Solicitors Guide to Understanding Brain Injury Claims

Who can make a brain injury claim?

When your brain injury is due to another individual or organisation, you may be able to claim compensation. This is usually the case when they are fully, or partly to blame for your injury, and by making a claim, you will be holding the responsible party to account. You could also be helping to prevent similar injuries from happening in the future.  

If this is something you’re unfortunately having to deal with, you need to know that you could claim head injury compensation. Naturally, this cannot cover or undo any amount of pain and suffering you’ve experienced, but the money you get could help you begin to get your life back on track. 

The first step in this journey is talking to one of our specialist Brain Injury Solicitors. We have a track record of helping clients who have dealt with this, either directly or with a loved one. At Simpson Millar, we offer free claims assessments, meaning we can tell you whether or not you will be able to bring a claim.

We regularly help brain injury claims under the following list:

• Road traffic accidents
• Workplace accidents
• Accidents in public places
• Medical negligence
• Criminal assault.

More often than not, a traumatic brain injury means that a person loses their regular mental capacity, and may not be able to make their own claim. In this instance, we will be able to help you claim on their behalf. Read all about a litigation friend further down in the article.

What are the most common types of brain injuries?

Even if it feels like you’ve just had a minor head or brain injury, this can still have a long-lasting impact. If you’ve been involved in an accident, it can help to understand what kind of injury you’re experiencing.

At Simpson Millar, our friendly and approachable team has years of experience supporting clients who are making head injury compensation claims. 

We have worked on head injury claims which have involved some of the more common types of injury. These include:

• Acquired Brain Injury (ABI): This is an injury to the brain that is not hereditary, congenital, degenerative, or birth trauma. In a sense, this injury occurred after birth resulting in a  change to the brain’s neuronal activity – An acquired brain injury is the umbrella term for all brain injuries.
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): This is traumatic impact to the brain, which can include falls, assaults, car accidents, sports injuries.
• Hypoxic Brain Injury: These are injuries that form because of a restriction of oxygen being supplied to the brain. 
• Subtle Brain Injury: This brain injury affects a person’s way of thinking, feeling, acting or sleeping. 

Symptoms of a brain injury 

Many people simply don’t realise many of the lifelong effects that brain injury can have. In fact, it is only those people whose lives have been destroyed by brain injury and its effects that could ever really have that awareness.

For example, someone who has experienced a brain injury may have impaired cognitive functions that they act inappropriately for their age. 

The loved ones of persons who have suffered with a brain injury would then see every day how their friend, lover, family member, mother, brother, wife, husband, father or child is changed forever.

They’ll be forever aware of how an injury to the brain is an injury that never goes away, and how hard it is to live with the lifelong effects. This lack of wider public awareness may stem partly from how brain injury is portrayed in TV and films. In soaps and movies alike, characters often have blows to the head and act like it’s nothing. They wake up the next day and everything is fine.  

Even if they’re in a coma, they come out of it within weeks and carry on as if the head and brain injury had never happened – but that is never the case. People need to think about the after effects of a brain injury, because even the smaller things like a headache, can lead to lasting pain.

Final Settlement Figure

When your general damages (compensating for your pain, suffering and loss of amenity) and special damages (recovering your financial losses) are added together, you’ll get your final settlement figure. This is usually informed by these guidelines: 

• Most Severe – in the most severe brain injury cases where there are lifelong financial losses, you could be awarded £5 million or more.
• Moderately Severe – in moderately severe brain injury cases, you could be awarded between £1 million and £5 million.
• Moderate – in moderate brain injury cases, you could be awarded up to £1 million.

What Are The Different Levels Of Payouts?

The value of any brain or head injury claim will depend on a number of factors, such as the seriousness of the injury itself. It will take into account all the pain and suffering, along with how your life is affected. 

In general, the Judicial College guidelines for general damage pay outs are as follows:

Why You Need a Case Manager in a Brain Injury Case

Before advancing with any claim, our first step is to appoint a case manager, a crucial figure in your journey. Brain Injury Case Managers are from a network of professionals. They usually have some form of qualification, either in occupational therapy or nursing, or something similar.  They are typically appointed by a solicitor and play a pivotal role in coordinating services, treatment, and rehabilitation tailored to the individual needs of the affected person.

Upon assuming their role, one of the initial responsibilities is to compile an Assessment of Needs report. This report is instrumental in identifying the rehabilitation and care needs of an individual who has suffered a brain injury. It serves the purpose of providing our clients with the earliest access to rehabilitation and facilitating an early interim payment request from the party responsible for the accident to fund the necessary treatment.

