Can I claim for a work injury if I am over 65?

Age is not a bar to claiming

There is no upper age limit for making a personal-injury claim in the UK. Someone injured at work at 68 has exactly the same right to be compensated as someone injured at 28. The employer's duties are the same, the health-and-safety regime is the same, and the civil courts apply the same principles. Age is relevant to one specific part of the calculation — future loss of earnings — but it does not affect the right to claim itself, and it does not reduce the rest of the compensation.

This matters because older workers now make up a substantial part of the workforce. Many people carry on working past the state pension age for financial reasons, for the interest of the work, or because they enjoy it. Others come back into paid work after a period of retirement. All of them are covered by the same rules that protect younger workers on the same site.

What is the same at any age

The bulk of a personal-injury award — the general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity — is worked out by reference to the nature of the injury and its impact on the individual's life. That impact is assessed on the person in front of the court, not on some notional younger claimant. A shoulder injury that stops a 70-year-old gardening, walking the dog and playing with grandchildren is a real loss of amenity, and it is compensated on the same principles as any other.

Past losses are also unaffected by age. Any wages lost between the accident and settlement, medical and rehabilitation costs, travel to appointments, unpaid care given by family, and equipment or aids bought because of the injury are all recoverable in the ordinary way. Care and assistance for a claimant who becomes less independent because of an injury is compensated at market rates or, where informally provided, at a reasonable discounted rate. Home adaptations — grab rails, stair lifts, level-access showers — are compensated where the injury has made them necessary.

The "eggshell skull" principle also applies at every age. A defendant takes the claimant as they find them. If a 72-year-old with pre-existing arthritis suffers a fall at work and ends up with a much worse long-term outcome than a younger colleague would have had, that greater harm is still the defendant's responsibility to the extent it flowed from the accident.

What changes with age: future loss of earnings

Where age does affect the numbers is future loss of earnings. This head of loss compensates for wages the claimant would have earned but for the accident. It is calculated by taking the annual net loss (the "multiplicand") and multiplying it by a figure derived from actuarial tables (the "multiplier") that reflects how long the claimant was likely to keep working, discounted for accelerated receipt.

Older claimants tend to have a smaller multiplier than younger claimants, simply because their remaining working life is shorter. That is not a penalty for being older — it is a calculation of the actual likely period of loss. Where the claimant had firm plans to retire on a particular date, that date is used. Where the claimant intended to work on into their seventies (many now do, either through personal choice or financial necessity), that is put in evidence and the multiplier reflects it.

If the claimant was already fully retired before the accident, there may be no future loss of earnings claim at all — but every other head of loss remains fully in play. See our guide to future loss of earnings claims for how the calculation is structured in more detail.

Pension loss

Older workers often have a mixed retirement picture — some state pension, some occupational pension, sometimes private pension income, sometimes continuing part-time earnings. Where an accident forces early retirement or reduces the pension that would otherwise have built up, pension loss can be a separate and significant claim. This is technical territory and usually needs an actuarial forensic report; a solicitor with personal-injury experience will know when to instruct one.

Time limits and capacity

The general three-year time limit applies at any age. It runs from the date of the accident, or from the date of knowledge where the injury is diagnosed later (for example, hearing loss or occupational disease). Being older does not extend it, though the court has a general discretion to allow late claims in appropriate circumstances.

Where an older claimant has lost mental capacity — for example, following a head injury or because of dementia — the ordinary time limit does not run against them, and a claim can be brought through a litigation friend. Capacity issues need careful handling from the outset and any solicitor advising should be alert to them.

Practical points for older claimants

• Do not assume you cannot claim because of your age. You can.
• Do not assume the numbers will be small. General damages, care costs and pain-and-suffering losses are age-neutral.
• Be clear about your working plans at the time of the accident — planned retirement date, hours, and any intention to work on part-time. This directly affects the future loss claim.
• Get advice on your wider rights at work if the accident has affected whether you can carry on doing the job at all.