Sustaining a soft tissue injury, such as ligament damage, can be extremely painful, and in more severe cases, surgery may be necessary, resulting in a prolonged recovery period. So, if you have suffered a ligament injury and you believe that a third party was responsible, you may be eligible for compensation. You may be wondering specifically how much compensation for ligament damage. Our guide will run you through the ins and outs of ligament damage compensation, from who can make a claim to the factors that are considered when calculating a settlement.
Our guide also discusses the benefits of pursuing a claim on a No Win No Fee basis, a service provided by our experienced panel of solicitors. You will find more information on this contract towards the conclusion of our guide.
What You Need To Know
- You generally have a time limit of 3 years to file a personal injury claim for ligament damage.
- You might still be able to make a claim even if you were partially responsible for the accident.
- Evidence is an integral part of what makes a successful claim.
- Ligament damage compensation is determined by the severity of your injury and the impact it’s had on your life.
- You can claim for both physical and psychological injuries, including any financial losses.
If you have any burning questions about your own ligament injury claim or whether you have an eligible case, get in touch using the contact details provided below:
Contact Us
- Talk to us by phone on 0800 408 7826
- Contact us online
- Talk to us via our live chat
Frequently Asked Questions
- How Much Compensation For Ligament Damage Could I Be Entitled To?
- What Factors Are Considered When Calculating Ligament Damage Compensation?
- Can I Make A Claim If I Have A Damaged Ligament?
- The Common Types Of Ligament Damage
- What Accidents Could Result In Damaged Ligaments?
- What Is Needed In Order To Make A Ligament Damage Claim?
- Can I Make A Ligament Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Learn More
How Much Compensation For Ligament Damage Could I Be Entitled To?
The amount of compensation for ligament damage you could be entitled to varies because all injuries are different, including their severity. As an illustration, the compensation you would receive for a finger injury would be drastically different to a back injury.
However, to give you some insight into roughly how much compensation ligament damage you might get, we have provided a table containing several different ligament injuries you might sustain in an accident, along with guideline compensation figures.
These figures have been carefully selected from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), which is a publication designed to assist legal professionals in calculating compensation for their claimants. Specifically, the JCG is a body of writing that contains an extensive list of injuries and corresponding compensation brackets. Your own personal injury solicitor might use the JCG to help them determine your own ligament damage compensation.
The first figure in our table has not been selected from the JCG. Notably, you should use this table of compensation brackets as a guide, not as confirmed figures.
| Injury | Compensation Guidelines | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries with Special Damages | Up to £250,000+ | Compensation for multiple serious injuries with special damages (including loss of earnings, medical expenses and so on) |
| Knee Severe (i) | £85,100 to £117,410 | A serious knee injury involving gross ligamentous damage. |
| Knee Severe (iii) | £31,960 to £53,030 | Less severe than other knee injuries, however, ligamentous wasting has occured. |
| Leg Severe (iii) Serious | £47,840 to £66,920 | Serious compound or comminuted injuries to joints or ligaments. |
| Back Moderate (ii) | £15,260 to £33,880 | The back has encountered one or more of several frequent injuries disturbing the ligaments. |
| Ankle Moderate | £16,770 to £32,450 | The ankle has sustained injuries including ligamentous tears. |
| Ankle Modest | Up to £16,770 | A less serious ligamentous injury to the ankle. |
| Foot Modest | Up to £16,770 | Simple ruptured ligaments in the foot. |
If you have specific questions about the compensation brackets in our table, please don’t hesitate to contact us so we can provide more detailed explanations.
What Factors Are Considered When Calculating Ligament Damage Compensation?
The factors considered when calculating ligament damage compensation are typically:
- What injury did you suffer, and how severe is it?
- How long is your expected recovery period?
- Will you encounter any financial losses?
When it comes to determining how much compensation you could get for ligament damage, a legal practitioner will consider two types of compensation: general and special damages. The first covers any pain and suffering that the accident has caused you and a legal professional will consider the following details:
- How severe your injury is
- The impact on your quality of life
- Whether you have sustained psychological damage
- Whether you have experienced invasive treatment
- Whether you have suffered disfigurement or deformity
- Any pain and suffering you may experience in the future
Special damages, on the other hand, are typically used in more serious injury claims where financial loss or a sequence of economic losses has occurred. For example:
- Costs of care
- Loss of earnings
- Property adaptations
- Future loss of earnings
- Travel expenses
- Invoices for medical treatment
- Other out-of-pocket expenses
In the event that your ligament injury has made you lose money, then you may be able to receive special damages. However, the first thing your solicitor will ask for is evidence. For example:
- Payslips articulating loss of wages
- Invoices from rehabilitation sessions
- Medical bills, for example, prescriptions
Do you want to know how much compensation is for ligament damage? Contact us today to receive expert advice.
