Psychological Injury Compensation Claims
Many people assume that to make a personal injury compensation claim, you must have sustained a physical injury. While this is the case in the majority of claims, if you have suffered psychological injury as the result of an accident you have been in or have witnessed, you may be able to claim compensation.
What is a psychological injury?
If you have been in an accident or witnessed one, it is normal to feel shaken up for some time. This would not normally make you eligible to claim compensation.
However, if you have been involved in a traumatic event, such as a serious road traffic collision or an accident at work, and you experience significant emotional distress for a long period, you may be able to start a psychological injury claim.
Types of psychological injuries include:
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Anxiety
- Depression and suicidal thoughts
- Adjustment disorders
- Specific phobias
- Panic attacks
- Hypervigilance
Our expertise with psychological injury claims
Our specialist psychological injury solicitors have extensive experience in dealing with claims involving PTSD, panic and anxiety disorders, phobias and depression following an accident.
Our personal injury lawyers represent secondary victims who have witnessed a traumatic event, such as the serious injury or death of a loved one and have suffered psychological injury as a result.
The symptoms of psychological injury can vary but can be just as debilitating as physical injuries and will usually require specialist treatment.
Assessing your psychological injury claim
Claiming compensation for PTSD and other psychological injury claims can be complex. A specialist personal injury solicitor will help you prove that your injury was a direct result of an accident. Usually, a psychiatric diagnosis will need to be obtained to prove the injury suffered and the cause of that injury, i.e. the accident. Sometimes an accident has exacerbated a pre-existing mental illness and this can be considered as part of a claim.
Each claim is unique, and we offer a no win, no fee initial consultation with a member of our Personal Injury team to establish whether you are likely to be able to successfully claim for psychological injury.
In assessing your claim, we will need to assess your long-term vulnerability, the severity of your psychological injury, the likelihood of treatment being successful and your prognosis for recovery.
Why choose Barcan+Kirby for your psychological injury claim?
Our psychological injury solicitors act for clients throughout the UK from our offices in Bedminster, Bishopston, Bristol city centre, Kingswood and Thornbury.
Our specialist team is a Business Member of the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) and is listed in their guide to choosing a specialist Personal Injury Solicitor. Our personal injury solicitors are also included in the Headway Head Injury Solicitors Directory.
We’re highly ranked by Chambers and Partners UK and hold a band 3 ranking for our expertise and the quality of our work. We’ve also received a tier 3 ranking for the South West by Legal 500.
Case study | Psychological injury claim after Salisbury train crash
Psychological injury FAQs
People respond differently to witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event, so it is not possible to provide a definitive list of what counts as a psychological injury. Every case is different, and our personal injury solicitors look at each claim on a case-by-case basis.
There are, however, some common causes of psychological injury, including:
- Accidents at work, e.g. machinery accidents and falls from height
- Road traffic accidents
- Cycling accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Slips, trips and/or falls
- Witnessing a fatal injury
If you think you may be experiencing symptoms of a psychological injury, contact our Personal Injury team for a no-obligation chat on 0117 325 2929.
If you have suffered a psychological injury, our specialist personal injury lawyers are here to help. When you speak to our team, we will take details of what happened to you and review your case internally to establish whether we can pursue a psychological injury claim.
If we accept your claim, we will discuss the various funding options, including a no-win, no-fee arrangement, and let you know who will be managing your claim. You will be allocated a lawyer but as we work as a team, you will be supported by various members of our dedicated department.
Our solicitors will notify the Defendant and, subject to their response, build your case. This may involve gathering witness statements, medical records and evidence, including seeking expert opinions from medical professionals. We will also value your claim and keep you informed of any developments, including offers of settlement.
We always endeavour to settle psychological injury cases outside of court, where possible, however, should court proceedings become necessary, our specialist lawyers will support you the whole way.
To prove psychological injury, our personal injury lawyers must be able to demonstrate that another party was responsible for your symptoms through negligence and/or a breach of their duty. For example, in workplace accidents, the employer must have been in breach of their duty to keep you and/or the primary victim safe from harm at work. This could be by failing to provide adequate training or PPE, for example.
Blog | PPE in the workplace: what’s the law?
If your psychological injury cannot be fully attributed to another party’s negligence or breach of duty; for example, if there was contributory negligence on your part, you may still be able to claim for your psychological injury, but the amount of compensation you receive may be reduced.
In terms of providing that you have a psychological injury, our solicitors will usually seek an expert medical opinion as part of your claim. This may involve you being assessed by a psychiatrist or mental health professional, and they will provide a report to support your case.
If you have experienced psychological injury (and physical injury) after being directly involved in an accident, you will be the primary victim.
If you suffered psychological injury after witnessing a sudden, shocking event where another party, to whom you have a close tie of love and affection, was a primary victim, you may be able to claim for secondary psychological injury.
Our personal injury solicitors offer a no win, no fee consultation for psychological injury claims. During this meeting, we will talk through your claim and how best to fund it.
It is also worth checking any existing insurance policies that you have to see if the cost of your claim is covered.
We often hear from people who have experienced a psychological injury but because they already have mental health issues such as anxiety or depression, they worry that it will be too complicated to claim.
If you have a pre-existing mental health condition, our solicitors must be able to prove that it has been exacerbated by the incident and that your symptoms have got worse or significantly changed.
Further information on psychological injury claims
We understand it can be difficult to come to terms with a serious psychological injury. That’s why we offer an initial consultation with a member of our specialist Personal Injury team to talk about your options and how best to fund your claim.
For further information about psychological injury claims or secondary victims in personal injury cases, call 0117 325 2929 or complete our online enquiry form.