Any type of eye injury can cause severe injuries and can have long-term consequences, including a loss of vision. Due to the fact that eyes are so sensitive, they can be one of the most easily damaged areas of the body.

Without sight, day to day tasks can become much harder and sometimes even impossible. This can have an impact on your loved ones as you may become reliant on them to aid you, depending on the extent of your injuries.

If you have suffered an eye injury as a result of negligence and it was not your fault, you may be entitled to make an eye injury compensation claim.

 

Common causes of eye injuries

 

At Wildwood Legal, we see a variety of accidents that lead to eye injuries. These forms of negligence include:

 

Medical negligence – Eye injuries can be caused as a direct result of medical negligence. This can be through surgery on the eye that was not performed properly or if a medical professional failed to diagnose a disease on the eye.

 

Road traffic accidents – Accidents on the road can lead to eye injuries. They can be caused by the initial force from the accident or from debris getting in the eye. If the accident was caused to due to someone else’s negligence, you could be eligible to make a claim.

 

Accidents at work – Accidents can happen in any workplace and can lead to a variety of injuries, including eye injuries. You may be able to make an accident at work claim against your employer if they failed to put proper procedures in place to protect their employees and you suffered an eye injury at work as a result.

 

What should I do following an eye injury?

 

Following an injury to the eye, even for minor eye injuries, you should receive medical attention immediately as medical professionals may be able to reduce the damage to the eye if the injuries are seen to fast enough. If your injuries are particularly severe, you should seek attention at a hospital.

You should also keep any receipts for any medical treatment required as this may be used as evidence to recover these costs at a later date.

If you sustained your eye injury in your workplace, you should report the accident to a supervisor or manager and ensure that your accident has been logged correctly in an accident report logbook.

 

Time limits for making an eye injury claim

 

The law on time limits for eye injury claims is complicated. However, the general rule is that you have three years from the date of the accident to have either settled your claim or started court proceedings from when the injury happened.

The three-year deadline commences from the date that the injury occurred or from the date on which you realised that your injury or illness was associated with negligence. The three-year time limit for claiming compensation for loss of sight does not apply to under 18s; however, it will come into effect after their 18th birthday. There is also no time limit for individuals that lack the mental capacity to make a claim themselves.

 

How will my eye injury compensation be calculated?

 

The amount of compensation for an eye injury is made up of two areas, general damages and special damages.

 

General damages cover physical injuries; these damages take the severity of your injuries into consideration as there are different types of eye injuries, as the more severe your injuries are, the higher the compensation levels are likely to be. For example, if you have become completely blind, you would receive more compensation than if you had lost sight in one eye.

 

Special damages cover the financial impact the negligence had. This includes loss of earnings which will depend on the severity of your injuries and the type of job that you do. Special damages also cover any care that you may need. For example, if you lost your sight completely, the court would likely reward you with compensation to cover the financial implications of this in the future.

If the Defendant admits liability for your case, you may also be able to receive an interim payment, meaning that you could receive a part-payment of compensation during litigation. These payments are made by the other side before a case is settled in order to aid you to fund a number of vital things, such as assistance in daily living or urgent medical care.

 

How much do eye injury compensation claims cost?

 

We will always be 100% transparent about what our charges are; if we take on your negligence case, we will almost always do so on no win no fee agreements (also known as a conditional agreement).

This means that if you do not win your case, you do not pay us any fees at all. If we win the case, we take a small percentage of your compensation, which we will agree with you beforehand, to cover our costs.

We will never ask you to sign anything until you are completely happy with what it is that we are proposing.

 

How can Wildwood Legal assist?

 

At Wildwood Legal, we know that sustaining an eye injury can be devastating. If you have suffered from this, you need to seek legal advice – That’s where we come in.

We see all too often the significant effect that a head or brain injury can have on people’s lives. We can help on the financial side to get you on the road to recovery and help you to maximise the amount of compensation you receive.

Our core strength is in personal injury claims. Our personal injury solicitors are experienced in helping you with any negligence claims that you may want to make. We aim to give you not only quality aid but flexibility and clarity as we know that these qualities are just as important.

Our law firm is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority; therefore, we provide everything that is needed to meet their high standards meaning that we are a trusted law firm. We offer services to individuals located in England and Wales.

Our ultimate aim is to obtain a great outcome for your case and for you to feel able to recommend us to others at the end of your claim.

We value the opinion of our clients, and we will always listen to you and take on board what you say. We will always keep your personal information safe. To make an enquiry, get in contact with us either email us info@winstonsolicitors.co.uk or call us 0113 320 5000.