Brain Injury Solicitors.

Making a Brain Injury Claim will provide financial compensation that can help you pay for rehabilitation costs and medical fees, along with compensating you for loss of earnings, both during initial treatment and recuperation periods, but that also covers loss of future earnings depending on your exact circumstances.

The severity of the injury to the brain could mean ongoing care is required to provide a good quality of life, as well as adaptations and modifications to the home and/or modes of transport. The level of financial compensation a person receives for brain injury will vary greatly depending on many variables.

Whether you are entitled to make a claim is much more straightforward. If the injury has been caused by the negligence of another individual or organisation, then it will be possible to make a Brain Injury Claim for compensation.

More than a million people visit a hospital with a brain or head injury every year – and about 135,000 of those are admitted to hospital due to the severity of their injury. Of those admitted to hospital, many thousands will be able to claim compensation because their injuries will have been caused by the negligence of someone else.

Unfortunately, brain injury can also be sustained in hospital due to problems that arise during surgery or with medical care. Problems can occur during the birth of a child where the brain is starved of oxygen. Anaesthesia negligence can also result in damage to the brain.

Close friends or family of the person affected by brain injury often bring the case for a Brain Injury Compensation Claim on behalf of their injured friend or relative. Sometimes the person who has suffered damage to the brain will be unable to act on their own behalf.

It is often family or close friends that go on to act as carers where the victim has complex care needs and requires support in the home and with daily life. It is often the case that people close to the injured person must also make significant compromises to their own lives, especially where ongoing care or home modifications are required.

If you are unsure whether your exact circumstances entitle you to make a Brain Injury Claim, we are on hand to talk through your case and advise you on the best course of action. Call us to talk to an experienced Brain Injury Solicitor today.

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Making a Brain Injury Claim for compensation is understandably not the principal priority for you or family members in the immediate days following the injury, but time limits do apply to compensation claims for injury.

With Brain Injury Claims, in particular, there may be grounds to bring a claim after the usual time limits have passed. Standard time restriction can, in some cases, be deemed to have not even started if the victim lacks the ‘mental capacity’ to bring a claim at the time they had the accident or sustained the injury. The severity of the injury will be an important factor if this is to be argued.

Broadly speaking, adults must bring a compensation claim within three years of the occurrence of the injury. This means the claim form must have been submitted to the county court or high court within the three year period.

There is also a legal provision for a case to be brought after three years’ time has passed following the injury but within three years of the ‘date of knowledge’. The date of knowledge applies whereby the victim has only subsequently learned that the fault of the negligence of others has been a principal reason for their injury being caused.

Where a child has been affected by an injury to the brain. The child can make a Brain Injury Claim for compensation for up to three years after their 18th Birthday.

There are other circumstances that allow Brain Injury Claims to be brought beyond the standard time limits laid out as general guidelines above. The best advice is to seek guidance from a qualified Brain Injury Solicitor at the earliest stage possible. The sooner you seek legal opinion, the easier it will be to compile the evidence needed to make your Brain Injury Claim a compelling case for suitable compensation and financial settlement.

Our team will advise you on your case expertly and address any concerns you may have about time limits. Our priority will be to protect your rights, protect your future and to bring a successful conclusion to your claim.

The brain is the most complex and brilliant organ in the human body. While everyone has a brain, no two brains work exactly the same. Similarly, an injury to the brain will affect different people differently. A brain injury can lead to a myriad of cognitive, behavioural and physical symptoms which range from mild symptoms that resolve relatively quickly to severe symptoms that can persist indefinitely. Not only will the symptoms differ, but the impact of those symptoms can vary from person to person based on their age, lifestyle and personality. For instance, a serious brain injury will affect a teenager very differently to a pensioner

The two main causes of brain injury are oxygen starvation and traumatic brain injury. Both are classified as ‘acquired brain injury’, the collective term for any type of brain injury that occurs after birth

Traumatic Brain injury is most commonly caused by road traffic accidents, assaults, falls and accidents at home and in the workplace

There are many other forms of acquired brain injury such as:

• Concussion
• Stroke
• Brain Aneurysm
• Brain Haemorrhage
• Brain Tumour
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• Encephalitis
• Hydrocephalus
• Meningitis
• Hypoxic & Anoxic Brain injury

The amount of compensation paid out for general damages relating to brain injury are published in the ‘Judicial College Guidelines’. General damages seek to compensate for those wounds and losses that cannot be physically calculated. The core constituents of general damages in Brain Injury Claims are pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA).

Any non-fault injured party is entitled to recover compensation for pain, suffering and loss experienced due to the result of an accident. The PSLA element of the final compensation settlement figure is meant to encompass all pain and suffering (past, present, and future physical and psychiatric symptoms) that may be reasonably expected in respect of the injury.

The bullet points below reflect the current guidelines on compensation settlement amounts for pain and suffering caused by brain injury.

• Very Severe Brain Damage: Brain Injury which significantly reduces the victim’s capacity to acknowledge their environment. This degree of seriousness would include little or no language function and the need for full-time care. £247,280 – £354,260.
• Moderately Severe Brain Damage: Injury where severe disability results. Where the injured party will be significantly dependent on others to help with daily life. Disabilities could be mental, physical or both. £192,090 – £247,280.
• Moderate Brain Damage (i): Dependence on others is reduced from the categorisation above. This would involve the injured person still having a degree of independent capacity but would also likely involve situations whereby the injured person experiences personality changes, reduced intellect of motor function, speech problems or problems with sight or other senses. Serious risk of epilepsy £131,620 – £192,090.
• Moderate Brain Damage (ii): Moderate impairment to the intellect and the possibility of returning to gainful employment is low or unlikely. Possible risk of suffering from epilepsy may also exist. £79,530 – £131,620.
• Moderate Brain Damage (iii): Memory or ability to concentrate will be affected in such cases, reduced risk of epilepsy may exist, and while employment opportunities may exist, they will be at levels reduced from the potential the injured person may have had before the injury £37,760 – £79,530.
• Less Severe Brain Damage: Covers situations where a strong recovery can be made. With the person able to return to work environments, but may be subject to concentration, memory or mood problems. At the upper end of this bracket, there may still be a risk of epilepsy. £13,430 – £37,760.
• Minor Brain or Head Injury Covers minor injuries in which permanent brain damage is minimal, or non-existent. The final brain injury compensation claim settlement amount will depend on duration needed to recover, the severity and degree of trauma surrounding the injury and any ongoing symptoms which could include headaches. £1,940 – £11,200.