In every unique case, considering various circumstances and family dynamics, a Case Manager in a brain injury case typically recommends and plans for treatment, rehabilitation, and support in areas such as:

• Psychological / Neuropsychological Treatment
• Neuro Physiotherapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Support Worker
• Transport
• Care Provision
• Assisting to Apply for Benefits
• ENT / Audio Vestibular Assessment and Rehabilitation
• Pain Management
• Educational Assistance
• Vocational Rehabilitation – to aid in returning to work or considering re-training for a different occupation

How We Can Help You and Your Case Manager

In instances where liability for the injury is admitted, we can apply for an interim payment from the insurance company of the person or organization responsible for the accident. This covers the Case Manager's fees and the costs of any recommended treatment and rehabilitation. Even if liability is not admitted, there are circumstances where Case Management and rehabilitation can still be accessed under the Rehabilitation Code. In such cases, insurers might agree to fund the initial treatment recommended.

At Simpson Millar, our responsibility is to ensure that the recommendations made by a Case Manager meet all the needs of the injured person, anticipating any future requirements for a smooth resolution. The cost of future ongoing care, treatment, support, and Case Management recommended by a medical expert can be substantial in a brain injury claim, especially if it is a lifelong necessity. This aspect forms a crucial part of a claim for damages in a brain injury case.

Will There be a Time Limit for Making a Brain Injury Claim?

Generally, you will have three years from the date of your accident to make a brain injury claim. 

Between your accident and the three-year mark, you can make your claim at any point. However, it’s a good idea to start the claim as soon as you can, as ensures your Solicitor is able to collect the evidence they need to make your claim successful. 

In addition, this ensures you can get access to the specialist treatment and services you need to begin to recover.

There are some exceptions to this limit. These include:

• If the injured person lacks the mental capacity to make a claim themselves. The time limit is paused until they regain capacity, which means it can be indefinite.
• If you're making a claim on behalf of a child. You can start a claim at any point until their 18th birthday. At this point, the three-year limit will then start.
• If your injury is the result of an assault. If this is the case, you must start a criminal injury claim within two years of the incident.

How long does it take to settle a brain injury claim?

This depends on many different factors, such as how quickly we can gather evidence and medical reports, and whether the person responsible for your injury admits liability straight away. If they do, then we may be able to apply for you to get interim payments, to help with any ongoing costs until the final settlement is reached.

Do you need to go to court?

It’s unlikely that your claim goes to Court as we will try to settle the same before this point. However, if it does, our team of Personal Injury Solicitors at Simpson Millar are here to work hard to get you the best possible outcome for your case.

In addition, we’ll do everything we can to make you feel supported and guided throughout.

How Simpson Millar help you 

At Simpson Millar, our expert Personal Injury Solicitors have experience with handling brain injury claims, and we have an excellent track record of getting you the outcome you need in order to rebuild your life. 

Many law firms believe that running with a brain injury claim is like all other personal injury claims, but the effects of a brain injury are hugely complex, which means that nothing could be wider of the mark.

If we can take on your case, we’ll work hard to identify the consequences of the brain injury and make sure you get the care, support and rehabilitation you need. This includes getting you access to the right experts in various disciplines, such as neurology, neurosurgery and neuro rehabilitation.

We take it a step further by having our Solicitors look at whether or not your accommodation needs to be changed. It may be that you need more space for your support team and therapist, or even just space with peace and quiet, as often the hustle and bustle of life, especially in noisy families with children, can and does often enrage and upset someone with a brain injury.

Occupational therapy may also be needed to help you relearn certain skills and live safely and independently. For instance, if you have memory problems because of your brain injury, you may accidentally leave the cooker on or forget to close and lock the front door.

At Simpson Millar, we have decades of expertise when it comes to helping clients with brain injuries get the support and care they need. We will leave no stone unturned in helping you get the compensation you need to get your life back together. 

If you think you have a Brain Injury Claim, or your loved one is suffering, then do not hesitate to get in touch with our friendly and approachable team. Call us on 0808 239 0340, and let us, help you build your life back together, one step at a time.

FAQs

What Type of Rehabilitation Can I Get after Sustaining a Brain Injury?

Many types of rehabilitation are available for people who’ve sustained a brain injury in an accident, such as:

• Physiotherapy
• Neuropsychology
• Neuropsychiatry
• Pain management
• Residential assistance

As Serious Injury Solicitors who specialises in Brain Injury Claims, we make sure that whoever is responsible for the accident that caused a brain injury, or their insurance company, pays compensation.  The injured person can then be helped back into the position they were in before the accident happened; as much as possible.

Can I Claim on Behalf of Someone Else?

If your loved one has suffered a severe brain injury, meaning they no longer have the mental capacity to make a claim themselves, you could make a claim on their behalf. 

In addition, if you’re a parent or legal guardian of a child under 18 who has sustained a brain injury, you can claim for compensation on their behalf. 

As with any other brain injury claim, we need to prove that the other party was to blame, and we can help you figure that out.

When you speak to us, we'll talk you through your options in plain English.  We can assess your claim for free and in a friendly, confidential safe space. And, once we’ve had our initial talk, there’s no obligation to start the process if you don’t feel comfortable to.