Spinal and Back Injuries
Back injuries arising from accidents are very common. At the lower end of the scale they include strains, sprains, disc prolapses and soft tissue injuries. At the other end of the spectrum there is spinal cord injury. This involves damage to the spinal cord causing loss of sensation and muscular control. It can happen to anyone at any stage of their life and is often the result of road traffic accidents, or trips and falls. In the most severe cases it can lead to total paralysis and constant pain, with 24 hour care required.
Claims for spinal cord injury can be extremely complex and need to be dealt with by a specialist personal injury solicitor. As with other injuries compensation wont be based solely on the injury itself. Many other factors have to be taken into account such the treatment and care required for years to come. The accident victim’s age and life expectancy must be carefully considered when preparing the claim.
Awards for quadriplegia range from between £188,000 to £235,000, whilst paraplegia generally attracts compensation of £127,000 to £165,000.
Compensation for other types of back injury varies enormously. A minor back injury where the accident victim makes a recovery within a couple of years can expect to recover up to £4,500, rising to £7,500 if recovery takes up to 5 years. Moderately severe back injuries give rise to compensation of up to £23,000 and very severe cases can warrant compensation approaching £100,000.
It should be remembered that these figures represent compensation awarded for the injury itself or what solicitors call ‘pain, suffering and loss of amenity’. In addition to this compensation can be claimed for financial losses arising from the accident such as loss of earnings, care, medical costs and travelling expenses. In fact any expense that is incurred as a result of the accident that wouldn’t otherwise have arisen.
