If you wish to pursue a claim for criminal injuries compensation, the claim will be processed via the new scheme. The new scheme will no longer provide any level of personal injury compensation to those victims who have suffered ‘minor injuries’ such as claims made by people who have suffered injuries such as a broken nose, broken cheek bone or lost/damaged teeth.

Another change to the scheme is the alteration to the level of income loss a claimant can claim for. In Personal Injury claims, loss of income comes under ‘special damages ‘ and can be claimed for in full – dependent on a claimant proving their loss of income. Previously, the Criminal Injuries scheme allowed a claimant to claim loss of income, only if they were out of work for a period of 26 weeks (half a year) or more. The new scheme states that a claimant must still be out of work for 26 weeks or more to claim loss of income, but rather than compensate the claimant for their loss of income at the rate that they usually earn, they will now only settle the loss of income claim at the rate of statutory sickness pay. This means that if you previously earned a large salary and were then beaten to the point that you could no longer work, whilst you may get a compensation figure from the Criminal Injuries scheme, your loss of income will be capped at the rate of £60 odd pounds weekly.

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With regards to whether your employer can afford the compensation, this is covered by employer’s liability insurance.

As regards losing your job or being victimised, there are laws in place to prevent this, but we find that often clients do not experience any problems at work when bringing a claim.

Who is to blame?

Compensation for accidents at work is payable if it can be shown that the accident was someone else’s fault. The fault could be with your employer, a colleague or a visitor to your workplace.

What can I bring a claim for?

Potentially any accident that you have whilst in the course of your employment. This can include work in an office, building site or company vehicle.

Most common accidents are:

• Tripping over something, such as computer cables, boxes or tools left around
• Falls from height, such as from ladders, roofs, scaffolding
• Lifting something which is too heavy or big
• Slipping on wet floors

What should I do if I have an accident at work?

Even if you are not sure whether you can bring a claim, you should take these steps to safeguard your position:

• Report the accident at work to a supervisor or first aider and ensure that an accurate record of the accident is reported in an accident book. If possible, take photographs of the accident location.
• Visit your GP and/or hospital to have your injuries examined and get any treatment you need.
• If there is a witness to your accident, make a note of their name and contact details.
• Did your employer make any changes or repairs after your accident? If he did, make a record of it.
• Keep receipts of prescriptions and travel fares, including a note of mileage for hospital/GP appointments.

What should I do if I am sacked for bringing an accident at work claim?

In our experience this is extremely rare. However if you are sacked because you bought a claim against your employers, then this is known as automatic unfair dismissal and you are entitled to bring a claim under Employment Law. Our Employment Law team can assist you with this.

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