Nerve damage compensation claims

What is a nerve injury?

Nerves are a vast communications network of biological wiring. They are crucial to the way we sense and interact with the world around us - for instance with touch or feeling heat, cold and pain.

They transmit signals between the brain, spinal cord, and the rest of the body. Controlled by the brain, they also direct every function of life whether we're awake, resting, or asleep.

Nerve injury can damage that network - either locally or across the body - and sometimes that damage can be permanent. It can also interrupt your psychological and physical abilities, making even the simplest of tasks difficult.   

According to the NHS, nearly 10% of people aged 55 or over suffer from some form of nerve damage. 

What are typical nerve injury symptoms?

Nerve injuries can cause a wide range of symptoms. The symptoms you may have depend on which nerves are damaged and where in the body they are. 

Accident trauma can damage nerves all around your body - from the brain and spinal cord to the peripheral nerves that fan out into your limbs.

Autonomic nerve injury symptoms:

• Unable to sense chest pain, for instance heart attack or angina.
• Sweating too little (anhidrosis) or too much (hyperhidrosis).
• Dry eyes, dry mouth and dizziness.
• Constipation and/or bladder problems.
• Sexual dysfunction.

Motor nerve injury symptoms:

• Weakness, muscle loss (called atrophy) or paralysis.
• Involuntary twitching or tics, (called fasciculation).

Sensory nerve injury symptoms:

• Pain and oversensitivity.
• Numbness, tingling, prickling or burning sensations.
• Problems with your positional awareness, including loss of balance.

Sometimes, accident nerve injury can cause several different types of damage at once, resulting in a mix of symptoms. This can happen with severe physical trauma  such as a crush injury, sometimes seen in the workplace, where the brain, spine or limbs may have been badly hurt.

Why is a nerve injury potentially serious?

Your nervous system controls everything your body does, from regulating breathing to muscle control and how your senses function. 

• Autonomic nerves control automatic body functions. They include things like blood pressure, heart rate, temperature and digestion.
• Motor nerves control movement and action by passing information from your brain and spinal cord to the muscles in your limbs.
• Sensory nerves relay information from your muscles and skin to your brain via the spinal cord so that you can feel sensations like heat, cold and pain.

Nerves are essential to life and nerve injury can cause serious disruption.

What are typical nerve injury symptoms?

Nerve injury can cause a wide range of symptoms. The symptoms you may have depend on which nerves are damaged and where in the body they are. 

Accident trauma can damage nerves all around your body - from brain and spinal cord to the peripheral nerves that fan out into your limbs.

Autonomic nerve injury:

• Unable to sense chest pain, for instance heart attack or angina.
• Sweating too little (anhidrosis) or too much (hyperhidrosis).
• Dry eyes, dry mouth and dizziness.
• Constipation and/or bladder problems.
• Sexual dysfunction.

Motor nerve injury:

• Weakness, muscle loss (called atrophy) or paralysis.
• Involuntary twitching or tics, (called fasciculation).

Sensory nerve injury:

• Pain and oversensitivity.
• Numbness, tingling, prickling or burning sensations.
• Problems with your positional awareness, including loss of balance.

Sometimes accident nerve injury can cause several different types of damage at once, resulting in a mix of symptoms. This can happen with severe physical trauma such as crush injury where the brain, spine or limbs may have been badly hurt.

What causes nerve injury or damage?

There are many types of nerve damage that can result from illness or accident. Different symptoms typically require different medical treatments. Your doctor will advise which treatment is best for the type of nerve injury you've suffered.

In an accident, nerve injury is typically caused by head trauma to the brain or injury to the spine, torso and limbs. For instance, a broken arm can include radial nerve injury. This is the nerve that runs down the inside of your arm to your wrist.

A brachial plexus injury can affect the nerves that run from neck to shoulder and hand.

Nerve injury can also be caused in the hand by occupational injuries like vibration white finger and carpal tunnel syndrome.

If you've experienced a nerve injury in an accident that wasn't your fault, get in touch with our friendly advisors for a confidential chat on . We're here to offer free, supportive advice and to let you know whether we think you can make a nerve damage compensation claim.

There are absolutely no obligations when you speak to us. We can connect you with a specialist personal injury solicitor who can guide you through the process if you choose to go ahead.

How is a nerve injury diagnosed?

There are several ways your doctor can identify nerve injury or damage. They include:

• Medical history: checking your medical history, family history and lifestyle for nerve-related issues.
• Reflexes check: checking how responsive your body is to standard reflex tests will often highlight problems quickly.
• Blood test: these detect vitamin deficiencies, diabetes, abnormal immune function, and other indications of peripheral neuropathy in your extremities.
• Imaging: CT or MRI scans can look deeply into your body for abnormalities - for instance in the spine.
• Nerve function: Electromyography (EMG) records electrical activity in your muscles to detect nerve injury or other abnormal function.
• Nerve biopsy: removing a small section of nerve to look for abnormalities.
• Skin biopsy: removing a small portion of skin to look for damage or shortening of the nerve endings.

What's the treatment for nerve injury?

Treatment varies because there are so many different types and combinations of nerve injury that people can suffer. Some types can be treated easily but, in some cases, nerve injury may leave permanent damage.

Your doctor or specialist medical professional will outline the treatment that's right for your nerve injury type and the specific treatment will also depend on the cause of the nerve damage. 

