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Accident at Work Claims: What Are Your Rights?

What You Need to Know About Accident at Work Claims

Does My Situation Count? The Types of Workplace Accident Claims We Handle

Workplace accidents take many forms. A back injury from lifting stock without proper equipment. A slip on a warehouse floor that should have been cleaned hours earlier. A burn from faulty machinery nobody had serviced in months. A fall from scaffolding where the guardrails were missing. Each one involves a different failure by the employer. Each one requires different evidence. Carter & Carter handles claims across all of these categories, with dedicated guidance written for each specific situation.

Physical Strain Injuries

If you hurt your back lifting something at work, the question is whether your employer provided the right equipment or training. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 exist because lifting injuries are predictable and preventable. If no risk assessment was done, the employer failed before you picked anything up.

Slips and Trips

If you slipped on a wet floor, tripped over trailing cables, or fell because a walking surface had not been maintained, your employer had a specific duty under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 to keep that surface safe.

High-Risk Environments

Construction sites, farms, and workplaces with heavy vehicles carry stricter regulatory requirements. The risks are higher. The employer’s obligations are more specific. The consequences of failure are more serious.

Specific Hazards

If you received an electric shock from faulty wiring, were injured by a door that had not been maintained, were burned at work, fell from a height, or your hearing has been damaged by prolonged noise exposure, each of these accidents involves specific regulations the employer was required to follow.

If your situation does not match any of the categories above, call 0800 652 0586. The first conversation is free and takes about 15 minutes.

I Had an Accident at Work. Do I Actually Have a Right to Claim?

An employer in England and Wales owes a statutory duty of care to every person working at or visiting their premises. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, that duty means providing safe systems of work, properly maintained equipment, adequate training, and a working environment free from foreseeable risk. Where the employer breaches that duty and an injury results, the injured person has a legal right to claim compensation.

That right is broader than most people realise.

The employer’s duty is not a general idea. It is built from specific legislation.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 creates the general duty to protect. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 set specific requirements for floor surfaces, equipment, temperature, and ventilation. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require risk assessments, adequate training, and access to competent safety advice.

The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires every employer to hold insurance covering injury claims. The insurer pays the compensation. Not the employer directly. Not the injured person’s colleagues. The insurer.

Making a claim is a legal process. Not a workplace confrontation. Employment protection legislation means an employer cannot dismiss or penalise a worker for bringing a legitimate personal injury claim.

Three years from the date of the accident. That is the time limit under the Limitation Act 1980.

If you are unsure whether your situation qualifies, call 0800 652 0586. The conversation is free and takes about 15 minutes.

Is It Even Worth Claiming? What an Accident at Work Claim Might Be Worth

Most people underestimate their claim by 40 to 50 percent. The reason is straightforward. They think about the physical injury and nothing else. A sore back, a fractured wrist, a pulled shoulder. They never consider what that injury cost them beyond the pain itself.

Carter & Carter builds every workplace accident claim across three heads of damage.

General damages cover pain, suffering, and loss of amenity. The value depends on the injury’s severity and lasting impact, assessed against the Judicial College Guidelines 17th Edition. A minor back injury at work starts from approximately £2,300. A moderate disc injury involving nerve damage: £12,510 to £27,760. Severe spinal injury with lasting limitation: £38,780 to £160,980.

Special damages cover the financial losses the injury has caused. Lost earnings, past and future. Medical treatment costs. Travel to appointments. Care and assistance from family members. Home adaptations. Rehabilitation. Each head of loss is claimed separately with supporting evidence. These figures are often larger than the general damages. They are also the figures most solicitors leave on the table.

The third head is what most firms miss entirely. The psychological impact. The anxiety about returning to work. The loss of confidence. The career progression that stopped. The effect on family life. These are real losses with real value. Ignoring them is leaving money that belongs to you with the insurer.

Every claim is assessed individually. The figures depend on the specific injury, the specific financial losses, and the specific impact on the person’s life.

The Accident Book Has Been Filled In and Nothing Happened. What Do I Do Now?

The evidence that proves an accident at work claim starts disappearing within days. Not months. Days.

CCTV footage at most workplaces is overwritten within 14 to 31 days. The recording of what actually happened is being taped over while you are deciding what to do. Accident book entries can be amended. Cleaning schedules vanish. Maintenance logs are internal documents the employer controls. Risk assessments that should have been done before your accident can be completed after it, backdated, and filed as if they always existed.

A solicitor’s letter of claim stops that clock. It compels the employer to preserve everything: the CCTV footage, the accident report, the risk assessments, the training records, the equipment maintenance logs.

