If you are asking, ‘How much compensation will I get for a bike accident?’, this guide could help. Bike and cycling accidents can cause a wide array of injuries, ranging from a minor soft tissue injury or moderate hip injury to a more significant and life-altering injury, such as a severe head injury leading to brain damage. If eligible, you could receive bicycle accident compensation to address the impacts of these injuries.
Throughout this guide, we discuss when you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim as an injured cyclist after a road traffic accident caused by another road user breaching their duty of care. Additionally, we look at how compensation is calculated and what a payout awarded in a successful cycling accident claim could comprise.
Furthermore, we discuss the duty of care road users owe one another and offer examples of how a cycling accident could be caused if this duty is breached.
We also look at the evidence you could supply to strengthen your case and how a personal injury solicitor with experience handling road traffic accident claims could help by offering their services under a type of No Win No Fee agreement.
If you have any other questions, please contact our team of helpful advisors. They can assess your potential claim for free and provide guidance on your eligibility to seek compensation. To reach out, you can enquire about your potential claim online.
Learn How To Claim Compensation For A Bike Accident
Select A Section
- How Much Compensation Will I Get For A Bike Accident?
- Eligibility Criteria For A Cycling Accident Claim
- How Could Cycling Accidents Happen?
- What Evidence Could Help Support A Cycling Accident Compensation Claim?
- Make A No Win No Fee Bicycle Accident Compensation Claim
- Learn More About Road Traffic Accident Claims
How Much Compensation Will I Get For A Bike Accident?
Whilst you may be wondering ‘How much compensation will I get for a bike accident?’, it’s important to be aware that compensation settlements are decided on a case-by-case basis.
However, if your personal injury claim is a success, you could receive a payout comprising up to two heads of loss.
The first is general damages which compensates for the pain and suffering caused by the injuries, physical and/or psychological. Factors, such as the following, can be considered when determining the value of this head:
- The impact on quality of life.
- Long-term medical and rehabilitation needs.
- Treatment required.
- Recovery time.
Those tasked with calculating general damages can refer to medical reports to help them. Also, they can use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) which lists guideline award brackets for different injuries based on severity.
The excerpt below comes from this publication. However, the top entry is not from the Judicial College Guidelines.
Compensation Table
Please use the table as a guide.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation Guidelines | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Injuries of a Very Severe Nature and Special Damages | Very Severe | Up to £1 million plus | Multiple injuries that are very severe in nature and any financial losses incurred as a result, such as care costs, loss of earnings and medical expenses, can be compensated for. |
| Brain Injury | Very Severe | £282,010 to £403,990 | Minimal or no meaningful response to environment with poor language function. The person also has double incontinence and requires full-time nursing care. |
| Paralysis | Paraplegia | £219,070 to £284,260 | Cases where the body is paralysed from the waist down. The level of award given will depend on several factors, such as the person's age and life expectancy. |
| Back | Severe (i) | £91,090 to £160,980 | Damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots. |
| Arm | Severe | £96,160 to £130,930 | Injuries in this bracket fall short of needing amputation. However, they are still extremely serious and leave the injured person little better off than if they had lost the arm completely. |
| Hip/Pelvis | Severe (i) | £78,400 to £130,930 | Extensive pelvis fractures that involve lower back dislocation and a ruptured bladder. |
| Knee | Severe (i) | £69,730 to £96,210 | Serious knee injury that disrupts the joint and causes gross ligamentous damage amongst other issues. |
| Ankle | Very Severe | £50,060 to £69,700 | Cases such as transmalleolar fractures and extensive damage to soft tissue are included in this bracket. |
| Leg | Severe (iii) | £39,200 to £54,830 | Serious compound or comminuted fractures causing instability, prolonged treatment, and a lengthy period of non-weight-bearing. |
Claiming Special Damages In A Bike Accident Claim
The second head of loss is special damages. This awards compensation to reimburse you for the out-of-pocket expenses caused by your injury.
You should keep hold of any receipts, payslips, bank statements, and invoices to prove these losses.
