Welcome to our guide on claiming compensation for a torn Achilles tendon. In it, we’ll discuss what you could claim for following an injury that wasn’t your fault and how to start the process.
Someone with a torn Achilles tendon might have trouble with walking. This could mean taking time off work or being reliant on taxis and public transport to get around, which can soon become expensive.
Injuries to the Achilles tendon are often found in professional athletes, but it’s a possibility for anyone. If you’ve torn your Achilles tendon in an accident on the road, in public or at work then you might be able to make a claim.
In this guide, we’ll discuss some of the things you need to know before pursuing a personal injury compensation claim for a torn Achilles tendon. You can also contact our team about your accident. They could be able to put you in touch with our panel of personal injury solicitors. Call our team on 0800 408 7826.
Select a Section
- How Much Compensation For A Torn Achilles Tendon?
- What Is An Achilles Tendon Injury?
- Examples Of Achilles Tendon Injury Financial Loss
- Top 3 Most Common Tendonitis Incidents
- Case Study: £13,500 Compensation For A Torn Achilles Tendon
- Our Duty Of Care Explanation
- Who Takes Responsibility For A Duty Of Care Breach?
- Your Estimate: Compensation For A Torn Achilles Tendon
- No Win No Fee Cases
- Where Are The Top Personal Injury Solicitors?
- Chat About Your Claim
- More Resources For Achilles Tendon Injuries
How Much Compensation For A Torn Achilles Tendon?
If you’ve been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, it’s important that you have all the information to feel confident pursuing your claim.
Often, making a claim is the last thing on our mind when we’re injured and so it can be unclear what steps we need to take. Our guide will talk you through what to do and explore how a solicitor could help you build a strong case.
You might have been involved in an accident and feel you weren’t at fault, but aren’t sure where the responsibility for your injury lies. Therefore, in this guide, we look at the duty of care different parties hold and how you can spot a breach.
The financial element of funding a solicitor to make a claim can be offputting, especially if your injuries have already left you out of pocket. Our explanation of No Win No Fee claims should help to put your mind at ease. You’ll also find advice on choosing the best personal injury solicitor for you.
You can also chat with our helpful team (available 24/7) for advice on claiming compensation for a torn Achilles tendon. They’ll be happy to discuss your case and could put you in touch with our panel of personal injury lawyers.
What Is An Achilles Tendon Injury?
Your Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in your body and attaches your calf muscle to your heel bone. It’s needed for you to be able to bend your foot downwards, like when you’re on your tiptoes or running.
Tendonitis is when the Achilles tendon becomes inflamed. It can cause pain and stiffness, but can usually be treated with rest. It’s also a good idea to support it with a snug elastic bandage or soft brace. The NHS guide on tendonitis is a good source for medical advice on this condition.
If your Achilles tendon tears, you may notice a sharp pain in your heel or calf. You may find it hard to walk and push yourself off the ground on the foot where you’ve suffered the injury.
Your doctor may be able to diagnose a torn Achilles tendon from your symptoms. They might also be able to feel a gap above your heel bone if the tendon is completely ruptured. You might need an ultrasound to confirm exactly where the tear is located.
Initially, with a ruptured Achilles tendon, you may be given a plaster cast, which holds your foot in place in a fully bent-down position, and you’ll need to use crutches. After a couple of weeks, this would be changed to a brace. The brace would be adjusted slowly throughout the healing process to bring your foot up to a normal position.
Sometimes, surgery might be needed to treat your torn Achilles tendon. This is especially true if there’s been a delay between the injury and you seeking treatment. If you think you’ve ruptured your Achilles tendon, you should seek medical advice straight away.
Examples Of Achilles Tendon Injury Financial Loss
Suffering from an injury that impacts your ability to walk around can have a big impact on your daily life. This can also have financial repercussions that we might not anticipate at first.
Tearing your Achilles tendon could lead to you taking a significant amount of time off work, especially if your job requires you to be active or spend a lot of time on your feet. You may not be able to move around without crutches for up to 12 weeks. Because of this, you might find it difficult to carry out household chores. You might find yourself needing to hire help around the house, the cost of which can add up quickly.
Your doctor might refer you to a physiotherapist to regain the mobility in your ankle. This is important because the joint will need to be held in position for a number of weeks. The sessions you’re offered on the NHS mightn’t be enough to get you back to full mobility, meaning that you may need to pay for more yourself.
As part of your personal injury compensation claim, you could recover the financial losses that your injury causes. However, you’d need proof (such as bills or prescriptions) to do this. For more information on compensation for a torn achilles tendon, get in touch with our advisors and get free legal advice.
Top 3 Most Common Tendonitis Incidents
You might assume that a torn Achilles tendon is the kind of injury only suffered by professional sports players. In fact, anyone can suffer from a torn Achilles tendon. Below, we’ll look at what kinds of accidents might result in this kind of injury.
-
Accidents At Work
When we’re working, we’re often more concerned with carrying out our duties than thinking about what kinds of accidents we could be at risk of. But with 38.8 million working days lost to workplace illness or injury in 2019/20 (as self-reported by employees) the risk of workplace injury is very real.
