I recently sustained a sprain injury at work and I wish to claim compensation for my medical treatment – how do I do this?
You may be entitled to seek compensation for a sprain injury at work if you have been the victim of the negligence of a third party. As a worker, you are entitled to a duty of care from your employer, and you should not expect to be involved in a sprain accident at work. If it can be verified that the negligence of your employer has resulted in you sustaining an injury, you may be entitled to claim compensation for a sprain at work, provided you did not contribute to your injuries yourself. To determine your eligibility to make an injury claim for sprain at work, you should consult a personal injury lawyer at the earliest opportunity.
Following your sprain injury at work, your immediate priority should be to seek immediate medical attention. This should be done not only to reduce the possibility of your injury deteriorating further, but also to ensure that your injury claim for sprain at work is not damaged by the possibility of contributory negligence. If it is considered that your injuries had become worse as a result of failure to receive immediate medical attention, the amount of compensation for a sprain at work you may be entitled to receive can be reduced in order to reflect your own negligence. It should also be noted that regardless of the compensation to which you may be entitled to claim for a sprain accident at work, this will never truly compensate for a lifelong health problem which may have arisen.
After you have received medical attention, a record of your accident should be made in the Accident Report Book of your employer which will detail the circumstances of your injury, and which can be used to verify your sprain injury at work. A personal injury lawyer should then be consulted regarding compensation for a sprain at work. Your lawyer will assess your injury claim for sprain at work and advise you on the strength of your claim, the amount of compensation to which you may be entitled and the evidence which may be needed to strengthen your claim. This evidence can include eyewitness accounts of your sprain accident at work, your medical records and CCTV footage of your accident occurring.
When sufficient evidence has been gathered of your sprain accident at work, your lawyer will write a letter of claim to your employer – or their insurance company – informing them of your intention to seek compensation. Three weeks are given for the insurance company to respond, after which three months are provided to conduct their own investigation and inform your lawyer whether they will accept liability for your compensation for a sprain at work. If accepted, your injury claim for sprain at work may soon be resolved and compensation will be negotiated between the insurers and your lawyer – if rejected, court action may be needed to resolve your claim, although this is still avoidable. In order to ensure that your claim is handled professionally and to maximise the likelihood that your claim will be successful, you are advised to consult a personal injury lawyer at the earliest opportunity after sustaining a sprain injury at work.