptoms will get worse with more prolonged exposure. Breathing in higher levels of the gas could lead to symptoms such as:

  • Ataxia, losing physical coordination due to nervous system and brain damage.
  • Vertigo.
  • Intoxication causing an impaired mental state.
  • Tachycardia, where your heart rate is over 100 beats per minute.
  • Pain in the chest due to a heart attack or angina.
  • A seizure.
  • Losing consciousness.

Symptoms may initially present as being quite mild but can quickly progress.

How Is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Treated?

According to the NHS, medical treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning involves taking steps such as:

  • Removing the person from the source of exposure.
  • Providing them with increased, concentrated oxygen. This may include providing a patient with 100% oxygen through a mask.
  • Potentially giving the patient hyperbaric oxygen.

Medical professionals may need to provide vulnerable patients, such as pregnant women, with hyperbaric oxygen.

Please contact our team to get the answers to frequently asked questions about personal injury claims.

Compensation In Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Claims

If your claim is successful, you will be awarded compensation, which can be made up of both general and special damages. General damages compensate for the injuries you suffered, and special damages compensate for the financial impact that the injury caused.

General damages can include psychological injuries as well as physical ones. Our personal injury compensation calculator uses figures taken from the Judicial College (JCG). This document lists guidelines about different types of injury and gives suggested compensation brackets for them.

Below, we look at examples from this document. Note that the first figure has not been taken from the JCG, and please remember that they are only guidelines.

  • Multiple severe injuries, loss of earnings and special damages – £1,000,000+
  • Brain damage, very severe, which causes the person to have no or little bodily function – £344,150 to £493,000.
  • Brain damage, moderately severe, causing serious disability – £267,340 to £344,150.
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder, moderately severe, where the person will need professional help and could be significantly disabled – £28,250 to £73,050.
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder, moderate, the person harmed should largely make a recovery – £9,980 to £28,250.
  • A chest injury, chest and lung damage, which cause some disability – £38,210 to £66,920.
  • A chest injury, where smoke or toxic fumes leave some residual damage – £6,500 to £15,370.
  • Lung damage, causing difficulty breathing which leads the person to need an inhaler – £38,210 to £66,920.
  • Lung damage, causing breathlessness which does not affect the ability to work – £12,990 to £25,380.
  • Asthma which is mild or the symptoms of mild asthma – £12,990 to £23,430.

Next, we look at further types of damages your carbon monoxide poisoning claim could include.

Can My Compensation Cover My Lost Earnings?

Your carbon monoxide poisoning compensation settlement could also include compensation for lost income, earnings and workplace benefits. In addition, you could be compensated for,

  • Medical cost and expenses.
  • The cost of getting to any related medical appointments.
  • Adapting your home, such as installing accessibility equipment.
  • The cost of any care in the home that is required.

Whether claiming for any of these expenses, such as loss of earnings, you must present evidence which shows the cost and that your injuries caused them.

Please contact our team to learn more about how carbon monoxide poisoning claims may be valued.

How To Make A Claim For Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

There are steps you can take if you suffer carbon monoxide poisoning due to someone else’s negligence. Your first step (regardless of negligence) should always be to remove yourself from the area where you think there is a carbon monoxide leak.

Next, you should get any medical care and treatment (as discussed above). This may involve being treated by a paramedic or going to hospital. You should obtain a copy of your medical records showing you were treated for exposure to carbon monoxide.

Subsequent steps you can take include:

  • Reporting the incident to the relevant party such as your landlord, employer or other party. If reporting to your employer, you should ensure it is recorded in the accident report book and that you obtain a copy of this.
  • Request any CCTV footage which may show anything relevant.
  • Finally, you should request the contact information of anyone who witnessed what happened to you.

Other documents can help prove your claim, such as safety certificates, risk assessments or training documents. A specialist personal injury solicitor from our panel could help you gather the evidence needed.

Please get in contact with our team for more information on how to claim compensation.

No Win No Fee Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Claims

You do not have to use solicitors to make carbon monoxide poisoning claims. However, we believe that doing so could be beneficial. Having a solicitor from our panel work on your No Win No Fee claim could help you navigate the process.

This is because our panel solicitors can offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a type of No Win No Fee contract. By doing so, you will not need to pay solicitor’s fees in advance or as the claim progresses. If the claim fails, there will be no solicitor’s fees to pay.

If your case is successful, you will pay your solicitor a success fee. The fee is a percentage (limited by law) of the award, and you will keep the bulk of the compensation.

Solicitors from our panel could help you to collect evidence, file your claim and communicate with the defendant. They can also help to negotiate your compensation settlement.

Contact Our Team To Learn More

To get the answers to any further questions about carbon monoxide poisoning claims, please speak to a member of our team.

  • You could call our team today on 0800 408 7826
  • You could use our online live advice to talk to us.
  • Or ask us to call you back by using our ‘contact us’ page.

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More Information On Personal Injury Compensation

The last part of our guide includes related guides from our site and helpful external resources.

References related to carbon monoxide poisoning.

We appreciate you taking the time to read our guide on carbon monoxide poisoning claims. If you or a loved one were harmed by carbon monoxide poisoning, please contact our team.