Slips, trips and falls on the same level are the most common workplace accident, accounting for 29% of all non-fatal workplace injuries (as reported by employers) in 2019/20. Slipping or tripping could also result in a fall from a height, which accounted for 8% of non-fatal workplace injuries in the same period.
Slipping or tripping at work can cause your Achilles tendon to rupture, particularly if your foot is pushed into an upward position by the force of the impact. Your employer should carry out regular risk assessments in your workplace.
For example, a risk assessment might find that water is tracked into your workplace on rainy days. Placing doormats at entrances would minimise the risk of slipping or falling.
If you’re involved in an accident at work, you should report it in the company’s accident book as soon as you’re able. Taking photos of the cause of the accident could also help with strengthening your claim.
-
Road Traffic Accidents
When we think of road traffic accidents, our minds might jump to injuries like whiplash, bruising, or more serious injuries like broken bones. But being involved in an RTA can also cause your Achilles tendon to rupture.
As a driver, accidents that could result in a tear to your Achilles tendon include ones that crush the foot space in your car. This can force the foot upwards, causing the tendon to snap. Head-on collisions and side impacts could cause this kind of damage.
Vulnerable road users like cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians don’t run the risk of having the foot space in their vehicle crushed by another car. But they also don’t have the protection that a vehicle offers, meaning they’re more likely to be injured in an accident.
Although vulnerable road users are being injured in accidents at a seemingly declining rate, the 2019 annual report on road casualties in Great Britain shows they’re still injured at a much higher rate per billion miles travelled than other road users.
If you’ve been injured on the road and the result is a tear to your Achilles tendon, you can chat to our helpful team at any time of any day to discuss your claim.
3. Incidents In A Public Place
We spend a lot of our time in public spaces like shops, parks and gyms. We’d like to think that we can go about our business in these places without the risk of being injured, but this isn’t always the case.
Accidents in public places often take the form of slips, trips and falls. A spill in a supermarket that hasn’t been cleared up or a poorly maintained car park has the potential to result in an accident that could rupture your Achilles tendon.
It’s the responsibility of the person in control of a space to make reasonably sure that it’s safe for visitors to use. This could be a business owner, or the local authority if the accident happened somewhere like a beach or a park.
If you’ve been injured in a public place and suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, but it wasn’t your fault, then you might be entitled to make a compensation claim. Chat to our team today who’ll put you in touch with our panel of personal injury lawyers.
Case Study: £13,500 Compensation For A Torn Achilles Tendon
Circumstances Of The Accident
Ms Roberta, a 23-year-old part-time restaurant server, was walking up the stairs at work when she slipped on a puddle caused by a leak from the ceiling above. One of her coworkers had told their employer about the leak from the ceiling the day before.
As Ms Roberta slipped, the ball of her foot was forced upwards. She felt a sharp pain in the back of her heel and heard a snapping sound.
Ms Roberta reported the incident in her company’s accident book. She also took photographs of the puddle that she’d slipped on and the leak that had caused it.
Aftermath Of The Accident
Ms Roberta left her shift to attend an emergency appointment with her GP, who confirmed that she had partially torn her Achilles tendon. She was referred to a specialist, where her foot was put in a plaster cast. She’d need to go back to have the cast swapped for a brace after two weeks.
Ms Roberta sought legal advice regarding the accident. After discussing her case with a solicitor, she decided to pursue a claim for her torn Achilles tendon.
Being in plaster and requiring crutches to move about meant Ms Roberta wasn’t able to work for the next 9 weeks. She couldn’t drive and had to rely on taxis to get her to and from her hospital appointments.
The tear in her Achilles tendon caused Ms Roberta a lot of pain. She relied on anti-inflammatory medication prescribed by her GP and painkillers she bought over the counter to reduce the pain enough for her to sleep. She was left with continuing symptoms of permanent aching.
Ms Roberta’s solicitor helped her seek compensation for a torn achilles tendon. We can see from the compensation table below that Ms Roberta’s financial losses were valued at £1,920. The compensation for her pain was valued at £11,591. Combined, her claim was settled at £13,511.
Type of Special Damages Includes How Much?
Travel Expenses Taxis to and from hospital appointments £135
Medications Prescriptions for painkillers £80
Future Loss 9 weeks unable to work £1,476
Care Family's gracious care £229
Ms Roberta’s case is based on previous experiences of personal injury claims and how they’re handled and valued. It is fictional and for illustrative purposes only.
Our Duty Of Care Explanation
Suffering from a torn Achilles tendon is a painful inconvenience. It can be especially frustrating when you need to take time off work or change your daily routine for an accident that wasn’t your fault.
When on the road, in your workplace or in a public space, someone else may have a duty of care to protect your health and safety. This means that they should take reasonable steps to make sure the risk of harm is minimised. If you’ve been hurt in an accident because someone has failed to take these steps, this could be grounds for a compensation claim.
To find out who could be responsible for your injuries, get in touch with our advisors. They’re available to take your call whenever you’re ready.