Examples of the costs you could potentially claim back under this head include:
- Past or future loss of earnings because of time off work.
- Medical costs.
- Travel costs.
- The cost of any changes needed at home.
For further guidance on what you could be awarded following a successful cycle accident claim, please contact an advisor on the number above.
Eligibility Criteria For A Cycling Accident Claim
Road users must adhere to the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code in order to uphold their duty of care. The duty of care placed on road users requires them to operate vehicles and navigate roads in a way that minimises the risk of causing injury or damage to themselves and others.
Therefore, an eligible personal injury claim needs to show three points:
- A duty of care was owed to you.
- This duty was breached by another road user.
- This breach caused you to sustain a physical and/or psychological injury.
These three points define negligence in tort law and you must prove negligence occurred to be eligible to proceed with your personal injury claim.
Call our team for further guidance on the eligibility criteria for cycle accident claims.
How Could Cycling Accidents Happen?
There are several ways a bicycle accident could occur leading to injuries. For example:
- A car driver operates their vehicle under the influence of alcohol. As a result, they collide with a cyclist who suffers a serious head injury and pelvis injury.
- A cyclist could be hit by a car because the driver was looking at their mobile phone and not the road. As a result, the cyclist sustains multiple injuries, including multiple fractured and broken bones and soft tissue injuries.
- A speeding motorist knocks the cyclist from their bike onto incoming traffic at a junction after failing to check their blind spot. This leads to the cyclist suffering spinal damage, a severe wrist injury involving amputation, as well as concussion after hitting their head.
Not all accidents involving a cyclist will form the basis of a valid claim. To be eligible to make a cycling injury claim, negligence needs to be proven.
Examples of Common Cycling Injuries
There are several types of injuries a cyclist could sustain in a bicycle accident, such as:
- Broken bones, such as a leg fracture.
- Neck injuries and back injuries, such as spinal cord damage.
- Cuts and lacerations as well as bruising.
Additionally, the accident could have a psychological impact, causing anxiety and depression.
Please call our team to find out if you’re eligible to proceed with your case. They could also offer further guidance on the bike accident compensation you could receive for the impact of the injuries sustained, such as any permanent pain and suffering.
What Evidence Could Help Support A Cycling Accident Compensation Claim?
The following evidence could help strengthen your claim for cycling accident compensation by showing a road user breached their duty of care and caused you harm:
- CCTV footage.
- Witness contact details, so that supporting statements can be gathered at a later date.
- Photographic evidence of the accident site and your injuries.
- Copies of medical records such as test results, specialist reports, and X-rays.
To help prove your personal injury claim, gather as much evidence as you can. If you choose to instruct an expert solicitor from our panel, they could assist you with building your case.
Find out more about the services they offer and whether they could represent your claim by calling the number above.
Make A No Win No Fee Bicycle Accident Compensation Claim
The personal injury solicitors on our panel can offer their services to eligible claimants through a type of No Win No Fee agreement called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
Working under a CFA with a solicitor typically means you don’t need to pay any upfront or ongoing fees for their services. Furthermore, no fees need to be paid for their services if the claim fails.
Under a CFA, a success fee becomes due if the claim has a successful outcome. This is taken as a percentage that is capped by law ensuring that the majority of the compensation awarded goes to you.
To find out if you could be eligible to instruct one of the expert No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel, please get in touch with an advisor by enquiring about your potential claim online with our online contact form.
Learn More About Road Traffic Accident Claims
For more of our guides:
- More information on how cycling accident solicitors could help you.
- This guide looks at how to claim if you were knocked off your motorbike by another road user.
- Here we explain the benefits of using serious injury claim lawyers.
Also, here are some other helpful external resources:
- Information about cycle safety from Think!
- Guidance on Statutory Sick Pay from GOV.UK.
- Advice on when to call 999 from the NHS.
We hope this guide has answered the question ‘How much compensation will I get for a bike accident?’. If you require any further information, please contact an advisor on the number above.