How long does it take to recover from a nerve injury?

Again, it's hard to give a standard estimate because a nerve injury is usually unique to the individual. The recovery time for a nerve injury depends on the extent of the nerve damage caused. In general, you can estimate the level of your recovery by your level of pain or loss of function.

Was your nerve injury caused by someone else's negligence?

The easiest way to find out if someone else may be liable for your nerve injury is to speak to us. Each accident experience is completely unique so we can't say for sure without speaking to you and finding out what happened.

Call us free on or enter your details for a free call back. Remember, all our calls are free and confidential. You'll never be pressured into starting a nerve damage injury or negligence claim.

Some common causes of nerve injury where someone else might be at fault include: 

• Road traffic accidents
• Accidents at work
• Medical negligence
• GP and hospital negligence
• Clinical negligence (including for a dental nerve damage claim)
• Birth injury claims
• Carpal tunnel nerve damage to the hand

Can I get compensation for a nerve injury?

If someone else was to blame for your nerve injury, then you might be entitled to compensation. We offer free, confidential and no-obligation advice. 

Wondering if you're eligible to make a nerve damage compensation claim can seem daunting. However, we aim to make the process of finding out as simple as possible, and we're committed to getting you the best possible support to help make it right.

Typically, people can make nerve injury claims if they've been in an accident or suffered medical negligence within the last three years. The accident will need to have been wholly or partially someone else's fault.

Simply call us for a no-obligation chat on . We'll listen to what happened to you, ask you some questions about your accident and injury and then let you know if we think you may be eligible to make a nerve  damage settlement claim.

Calls to us are always confidential and our personal injury advisors are experienced at dealing with accident injury enquiries. If we think you may be eligible to make a claim for nerve injury compensation and you'd like to go ahead, we'll connect you with one of our expert solicitors. We can typically do this on the same call if that suits you.

What's involved in a nerve damage compensation claim?

You don't need to worry about anything legal because our solicitors will negotiate your compensation on your behalf. They'll also keep you informed of the progress and developments of your claim.

At a point in the process, you will need to attend a medical assessment to judge the impact of your nerve injury. But don't worry - your solicitor will take care of everything and talk you through your claim.

To start your nerve damage injury or negligence claim or to find out if you may be eligible, call us free on [medtel]. We're here to listen and answer any questions you have about the claims process and your accident and injury.

If you're ready, we can take the hassle and legwork out of finding the right solicitor for your case. This is because we work with a network of experienced solicitors across the country. All of them work to the highest standards of customer care that we monitor carefully. We're also fully regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). 

How much nerve injury compensation could I claim?

When you contact us, we'll work hard to fully understand the impact of your accident and injury, such as how it's affected your life, your loved ones, and your ability to work. We collect this information so we know whether we can help you.

At the time of your call with us we're not able to advise how much your compensation might be because we simply don't know at that stage of your claim. Although your nerve injury compensation is negotiated on the impact of your accident and type of nerve injury, the final figure you're awarded can vary. 

Your settlement depends on how the other side responds to your claim and the long-term consequences of your injury to your life and your recovery.

However, our solicitors will always work to get you the maximum amount of compensation you're entitled to. 

To do this, they consider and negotiate to cover the cost of:

• Time off work and the reduced pay you've received
• Any time off work your loved ones have had to look after you or take you to appointments
• Medical treatment you've paid for, such as physiotherapy
• Any future medical treatment you might need to fully recover

To get an estimate of how much your nerve damage settlement might be, you can try our industry leading nerve damage compensation calculator. You'll be asked some questions about your experience and be given a guideline figure of how you might be able to claim for physical injury alone.

The official compensation claim guidelines for nerve injury

The Judicial College is part of the Ministry of Justice. One job it has is to set the guideline amounts for general damages. These damages cover pain, suffering and loss of amenity that can be awarded in all types of personal injury claims, including those for nerve injury. The latest Judicial College Guidelineswill be used as a reference to work out your compensation amount.

Below are some examples of the latest compensation award ranges for accident injuries that include average settlements for nerve damage claims. If you've suffered any financial losses (for instance loss of income), these will be added to your award if your claim succeeds.

How do I pay for my nerve injury claim?

You can do this with a no win no fee arrangement, also known as a conditional fee agreement. It's the contract between you and your no win no fee personal injury lawyer.

There are no upfront costs or hidden charges but if you win the claim, you'll be asked to pay any costs and expenses, not paid for by the other side, out of your compensation. This is likely to happen in most cases, as the other side is only required to make a contribution to your legal fees.

These costs will only be deducted when your compensation is paid, and may include:

• A ‘success fee' which compensates the solicitor for the risk they take, as if your claim is unsuccessful, they won't be paid at all.
• Any other legal costs or expenses not recovered from the other side, such as the costs of any legal expense insurance.

When you start your claim, your nerve damage solicitor will take out insurance protection on your behalf. This is sometimes called ATE (After The Event) insurance. If your claim is unsuccessful, then the other party's costs will be paid out of this insurance.

If you don't receive any compensation for your nerve damage injury, then you won't have to pay the insurance premium. If your claim is successful, then it'll be paid out of your compensation as part of the fees.

Your solicitor will discuss this with you at the start, so you'll know what to expect when your claim settles. You can also learn more about no win no fee charges here.