Who Takes Responsibility For A Duty Of Care Breach?
If you’ve had an accident that someone who was responsible for protecting your health and safety caused, they may have breached their duty of care. Figuring out who had a duty of care to you is vital in moving forward with a claim.
Duty Of Care In The Workplace
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 outlines the responsibility that your employer has to you while you’re at work. They need to take reasonable steps to prevent you from being injured while on the job. This will include risk assessments, where any potential hazards are removed or minimised. They should also make sure that you and your colleagues are properly trained and have the correct PPE for your roles, if its necessary.
Duty Of Care In A Public Place
When you’re in a public place, whether it’s a restaurant, shop or gym, the duty of care is outlined by the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. It says that whoever is in control of the space (the occupier) is responsible for making sure that people can use it safely.
The Occupiers’ Liability Act doesn’t tell us who the occupier is, but it should be someone who could reasonably be expected to prevent accidents in a public place. This means that even if someone owns a space and rents it out to a business owner, the business owner could, depending on the situation, be the one with the duty of care.
Duty Of Care On The Road
When we’re on the road, whether as a driver, cyclist or pedestrian, we all have a duty of care to one another. This is outlined in The Highway Code. Road users are expected to adhere to the standard level of skill and care. This is true whether you’re a new driver or have been on the road for some time.
If your road traffic accident and resulting injury were caused by someone neglecting the duty of care they have to you, then you can contact our team to chat about making a claim.
Your Estimate: Compensation For A Torn Achilles Tendon
When you’ve been involved in an accident, the stress that an injury causes can be overwhelming. Because of this, you might be tempted to use an online personal injury calculator to see what you’re entitled to, rather than talking to a solicitor about your claim.
Although this might be tempting, these calculators might not give you an accurate estimation of your claim. The valuation of your claim will involve a medical examination where the extent of your injuries can be confirmed. The assessment will also indicate whether your injuries were caused or worsened by your accident and predict the long term effects your injury might have.
Below, we can see what elements your compensation settlement might consist of.
General Damages
The general damages part of your claim is the settlement for the injuries you’ve sustained. The amount can be based on recommended figures shown in the Judicial College Guidelines. (This is a publication solicitors may use to help them value injuries.) It depends on the type and severity of your injuries.
Special Damages
The special damages part of your claim compensates you for any financial losses you’ve incurred as a result of your accident. If you’ve had to pay for any medication, travel or physiotherapy appointments then the cost of these could be included. Make sure that you keep any receipts, bills and invoices as these are vital to proving and recovering losses.
No Win No Fee Cases
You might be worried about funding a lawyer to help you with your personal injury compensation claim, especially if you’ve already experienced financial loss because of your accident. No Win No Fee agreements can alleviate this worry.
With a No Win No Fee agreement, you won’t pay any solicitor fees upfront or while your claim is ongoing. If your claim succeeds, a small, legally capped success fee is taken from your compensation amount. (That’s to cover your solicitor’s work and you’ll be made fully aware of the percentage before you sign the agreement.)
However, if your claim doesn’t succeed, you wouldn’t have to pay a penny in solicitor fees.
If you’d like more information on how you can take advantage of our No Win No Fee service, then get in touch with our team today.
Where Are The Top Personal Injury Solicitors?
It’s not necessary to use the services of a solicitor in order to claim. However, we believe that it can be a real advantage.
You might think that, when looking for a personal injury solicitor, the best choice is someone local to you. But this isn’t always the case. It’s much more important that you choose someone you’re comfortable discussing your case with. You also must trust them to work at getting you the compensation you’re entitled to.
Moreover, nowadays a solicitor can work for you from anywhere in the country. You can widen your options and get a better opportunity to find expert advice.
Our panel of solicitors have decades of experience and, if they believe you have a favourable claim, could represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. To find out more, without the obligation to proceed with these services, get in touch through any of the ways below.
Chat About Your Claim
To chat with someone about claiming compensation for a torn Achilles tendon, get in touch with our team today by
- Calling us on 0800 408 7826
- Writing to us using our online form
- Using our live chat in the bottom right of this screen
More Resources For Achilles Tendon Injuries
- What am I entitled to as an employee?
- A guide to reporting accidents at work
- Using the NHS: a guide to services
Check out more of our personal injury claims guides below:
- Personal injury claims
- How Much Compensation for a Back Injury
- Compensation Claims for a broken arm
- How much compensation for a broken foot in a public place
- Compensation for a broken foot
- How much compensation for a broken forearm
- Payout examples for a broken leg in a public place
- Compensation Claims for a broken leg
- How much compensation for a broken thumb case study and guide on broken thumb claims
- Payout awards for a broken wrist
- How much compensation for a crushed ankle injury
- Compensation Claims for a facial scar
- How much compensation for a foot injury
- Compensation amounts for a fractured jaw case study and guide on fractured jaw claims
- How much compensation for a fractured leg
- How much compensation for a wrist injury
- Compensation Claims for a broken ankle injury in a public place
Thank you for reading our guide to claiming compensation for a torn Achilles tendon.
Written by RN
Checked by TH