Can I Make A Claim If I Have A Damaged Ligament?
You can make a claim for a damaged ligament if you satisfy the following eligibility requirements:
- A third party owed you a duty of care, such as your employer.
- They breached this duty, for example, your employer ignored reports of threats to your safety.
- You suffered ligament damage because of this breach.
So, if someone has breached their duty of care towards you in work, in public or on the roads and you suffered ligament damage as a result, they may have committed a negligent action, and you may have a valid claim.
However, it’s essential to note that the duty of care can vary and involve different legislation depending on who was involved and the setting in which the accident occurred. We will discuss legislation and the differences in the duty of care later on in the guide.
What If I Was Partially Responsible For My Accident That Caused My Ligament Injury?
If you were partially responsible for your ligament injury, you might be able to pursue compensation by making a split liability claim. Simply put, this type of claim is applied to circumstances when a breach of duty of care has caused an accident and the liability is shared among multiple parties. In other words, it’s not just one person who is to blame. This means that if you are partially responsible, you can still receive compensation for ligament damage, but it will be a percentage. Here are the key takeaways:
- Multiple individuals share the blame
- The compensation is proportional; for example, the settlement is split 50/50
- Someone might be more at fault than the other, meaning the claim might be split 75/25
- A split trial might have to take place
Am I Able To Claim For A Misdiagnosed Ligament Injury?
Yes, you might be able to claim for a misdiagnosed ligament injury if the misdiagnosis was caused by a breach in the duty of care that was owed to you by a medical professional. Again, you must satisfy the following criteria:
- You were owed a duty of care by the NHS, a private medical institution or a professional
- The duty of care was breached
- You suffered harm that was otherwise avoidable
A medical professional must ensure that the care and treatment they provide to their patients meets the expected standard. This is the duty of care and it is owed to all patients automatically.
However, a key thing to remember is that not every misdiagnosed ligament injury is caused by medical negligence. Consequently, you must make sure that your potential medical negligence claim aligns exactly with the above eligibility criteria.
Please get in touch if you feel you have a valid claim for a ligament injury that you think was caused by a medical professional acting negligently.
The Common Types Of Ligament Damage
There are common types of ligament damage which you can sustain if you twist body parts hard, awkwardly or in a jarring fashion. Ligaments are fibrous elastic tissue surrounding your joints, which connect bones to other bones. Consequently, if you move your body as described above, the tendons can be stretched beyond their normal range of motion, resulting in being overstretched or torn. Please have a read of the common types of ligament damage below:
- A sprained ankle
- Knee ligament tears (ACL)
- Back sprains
- Shoulder dislocations
- Thumb sprains
- Superior Tibiofibular Joint Sprain
If you want to know how much compensation for ligament damage, please connect with our team so that we can assist you.
What Accidents Could Result In Damaged Ligaments?
In this section, we will discuss the typical accidents which can result in damaged ligaments. Please find examples below highlighting different breaches in duty of care and the accompanying legislation:
Road Traffic Accidents
All road users, including drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians, must uphold their duty of care towards one another by using the roads in a safe manner. This is in compliance with the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. Failing to do so can look like this:
- A driver is aggressively tailgating someone and collides with the car in front, causing the victim to suffer a strained neck ligament, commonly known as whiplash.
Accidents At Work
Your employer doesn’t just owe you a duty of care out of the goodness of their heart; they have a legal responsibility to provide a safe working environment. As per the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, your employer is required by law to take reasonable steps to ensure your safety while you are conducting workplace duties. Your employer breaching their duty of care might look like this:
- A new employee has not received any manual handling training from their employer; the employee lifts a heavy box with an improper lifting technique and suffers a manual handling injury, tearing a ligament in their lower back.