What to do now:

1. Get medical attention. Even if the injury seems minor. The medical record is the foundation of the claim.
2. Report the accident in writing. The accident book, an email to your manager, anything in writing. If your employer does not have an accident book, that is itself a failure under RIDDOR 2013.
3. Photograph the scene. The hazard. The conditions. The equipment. Your injuries.
4. Note the names of anyone who saw what happened.
5. Call a solicitor. A letter of claim preserves the evidence before it is overwritten, amended, or lost.

The legal time limit under the Limitation Act 1980 is three years from the date of the accident. But the limitation period is not the real deadline. The evidence clock is already running.

While you are waiting, the employer’s insurer is not. They begin building their defence from the day the accident is reported. Every week of delay is a week the insurer uses to its advantage.

What Actually Happens If I Pick Up the Phone?

Four steps. That is the whole process.

You do nothing during steps two and three. Carter & Carter handles all correspondence, all deadlines, and all contact with the insurer.

No Win No Fee Sounds Good. But What Is the Catch?

There is no catch. There is a fee. Carter & Carter publishes it upfront so you know the exact number before you pick up the phone.

The formal name is a Conditional Fee Agreement. You sign it before the claim starts. If the claim fails, you pay nothing. No upfront costs. No ongoing charges. No bill if it does not succeed.

Carter & Carter charges 10% of compensation when the claim settles without issuing court proceedings. That is a specific number, not a range. On a £30,000 settlement, the fee is £3,000. The remaining £27,000 goes to you.

Most firms do not publish a specific fee at all. They say “no win no fee” and leave the percentage unstated until the paperwork arrives. Carter & Carter states the number on the website before anyone calls.

Carter & Carter does not use After the Event insurance. The firm absorbs losses when claims fail. That is why the firm is selective about which claims it takes on.

Full fee details at candcsolicitors.co.uk/why-work-with-us.

There Are Hundreds of Solicitors. Why Would I Pick a Two-Person Firm in Derbyshire?

Because a two-person firm cannot hide behind a system.

Chris Carter handles the claim. Not a paralegal. Not a case handler. Chris Carter, Managing Solicitor, qualified in 1993. Or David Healey, Senior Solicitor, qualified in 2005. One of two people. From the first phone call to the final settlement. Direct phone access from day one.

Case studies: claims other firms rejected.

Mr Bailey: Mr Bailey was at work carrying a heavy piece of steel when he slipped. He landed face first on the steel, knocking out a number of his teeth. He contacted a national firm of solicitors straight after the accident. Thirteen months later, they rejected his claim, saying there were “insufficient prospects of success”, and closed his file. Frustrated, Mr Bailey went online searching for a second opinion. David Healey spoke with him at length and told him that despite what his previous solicitors had advised, his case did have prospects of success. David retrieved the file, uncovered crucial new evidence the previous firm had overlooked, obtained expert dental evidence, and sued the employer when they continued stonewalling. After negotiations, Mr Bailey received a substantial five-figure settlement. Compensation secured: £24,999. The national firm took 13 months and gave up. Carter & Carter settled the claim in 8 months.

Mr Saleh, Staffordshire: Mr Saleh was at work when he went over on his ankle in a pothole. A number of solicitors refused to take his case on as they did not think he would win. Carter & Carter quickly established that he had good prospects of success, contacted the employer and secured an admission of fault. Compensation secured: £7,750. Mr Saleh said: “Throughout the journey that I experienced with Carter & Carter Solicitors, I felt that my claim was being resolved and that the result would be a successful one. I am greatly appreciative of the people involved with my claim and how they constantly kept me informed.”

Mr Adams, Kent: Mr Adams was injured at work. A number of solicitors refused to act for him because they did not think he would win. Carter & Carter spoke to him, agreed to act on his behalf and contacted the employer. Initially the employer refused to accept they had done anything wrong but Carter & Carter secured an admission of liability which resulted in Mr Adams receiving compensation.

Common Questions About Accident at Work Claims

Accident at Work Solicitors Serving Clients Across England and Wales

Carter & Carter Solicitors is based in Whaley Bridge, a small town on the edge of the Peak District in Derbyshire. We have been here since 2007. We handle accident at work claims for clients across England and Wales, from London to Liverpool, from Bristol to Birmingham, from Manchester to Newcastle.

Everything is handled remotely. Phone, video call, email. Court hearings, when they happen, take place at the court nearest to you. For clients in the North West, that is usually Manchester County Court. But 99% of claims don’t proceed to a final court hearing.

Why Whaley Bridge?

We chose to stay in Whaley Bridge because it keeps our costs low and our fees low. A city-centre office would mean city-centre overheads, and those overheads get passed to clients. 33 years of doing four things properly, wherever you are based.

Your Solicitors

Two senior solicitors handle every accident at work claim personally. The Managing Solicitor qualified in 1993. The Senior Solicitor qualified in 2005. Two direct phone lines. No switchboard. No call centre. No juniors.

Last reviewed: April 2026 by Chris Carter, Managing Solicitor