How a UK accident at work claim works.

The legal framework you're working inside

UK workplace injury claims are civil claims for negligence and/or breach of statutory duty. The procedural rules are set out in the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), particularly the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims for claims under £25,000 (low-value RTA and EL/PL portals run alongside) and the standard CPR Part 7 process for higher-value claims. Limitation is governed by sections 11 and 14 of the Limitation Act 1980: three years from accident or date of knowledge.

Stage 1 — Eligibility check

A regulated personal injury solicitor reviews three things at the outset, free of charge:

• Liability. Did your employer (or another duty-holder) breach a statutory duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Management Regulations 1999 or one of the specific regulations (PUWER, LOLER, Manual Handling, COSHH, Work at Height etc.), or a common-law duty of care?
• Causation. Did that breach cause the injury, on the balance of probabilities? "But for" the breach, would the injury have happened?
• Limitation. Are you within three years of the accident or your date of knowledge for industrial disease?

If all three are arguable the case has reasonable prospects (60% or better) and a Conditional Fee Agreement is offered.

Stage 2 — Conditional Fee Agreement & ATE insurance

Almost every UK workplace injury claim runs on a no-win-no-fee Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). You pay nothing up front. After-the-Event (ATE) insurance is arranged in parallel to cover the defendant's costs and your own disbursements (medical reports, court fees, expert fees) if the claim fails. The ATE premium is normally fully deferred and self-insuring — only payable from your damages if you win.

You are also protected by Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting (QOCS) under CPR 44.13–44.17. Even without ATE a losing claimant cannot generally be ordered to pay the defendant's costs unless the claim was struck out as fundamentally dishonest.

Stage 3 — Letter of Claim and pre-action protocol

Your solicitor sends a Letter of Claim to your employer (with a copy to their insurer) setting out:

• How the accident happened.
• The breach of duty alleged (with regulation number where relevant).
• The injury sustained and the financial losses claimed.
• A request for the Employers' Liability insurance details and the relevant accident-investigation documents.

Under the Pre-Action Protocol the insurer has 21 days to acknowledge and a further three months to investigate and admit or deny liability. Most lower-value claims (general damages of £1,000–£25,000) run through the MOJ Claims Portal — a streamlined electronic process designed to keep costs proportionate. Above £25,000 the claim runs as a "fast-track" or "multi-track" matter under standard CPR rules.

Stage 4 — Medical evidence and Schedule of Loss

An independent medical expert — usually an orthopaedic, neurological, psychiatric or occupational-medicine consultant — examines you and prepares a CPR Part 35 medical report. The report must address causation, prognosis, and any pre-existing conditions, and the expert owes their primary duty to the court, not to you.

Your solicitor then prepares a Schedule of Loss quantifying every past and future financial loss:

• Lost earnings, calculated net of tax and NI, with payslips and HMRC P60s as evidence.
• Loss of pension contributions (often using the Ogden tables).
• Future loss of earning capacity (Smith v Manchester / Blamire awards).
• Treatment costs — physiotherapy, surgery, psychological support.
• Care and assistance — gratuitous care from family members at the discounted commercial rate (Housecroft v Burnett).
• Aids, equipment, prosthetics and home/vehicle adaptations.
• Travel to medical appointments, prescription costs, parking.

Together the medical report and Schedule drive the value of your compensation. The defendant will usually serve a Counter-Schedule disputing items.

Stage 5 — Negotiation, Part 36 offers and proceedings

The vast majority of UK injury claims settle through negotiated offers. The most powerful tool is the Part 36 offer under CPR 36 — a formal offer with cost consequences if it is rejected and the rejecting party fails to beat it at trial. A claimant who beats their own Part 36 offer at trial is normally awarded indemnity costs, an enhanced interest rate (up to 10% above base) and an additional 10% uplift on damages (capped at £75,000).

If liability is admitted but quantum is disputed, your solicitor can request an interim payment under CPR 25.6 to cover lost earnings or rehabilitation while the figures are finalised.

If negotiations fail, proceedings are issued in the County Court (or the High Court for catastrophic claims, usually over £200,000). A trial date is typically set 12–18 months after issue — and most cases still settle before that date through a Joint Settlement Meeting or mediation.

Stage 6 — Settlement, payment and tax

Compensation is normally paid as a single lump sum. For catastrophic injury cases — brain or spinal cord injury, major amputation — periodical payment orders (PPOs) under the Damages Act 1996 are sometimes used to fund lifelong care. Compensation is tax-free in the claimant's hands under section 51 of ITTOIA 2005 (formerly s329AA ICTA 1988).

Your solicitor's success fee is deducted before payment, capped at 25% of general damages and past losses combined (the Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013 cap). The rest of the legal costs and the ATE premium are recovered from the defendant under standard costs orders.

How long does a UK claim take?

• Simple soft-tissue claim through the MOJ Portal: 4–9 months.
• Standard fast-track claim (£25k–£100k): 9–18 months.
• Multi-track claim (£100k+): 18–36 months.
• Catastrophic / serious-injury claim: 3–5+ years, often deliberately paused so that the long-term prognosis stabilises before final settlement.

Common misconceptions

• "My employer will go bankrupt." No — payouts come from compulsory Employers' Liability Insurance (minimum £5m under the 1969 Act, usually £10m in practice), not the employer's pocket.
• "They'll sack me." Dismissal for asserting a statutory right is automatically unfair under section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. See can I be sacked for claiming?
• "I waited too long." Possibly not. The clock can run from your date of knowledge, and the court has a discretion under section 33 to extend.
• "It will be a court battle." Around 95% of UK injury claims settle without a contested trial.

What you can do today

1. Make sure the accident is logged in writing in the accident book.
2. See your GP and ask them to record the work cause in the clinical notes.
3. Photograph the scene before it is tidied; collect personal phone numbers (not work email addresses) of witnesses.
4. Ask in writing for the relevant CCTV to be preserved — most systems overwrite within 14–30 days.
5. Speak to a regulated personal-injury solicitor before signing anything from the employer's insurer.

See also: claim types · how a claim works · compensation amounts.