Offices are usually a very safe place to work. Office workers usually have a very low rate of accidents at work. This doesn’t mean that all offices are safe. However, it is important that you make a compensation payment if you suffer injury in the office due to someone’s fault. Making personal injury compensation claims for an accident at work in an office can often be very straightforward. Your employer has a statutory duty of care. It means that they have a legal responsibility to look after your health and safety. If they have not done this, it can be easy to demonstrate that your accident or injury was their fault.

The difficulty is that you can be put under pressure by your employer, and will often downplay your injuries. Many people who suffer an accident at work in an office environment receive far less compensation than they deserve. And this is often because of feeling awkward.

Leave the worries to us

Our team of specialist personal injury claims solicitors have years of experience. They make sure that you get the compensation you deserve whilst also maintaining good relationships with your employer. Working with our team allows you to take a step back from the claim and negotiations. You concentrate on looking after yourself and recovering from your accident or injury.

If you are considering making a personal injury claim for an accident at work in an office, call us. Dial 0121 565 4317  or use our claims form to arrange your free, no-obligation consultation. Our expert team of personal injury claims solicitors will listen to the details of your case. They will offer you advice to ensure that you can make the best decisions regarding your office accident claim.

Common Office Accidents And Reasons

In order to make a work accident claim, whether in an office or on a building site, your employer must have been able to reasonably foresee that your accident might happen and not have taken sufficient measures to keep you safe. Your accident must have taken place at work and as a part of a task, you have been asked to do.

Although this sounds quite restrictive, it is actually quite simple. You cannot claim against your employer for accidents that happen on your way to or from work. Although you may be able to make a claim against another driver, for example. You can only claim for things they ask and expect you to do. This means that you can’t make a claim if you use equipment without the authorisation of the employer.

Common accidents within an office environment include:

  • Slips, Trips or Falls

Slips, trips, or falls can be either very minor, leading to a sprain or cut. They can also be very serious, possibly involving a fall from height leading to spinal injuries, paralysis, or even death. Although falls can happen anywhere. It is your employer’s responsibility to ensure that they minimise the risk to you and your colleagues. If the employer doesn’t take sufficient measures to avoid any falls or trips, your employer may be considered liable. You may get compensation for your injury. Examples of careless or negligent behavior on the part of your employer could include missing handrails, uneven flooring, or cables being trailed across the office.

  • Lifting Injuries

Many jobs involve some lifting, but it is important that this is done correctly and that no-one lifts more than they can manage safely. Although lifting injuries are more common in manual tasks, they can also occur in office-based positions, especially during an office move or other rare but physically-intensive occurrences. Lifting injuries are mostly injuries to the back and spine, although you may also experience pain in the arms, shoulders, hips, or legs.

How Do I Make An Office Accident Claim?

The first thing to do is call us on 0121 565 4317 or use our online claims form. Our expert team of personal injury claims solicitors will listen to your story, making sure that we understand the details of your office accident or injury case. Once we understand the details of your situation, we will be able to offer you the most appropriate funding options, normally a no win no fee agreement.

We contact the responsible

Once you have signed a no win no fee agreement with us, we are able to act on your behalf. This will involve us writing to your employer and informing them that you are bringing a personal injury compensation case against them. This will usually involve us writing to their insurance company as well as the organization itself.

We will ask your employer to accept liability.

This is the legal term for accepting that they (or their customer, in the case of an insurance company) were at fault for the accident. In many cases, this is very straightforward. In rare cases, it can be much more complex, for example if you trip outside of your office, it may be unclear as to whether the paving you tripped over was the responsibility of your employer, the owner of the building, or the council. We will put together the evidence and make sure that the right person is paying your compensation.

Negotiations

Once we know who was at fault for your office accident or injury and this has been agreed with them, we will conduct negotiations on your behalf. Although we will handle all of the correspondence and admin and give you our expert legal advice, you are in control throughout this process. We will inform you of every offer of compensation you receive, even if we think that it is much, much too low. We will advise you on whether this offer is a fair one but the final decision of whether to accept or reject any offer is always yours.

How Much Compensation Will I Get For My Office Accident Claim?

Every compensation claim is unique, as it reflects the exact details of your personal situation. It is impossible to give an exact figure, as this will almost always be dependent on the outcome of negotiations. It is possible to give a guideline figure, however, based on a number of factors.

All compensation claims for personal injury comprises two parts.

The first part of the compensation

The first is based on the specifics of your injury. Judicial College. They give a broad range of values for compensation amounts for each injury, reflecting the fact that some broken legs (for example) are worse than others. Our expert team of personal injury claims solicitors have years of experience in interpreting these guidelines and will be able to give you a much more accurate estimate than a simple online calculator.

The second part of the compensation

This part is more variable, as it is based on any costs and expenses you may have incurred as a result of your accident and injury. This would include having to make modifications to your home, increases in transportation costs, or any expenses associated with reducing your recovery time such as physiotherapy. Our claims team is highly experienced in making sure that we understand the full impact that your office accident has had on your life and ensuring that we include everything that you are entitled to in your office accident claim. This money is designed to help you get back on your feet after your office accident and we want to give you the best possible chance to get your life back to how it was.

Could I Lose My Job For Making An Office Accident Claim?

It is illegal for any employer to fire an employee as a result of them making a claim for an accident at work. They are also not allowed to penalize you in any way for making a claim. The compensation you get helps you get back on track. It also undoes any damage done to your life, your prospects, and your finances. That cannot work if your employer is able to punish you for making a claim. Most employers treat an accident at work claim as a sign that they need to improve their safety procedures. It actually adds the benefit of keeping yourself and your colleagues safer in the long run.

What If I Can’t Afford To Make An Office Accident Claim?

We believe that justice should be available to all. It should not be available just to those who can afford to pay for legal advice upfront. This is why we offer our services on a no win no fee basis to the vast majority of our clients. We want to take the stress and worry out of making an office injury compensation claim. This includes the worry that you might be racking up unaffordable legal bills.

No win no fee means that you do not need to pay anything upfront to begin your claim. In fact, we won’t take a penny until you have received your compensation. If we are not able to get you the compensation you deserve, you won’t owe anything. This means that you are never left out of pocket for seeking justice for what happened to you.

We also cap our fees as a percentage of your compensation payment. Using a traditional payment model for legal fees can easily result in the costs of making a claim taking most or all of the compensation awarded. You can be sure that you will always receive the lion’s share of your compensation payment.

We are not able to offer our services on a no win no fee basis to all our clients. There are a few circumstances where we are not able to use this funding model. If we are not able to offer you a no win no fee agreement, we will tell you straight away. We will discuss possible alternative funding options with you. We will do our best to help find the right funding option to help you get the justice you deserve.

Contact us

If you are considering making an office accident compensation claim, call us. Dial 0121 565 4317 or use our online claims form to arrange your free, no obligation consultation.