Sports Injury Compensation Claim Solicitors - UK Accident Lawyers

Our law firm is one of the country's foremost sports injury litigators. Our managing director is a qualified solicitor specialising in personal injury compensation claims and is the chairman of a Super League Rugby Club. We have vast experience in matters relating to sporting injuries. Our team of solicitors specialise in no win no fee personal injury compensation claims. Our lawyers are all members of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) panel of personal injury experts. We deal with a wide range of sporting injuries including fractures, tripping and slipping injuries, spine injury and brain injury.
Your sport injury compensation claim will be in very safe hands.

Sports Categories

Personal injury occurs in almost every sport however some events are much more dangerous than others :-

Athletics Track and field accidents are both recognised risks with, amongst other things, the potential for flying objects hitting both competitors and spectators. Limb fractures in athletics are not unusual. All equipment used must be properly maintained.

Football Numerous potential injuries playing football with occasional dangerous kicks to the head and face. Accidental limb fractures in tackles that may be foul play are not at all unusual.

Hockey High speed hard balls and hockey sticks make for a game that is occasionally brutal if the ball goes high and out of control. Head injuries including facial fractures and teeth knocked out are par for the course when playing hockey.

Rugby Both Rugby League and Rugby Union account for a substantial number of head, neck and facial injuries. Spinal cord injury is not uncommon and is often caused by a poorly refereed collapsed scrum.

Equestrian Riding a horse in cross country or eventing is without doubt a dangerous pastime however even casual horse riders can suffer horrific injuries if a horse bolts, is struck by a motor vehicle or kicks out.

Sports Centre All training equipment needs to be of the highest possible standard in a sports centre or fitness centre. It should be properly erected and fully maintained in order to avoid fractures, neck injury, back injuries and brain damage. Coaching should be first class. Bone fractures are common.

Cricket A cricket ball frequently causes injuries to batsmen and fielders and occasionally spectators. Cricket is considerably more dangerous than it looks with fractured fingers, fractured facial bones and brain injury being not uncommon.

Boxing Over 1,000 people died from brain injuries sustained in boxing matches in the 20th century. Boxing remains a major cause of sport injury often with tragic results frequently caused by poor refereeing decisions in failing to stop one sided boxing bouts at an early stage.

Personal Injury Categories

Whilst there is a myriad of potential injuries caused by sporting activities the most common serious injuries caused by negligence are outlined below :-

Fractures Almost all physical sports are at risk of fractures of one bone or another. Cricket wicketkeepers often have all of their fingers broken and gymnastics is potentially very dangerous.

Brain Injury Some sports are more risky than others. Boxing tops the league and any sport with hard flying balls come in second place. Horse-riding also has considerable danger.

Spine Injury Horse riding or a collapsed scrum in rugby is most likely to cause spinal cord injury which may lead to incurable paralysis including paraplegia and quadriplegia.

Compensation Awards

For the sake of convenience damages (or compensation) fall into several different categories :-

General Damages: Represents compensation for items that cannot be calculated but must be assessed by a judge. These items have no monetary value in themselves and include things like pain and suffering, loss of lifestyle, disadvantage on the job market, loss of congenial employment etc. The idea is to restore the quality of life back to where it was had the accident not happened.

Special Damages: Represents compensation for financial losses that are calculable amounts and include things like medical bills, travel expenses, loss of wages since the accident, potential future loss of earnings, home health aide services to do chores, any necessary equipment like a wheel chair or hospital bed, specialized transportation (such as a special van), nursing care and other out of pocket expenses. Physical therapy, occupational therapy and even massage are covered under this type of compensation.

Interest: This is payable at varying amounts on different items of compensation for differing periods of time. If the case takes a long time to come to trial then substantial interest may be payable dependent on a strict calculation imposed by the court.

Negligence Definition

There are many and various definitions of negligence however within the context of personal injury compensation claims the one that has stood the test of time is as follows:-

"Negligence is the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs, would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do."

In reality this is interpreted to mean that compensation is payable for personal injury provided that the victim was owed a duty of care, that breach of the duty of care caused an accident and that the accident was the direct cause of the injury. If the consequence of events that caused the injury were unforeseeable then the claim will fail as being 'remote'. It is therefore incumbent on all those who organise or run sports events or sports facilities to take reasonable care for the health and safety of those who are visitors, who participate or who use premises and equipment. If an injury occurs due to lack of care then liability can be established and compensation must be paid to the victim usually by the insurers of the venue.

Time Limits - Limitation Act 1980

All personal injury compensation claims are subject to time limits. This is because memories fade, witnesses move or die and documentation is lost or records are corrupted. The Limitation Act 1980 governs time limits in sports injury compensation claims. In general terms a sports injury claim must be settled with compensation agreed or a summons for damages should have at least been issued out of a court of law within three years of the incident which caused the injury or within three years of the injury being discovered with reasonable diligence. Failure to comply with the time limits outlined in the Limitation Act 1980 may mean that the opportunity to claim compensation for a sports injury has been lost forever. There are exceptions for minors and the three year time period does not start to run until the eve of the 18th birthday. There are exceptions for the mentally disabled and time does not run until full mental capacity is regained which means that time may never run dependent on the victims continuing mental state. The court also has a wide discretion and can extend the time period but in reality the court rarely exercises their discretion in this manner.

No Win No Fee

Our sports injury solicitors deal with compensation claims using a no win no fee arrangement. Win or lose there is nothing to pay. If the solicitor wins the case on behalf of the client then the other side pays the solicitors legal costs and expenses. If the case is lost the solicitor does not charge the client a legal fee and the solicitor insures against a costs order thereby making the claim totally risk free for the client. Compensation is paid in full with no deductions. The solicitor only gets paid if the case is won ensuring that no effort is spared in preparation of the case for trial.

Personal Injury Solicitors

Our law firm is a specialist personal injury litigation business. We only deal with contentious matters. All of our sports injury solicitors are members of the Solicitors Regulation Authority panel of personal injury experts. Many sports injuries require medical treatment and whilst most injuries are treated adequately there are occasions when things go wrong. We also deal with medical negligence compensation claims arising out of sporting injuries and our solicitors in that department are medical negligence specialists being members of the Solicitors Regulation Authority panel of clinical negligence experts.

Free Legal Advice

If you require fee legal advice on a sport injury compensation just use the helpline or complete and send the contact form or email our offices. A specialist solicitor will discuss you potential damages claim over the telephone and will advise there and then on liability and the likely value of your claim. If after speaking to us, you decide to proceed no further, you will not be charged for our advice.