Chronic Pain Compensation Claims: No Win, No Fee

Chronic pain is a pervasive and debilitating condition that affects millions of individuals around the world. Unlike acute pain, which typically arises from a specific injury or illness and resolves over time, chronic pain persists for an extended period, often for months or even years. It can profoundly impact a person’s quality of life, making it challenging to perform everyday tasks, maintain gainful employment, and engage in the activities they once enjoyed.

Whilst most chronic pain injuries are accidental, there are those which are caused as a result of someone else’s negligence. If you have suffered a chronic pain injury due to negligence, you could be eligible to make a chronic pain compensation claim.

Contact Beacon Law today to speak to one of our specialist chronic pain compensation claims solicitors for a free, no obligation, initial consultation.

Common accidents that lead to chronic pain compensation claims

Chronic pain compensation claims can arise from a wide range of accidents and incidents, often resulting in long-lasting physical and emotional suffering. While the specific circumstances may vary, some common accidents and situations that frequently lead to chronic pain compensation claims include:

Road Traffic Accidents: Car, motorcycle, and truck accidents can cause various injuries, including whiplash, spinal cord injuries, and fractures, which may lead to chronic pain conditions.

Workplace Injuries: Accidents in the workplace, such as slips, trips, falls, or incidents involving heavy machinery, can lead to chronic pain conditions, such as back injuries, repetitive strain injuries (RSI), and joint problems.

Medical Malpractice: Mistakes made by healthcare professionals during surgery, diagnosis, or treatment can result in chronic pain conditions, nerve damage, or complications from an original injury that require ongoing care.

Sports and Recreational Injuries: Participation in sports or recreational activities can sometimes lead to accidents causing chronic pain, such as traumatic brain injuries, torn ligaments, or joint injuries.

Slip and Fall Accidents: Falls on slippery or uneven surfaces in public places, private properties, or businesses can result in injuries leading to chronic pain, like fractures, concussions, or back injuries.

Assaults and Physical Attacks: Victims of physical assaults may experience chronic pain due to injuries sustained during the attack, such as fractures, head injuries, or soft tissue damage.

Types of chronic pain injuries

Chronic pain injuries encompass a wide range of conditions and ailments. Suffering chronic pain injuries can result in long-term, persistent pain. Some common types of chronic pain injuries include:

• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome
• Fibromyalgia syndrome (fms)
• Complex regional pain syndrome
• Myofascial pain
• Injuries to the nervous system
• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Chronic pain syndrome and chronic pain disorder

What is the chronic pain compensation claim process?

During your initial consultation, our personal injury solicitors will provide you with advice about claiming compensation for chronic pain and will inform you about the relevant limitation rules.

Our personal injury lawyers will then ask you for details about your accident and the chronic pain injuries that were suffered as a result. This will help our injury lawyers to assess the likelihood of your claim being successful. Examples of the relevant information that our lawyers may ask for include: the location, time, and date of the accident, the nature of the injuries suffered, details of anyone who may have witnessed the incident, details of the defendant, and the circumstances surrounding the accident.

During these initial stages of your claim for compensation, it is vital that you gather the relevant evidence to support your claim. Relevant evidence may include CCTV footage of the incident, medical records, photographs of your injuries, and witness statements.

Your personal injury solicitor may also ask that you undergo an official medical examination in order to receive medical reports about the chronic pain injuries that you have sustained. These medical reports will provide vital medical evidence of the nature and extent of your injuries. Even if you have received other medical care prior to starting your personal injury claim, a more thorough medical assessment may still be needed to produce detailed, accurate, and reliable medical reports.

If we think that your chronic pain claim would be likely to succeed, we will offer to proceed with your claim on a no win no fee basis; if your claim is unsuccessful, you will not be required to pay any legal fees.

The defendant will be notified about your claim, after which point, they will need to decide whether they accept liability for your injuries. If the defendant accepts liability, negotiations for a settlement fee can commence. If the defendant denies their liability, court proceedings may follow.

What are the time limits for chronic pain compensation claims?

Before starting your claim for compensation, it is important to note that there are strict time limits on personal injury claims. From the date of the incident that caused the chronic pain injuries, the injured party will have 3 years in which to commence proceedings for claiming compensation.

It must be noted, however, that there are some exceptions to this rule:

For example, if the claimant was under the age of 18 at the time of the incident, they have until their 21st birthday to make their chronic pain compensation claim. In the meantime, provided that the claimant is still under the age of 18, a litigation friend such as a parent, guardian, or close family member could claim compensation on their behalf.

Another exception to the 3 year time limit occurs when the claimant who has suffered a chronic pain injury does not have the mental capacity to begin their compensation claim. Rather than being limited to making a claim within 3 years from the date of the incident, the claimant is entitled to begin their compensation claim at any moment in time once they regain the mental capacity to do so.

If the chronic pain injuries were caused by a violent crime, such as an assault, the victim will have 2 years in which to begin their personal injury compensation claim.

What amount of compensation could I receive?

The amount of compensation awarded will aim to put the claimant in the position they were in before the accident that resulted in chronic pain took place. The amount of compensation awarded will depend on the type of injuries suffered, as well as the severity of these injuries.

The amount of compensation that could be awarded will also depend on the impact that the injury has had on the claimant’s daily life, whether any long term care is needed, and whether any structural adaptations need to be made to the claimant’s home in order to assist their new way of living.

Special damages will also be awarded to compensate for any further financial loss that the claimant has suffered as a result of their injury. This could include compensation for a loss of earnings due to the time spent off work, loss of future earnings if the claimant has been left unable to work, the cost of medical treatment, travel costs, and the cost of ongoing care if this is needed.

We advise that you keep evidence of all financial losses suffered as a result of your injuries. This could include receipts and invoices from medical treatment and evidence of any loss of earnings.

Due to the complex nature of chronic pain injuries, it may be difficult for our personal injury solicitors to provide you with an exact estimation of the amount of compensation you could be awarded. Undergoing a medical assessment will provide a more accurate report on the injuries that have been sustained and will help when calculating the amount of compensation that you could be awarded.

If money is needed to cover any immediate costs, interim payments may be awarded. Interim payments are where a portion of the future compensation amount is paid to the claimant in advance. Interim payments will likely be made in circumstances where the claimant has been left unable to work as a result of their injuries. Interim payments may also be made if the claimant is forced to cover immediate expenses following the accident that they were involved in.

How can Beacon Law assist you?

Whilst pursuing a chronic pain compensation, Beacon Law can be your source of support and will help you recover the amount of compensation that you deserve. We understand that the process of making personal injury claims can be difficult, so we will be there to guide you every step of the way.

After suffering chronic pain injuries, we believe that you should have access to the best possible medical care and support available, and we endeavour to provide this to our clients. Due to our association with medical professionals, we are able to provide you with private treatment to assist you in your recovery.

We value each client that we have the pleasure of working with, listen carefully to our clients’ wishes, and will aim to complete your claim for chronic pain in a timely manner so that you can receive the compensation that you deserve as soon as possible.