In this guide, we discuss when you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim to seek spleen injury compensation. We also look at the evidence you could provide in support of your case, and how a No Win No Fee solicitor could potentially assist you.
The spleen is an integral part of our immune system. It controls the level of blood cells, fights invading germs in the blood, and filters the blood to remove any old or damaged red blood cells. Whilst we can survive without our spleen, there are complications that can arise from it being damaged.
If you make a successful claim, you could be awarded compensation to address the impact your injury has had, including financially, psychologically, and/or physically. We discuss how personal injury settlements are calculated later in our guide.
Furthermore, we discuss the duty of care you’re owed by different third parties, including employers, occupiers, and road users and provide examples of how an accident at work, accident in a public place, or a road traffic accident could occur if this duty is breached.
For further guidance on spleen injury claims, please get in touch with our team. You can enquire about making a claim via our form and also ask about how our panel of personal injury solicitors could assist you. Alternatively, read on to find out more about seeking compensation for an injured spleen.
Browse Our Guide
- When Are You Eligible To Claim Spleen Injury Compensation?
- Is There A Time Limit To Claim Spleen Injury Compensation?
- Calculating Compensation For A Spleen Injury Claim
- Evidence You May Need To Claim Spleen Injury Compensation
- No Win No Fee Spleen Injury Claims
- Learn More About How To Make A Personal Injury Claim
When Are You Eligible To Claim Spleen Injury Compensation?
There are several parties who owe you a duty of care, including your employer, the occupier of a public space, and other road users. If either of these parties were to breach this duty, it could potentially cause you to suffer an injury, such as damage to your spleen.
However, in order to begin a personal injury claim for spleen injury compensation, you need to prove the following:
- A third party owed a duty of care to you.
- They breached their duty of care.
- Due to the breach, you experienced a physical and/or psychological injury.
These three criteria form the basis of negligence in tort law. You must have evidence to demonstrate negligence occurred in order to pursue a personal injury compensation claim.
The following sections discuss how spleen injuries could be sustained in different types of accidents.
Accidents At Work
Employers owe a duty of care to their employees as per The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This duty of care requires taking reasonable and practicable steps to ensure that the workplace, environment, equipment, and facilities are safe and to prevent employees from being harmed while they work.
A failure to do so could result in a workplace accident in which an employee suffers a spleen injury. For example:
- An employer may have failed to provide their employee with training on how to operate a forklift truck but instructed them to use the workplace vehicle anyway. As a result, the employee may have crashed and sustained multiple injuries in a forklift accident, such as a head injury and organ damage including a ruptured spleen injury.
Accidents In A Public Place
Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, occupiers in control of a public space owe a duty of care to every member of the public using the space for its intended purpose. This means taking steps to ensure their reasonable safety.
A failure to uphold this duty could lead to a member of the public suffering damage to their spleen in a serious accident. For example:
- A ride that you are on breaks down at a fairground after a failure to address a hazard found through a maintenance check. The ride operator fails to notice that your cart has broken down, leading to a collision with another cart. As a result, you sustain multiple severe injuries, including a damaged spleen injury.
Road Traffic Accidents
Road users owe a duty of care to one another to navigate the roads in a way that prevents harm or damage to themselves or others. To uphold this duty, they need to follow the Road Traffic Act 1988 and The Highway Code.
An example of a road user breaching this duty of care causing someone else to suffer harm in an accident can include:
- A pedestrian steps onto a zebra crossing when it’s clear and safe to do so but is hit by a speeding car that fails to stop. As a result, the pedestrian suffers a ruptured spleen, broken bones and other injuries in a pedestrian crossing accident caused by negligence.
To discuss your specific spleen injury compensation claim, get in touch with our team. They can advise whether you have an eligible case.
Is There A Time Limit To Claim Spleen Injury Compensation?
The personal injury claims time limit is three years from the accident date as per the Limitation Act 1980. However, there are certain instances where an exception can be made.
For example, if the injured person is under the age of 18, the time limit is paused and they have three years from their 18th birthday to claim for themselves.
Also, if the injured party lacks the mental capacity to start legal proceedings themselves, the time limit is paused indefinitely. If they recover their capacity, they will have three years from the recovery date to start their claim.
