How much compensation should be received for a minor head injury in the UK?

Answer 1

The injury was caused by someone who was employed by the same employer of myself, dropping a bag of wood and rubble onto my head. The bag was 7-9kg and was dropped from about two metres above my head which caused a wound which bleed quite a bit but only needed to be glued together in hospital. I did not fall unconsciense. The pain from the impact affected my head for 2months after the accident but mostly my shoulder which is still not back to fall working order after a year of the accident, it is very functionable but can feel a lot of stress in it when I do intense exercise which I perform 4-5 times weekly. The defendents have taken liability for the case and my solicitor says, for my injury, disregarding my earnings loss etc, I should claim about £4,500-£5,000 (for general damages). I have to give advice to him before an amount is put forward to the defendents which would end the case. The accident happened while I was working as a labourer in a building which was being refurbished on a sunday, it was very informal and I was not given any safety equipment nor did I request it on the day, but was told be a recruitment agency that employed me that it was unneccesary, so ignorantly I left my hard hat at home. All of the people in the company were employed by the same firm and there was only about 5 others there. The person who dropped the bag onto my head had told me previously to the accident that he was out drinking the night before until 2am and he was a late teenager like myself or in his early 20's. I was 18+1/2yrs old when it happened last year.

Can anyone with experience or good knowledge help me or tell me any forums/websites that they know of which would help me. I can not rely on my solicitor because he will get paid if I win or lose and I have given more effort to the case so far than him and feel there could be loop holes he does not consider or does not care to consider. I will also be getting compensated for time off of work seperatly to the general damages ofcourse but taking into account the pay of general labourers in London it will only amount to quite a small amount. I am a very active person so feel things like that should be taken into account and should increase my compensation. The fact that I lost so much of my fittness and confidence which has not yet being fully restored to preious highs has been brushed outside of the case I do not understand why these things are not taken into account. I was reaching a very high level of boxing and cycling. Thank you very much if you found time to read this, John.

I have put together an article on compensation prices which i found on Personal Injury Solicitors Websites, here is the part you were after:

Head Injury Compensation:

• Very Severe Brain Damage : £155,000 - £220,000
• Moderately Severe Brain Damage : £120,000 - £155,000
• Moderate Brain Damage : £23,500 - £120,000
• Minor Brain Damage : £8,500 - £ 23,500
• Minor Head Injury : £1,250 - £ 7,500

Answer for the UK

The person who has answered above has provides a rough summary of compensation amounts for head injuries, but as I note that you have multiple injuries and your activities are curtailed - the amount of compensation you can claim is decided by previous cases heard by the UK courts and a booklet summarising awards made by the courts in the past known as the JSB guidelines.

As requested I include two links below entitled "head injury claims" and "shoulder injury compensation" which gives details from a solicitor's website setting out how to calculate the amount of compensation you can receive for the type of injuries you describe.