Public Accident Claims
When you are in a public place, a single occupier or group of occupiers will be legally responsible for upholding their duty of care towards you. This is an individual or group of individuals who have a reasonable degree of control of the public space you are in, and as per the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, they must take steps to ensure your reasonable safety. An example of an occupier failing to do this might be:
- A museum has failed to provide a hazard warning sign at the visitors’ entrance indicating that rainwater has been walked in. A visitor slips on the wet floor and suffers a knee injury in the form of a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) tear.
Do you think you have a valid road traffic accident, accident at work or public liability claim? Or simply want to know how much compensation for ligament damage? Contact our expert team today to determine if you have an eligible ligament damage claim.
What Is Needed In Order To Make A Ligament Damage Claim?
There are two consequential things you need to do in order to make a ligament damage claim:
- Claim within the legal time limit
- Gather as much evidence as you can
Firstly, there is a 3-year time limit in which you must make a claim as outlined by the Limitation Act 1980. It is a legal requirement, and if you fail to adhere to the time limit, your claim will be dismissed by the courts and registered as time-barred. Please take careful note that if you are prevented from filing a claim within this time period because of reasons beyond your control, the court is not at liberty to provide a time extension. You will have 3 years to file a ligament damage claim from the date you suffered the injury.
With that being said, the Limitation Act does acknowledge that certain people who have eligible claims might not be able to do so due to specific circumstances preventing them. Therefore, the legislation states that the following individuals are exempt from the 3-year window:
- Adults who lack mental capacity
- Children under 18 years old
In an effort to prevent the exempt parties from being disadvantaged, the legislation introduced the concept of a litigation friend. The role of a litigation friend is taken up by someone the protected party trusts, who can file a claim on behalf of those mentioned above. The litigation friend will be responsible for making the decisions, representing the protected party and communicating with legal practitioners, as well as always keeping the protected party’s best interests in mind.
Secondly, it’s vital that you gather as much evidence as possible. Building a wall of evidence strengthens your ligament damage claim. Most importantly, it should show that a third party is at fault and you were harmed.
Below you will find a list of things that can be used as evidence and help fortify your personal injury claim:
- Medical records
- CCTV or dashcam footage
- Photograph of the injury site
- An accident logbook
- Contact details from witnesses
- Photographs of the accident scene
Are you unsure whether you have run out of time or need assistance in gathering evidence? Contact us online or call us for free so we can help you.
Can I Make A Ligament Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Yes, you can make a ligament claim on a No Win No Fee basis and here, at How Much Compensation, our panel of solicitors provide a Conditional Fee Agreement, also known as a CTA. If you pursue a claim with our panel on a No Win No Fee basis, you gain immediate benefits like:
- Not being asked to front any payments for your solicitor’s work on your ligament damage claim.
- You also won’t be asked to cover ongoing payments for this work.
- If your case loses, you won’t be charged a fee for the solicitor’s services.
- If your claim is successful, you will pay a success fee. This is paid to your solicitor directly out of your compensation as a legally capped percentage.
Here at How Much Compensation, we believe that our claimants deserve accurate and in-depth information when it comes to making a personal injury claim. Some of the reasons why we stand out are our free compensation calculation service, our support for claims across the whole of the country, our wealth of comprehensive articles, and our robust team of specialist solicitors. Please have a browse of our services:
- We will tell you how strong your claim is.
- We can gather evidence on your behalf, like police records and witness statements.
- We will determine a fair compensation figure.
- We will represent you in negotiations and court proceedings.
- Break down how everything works, including your rights and any potential claim outcomes.
- Get you access to medical treatment, which might not be available on the NHS.
We understand how draining it can be to file a ligament damage claim when all you want to do is focus on returning to your normal self. Let us handle the tricky part by securing you the compensation you deserve. It’s only fair. Get in contact with us today, and we will support you every step of the way.
Contact Our Advisors
- Talk to us by phone on 0800 408 7826
- Contact us online
- Talk to us via our live chat
Learn More
Our guides:
- Damaged a ligament in your hand? Read our guide on hand injury claims.
- This is a helpful guide on neck and shoulder injury claims.
- Sprained, strained or torn a ligament in a car crash? Read our guide on road traffic accident claims.
Some additional resources:
- Master how to manage sprains and strains from the NHS.
- Make your workplace safer and learn how to prevent slips by the Health and Safety Executive.
- Be safer on the roads and learn about road safety laws by Think!
Thank you for reading our guide on how much compensation for ligament damage.