In both instances, a litigation friend could make a claim on behalf of the injured person while the time limit is paused.
To learn more about how long you have to claim spleen injury compensation, please contact our advisors. They can provide further guidance on the exceptions that could apply to your specific case.
Calculating Compensation For A Spleen Injury Claim
How much compensation awarded for spleen injuries can differ depending on each case. Personal injury settlements awarded following successful spleen injury claims can comprise up to two heads of loss. The primary head is general damages which compensates for the pain and suffering you have experienced due to your injuries.
Your medical records and the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) can be used to help calculate the general damages part of your payout. The JCG provides a list of guideline award brackets that correspond to different types of harm.
Compensation Table
We have used figures from the JCG in the table below, with the exception of the first entry. Please note that these figures cannot be guaranteed as each spleen injury claim is individually considered.
Injury Severity Guideline Award Brackets Notes
Multiple serious injuries with financial losses Serious Up to £250,000+ Compensation for the pain and suffering of multiple serious injuries alongside any financial losses incurred, such as lost income, care costs, and travel costs.
Bladder Serious (c) Up to £140,660
There is a complete loss of function and control.
Bowel Severe abdominal injury (d) £44,590 to £69,730
An injury resulting in function impairment and often necessitating a temporary colostomy.
Digestive system Damage resulting from traumatic injury (a) (i) £43,010 to £61,910 Severe damage with continuous pain and discomfort.
Damage resulting from traumatic injury (a) (ii) £16,790 to £27,760 Serious non-penetrating injury with long-lasting complications.
Spleen Loss of spleen (a) £20,800 to £26,290 An ongoing internal infection risk and a risk of other disorders due to a damaged immune system.
Loss of spleen (b) £4,350 to £8,640 The risk of internal infection and disorders present in the above bracket are not present or are more minimal for cases in this bracket.
Can I Claim For The Financial Losses Caused By Spleen Injuries?
Special damages compensate for your financial losses resulting from your injuries. For example, you could claim back the cost of:
- Lost income if you had to take time off work.
- Travel costs, such as needing to take taxis or buses to appointments.
- Medical expenses, such as for prescriptions.
You will need evidence to support your claim for these monetary losses. As such, you should keep hold of any receipts, invoices, and payslips.
For further guidance on how much spleen injury compensation you could potentially be awarded, contact our team. They can offer a free valuation of your case.
Evidence You May Need To Claim Spleen Injury Compensation
You should provide evidence to support your spleen injury compensation claim to show that a third party breached their duty of care and caused you to suffer harm as a result.
Examples of the evidence you could provide when claiming compensation include:
- Video footage of the accident, such as from a CCTV or dash-cam.
- Photographs of your injury and the accident site.
- Contact information from any potential witnesses of the accident.
- Medical records, such as copies of scans and test results.
If you are eligible, an experienced personal injury solicitor from our panel may be able to assist you in gathering evidence. To find out whether you can be connected with a solicitor, get in touch.
No Win No Fee Spleen Injury Claims
If a solicitor from our panel takes on your spleen injury compensation claim, they may be able to offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a type of No Win No Fee contract which provides several benefits to claimants.
For example, under a CFA, you won’t be required to pay any fees to the solicitor for their work upfront or during the claims process. Moreover, the claimant does not owe their solicitor any fees for the completed work if the claim is unsuccessful.
If the claim is successful, however, the solicitor will take a legally capped percentage of the awarded compensation for their success fee. This legal cap ensures you receive the majority of your payout.
For further guidance on how a solicitor can help you through the spleen injury claims process and the No Win No Fee terms under which they work, get in touch. You can fill out our online form to enquire about making a claim and ask any questions you might have.
Learn More About How To Make A Personal Injury Claim
For more of our helpful guides:
- Discover how much a broken rib is worth in compensation with this helpful guide.
- A guide answering frequently asked questions about personal injury claims, including when you could be eligible to seek compensation.
- Find out how compensation for a hand injury is valued.
Alternatively, you can browse these external resources:
- Information on claiming Statutory Sick Pay from GOV.UK.
- Guidance on first aid from the NHS.
- Helpful workplace health and safety statistics from the Health and Safety Executive.
Thank you for reading this guide on spleen injury compensation claims. If you have any other questions, get in touch with an advisor via the form linked above.