Employers Liability claims: What if an employer denies liability?

What is Employer's Liability?

Your employer is required by law to keep you safe and healthy at work. They have a duty of care towards you as their employee. Your employer, for example, must:

• train you correctly to carry out your job
• provide you with the right equipment for your job
• carry out risk assessments to establish where danger may be
• ensure all equipment works to the required standard

You are also required to abide by rules, policies and procedures in your workplace regarding health and safety as well as to act reasonably at work.

As your employer has a health and safety duty towards you, if you suffer an accident or an injury at work which was not wholly your fault, their employer's liability insurance should pay any compensation you could be due. 

By law, your employer must have this insurance with a lawfully recognised insurance company and if you request information about who the insurer is, they must give this to you. 

What accidents should be covered by Employer's Liability?

Where your workplace accident was partly or wholly the fault of your employer or someone working for them, it is likely to be covered by the employer's liability. For example, your employer could have been negligent towards you, leading to an accident and injury they're liable for. 

A whole variety of accidents are covered by employer's liability such as, for example:

• a transformer box falling from a pallet causing a knee injury
• hitting your head on the floor following a slip or trip
• tripping up on equipment and breaking your arm

What evidence should I provide after an accident at work?

If you are considering making a claim for an accident in the workplace, it is essential that you provide as much evidence as possible. This must show that your employer did not do what they should have to keep you safe in the workplace.  This can include various things such as evidence of the actual injury or accident, such as:

• photos of the injury
• photos of the accident scene
• your workplace accident book record
• witness details
• photos of faulty equipment

It is also important to provide evidence of how your injury has affected your life, as this will help to build a case for special damages claims you may make. For example, it is advised to keep:

• receipts for costs incurred for expenses such as medical or travel
• any evidence of care costs
• evidence of adaptations you may have had to make to your home or car, to meet your needs following the injury

Can an employer still deny responsibility?

When you make a compensation claim for a workplace injury your employer may try to deny responsibility, which means the personal injury claim will not be as straightforward as if they admitted liability. It could also take much longer to process. 

Your employer may deny responsibility to deter you from making a claim and instead accept a lower offer from them. However, the actual denial normally comes from their insurance company which covers their employer's liability. This may mean that your compensation claim goes all the way to court. 

However, although your employer may deny responsibility, you may find that their insurance company admits the accident regardless of their views. This may be because it is more cost-effective to admit a claim at an early stage rather than let the claim reach court.

What should I do if my employer denies responsibility for my accident?

If your employer denies responsibility for your workplace accident, it is a good idea to gather as much evidence as you can to prove your accident or injury and to prove that they are at fault. This could be, for example, a medical report which states the result of your injury and the effect it may have. 

You should also contact a personal injury claims handler like National Accident Helpline to offer you expert personal injury legal advice or a personal injury solicitor. Often a letter from the latter can encourage your employer to admit liability.

Can I still claim it if my employer denies responsibility?

If your employer denies responsibility for your workplace accident, you still have a right to try to make a compensation claim for your workplace injury; your legal team will know what to do. Firstly, they will need to be sure that you have a strong claim and if so will, likely advise you to continue and make a compensation claim for your workplace accident. It may be that your employer's insurance company is instructing them to initially deny the claim. 

In such cases, your legal team will usually issue your employer with court proceedings. This will often put pressure on the employer to admit liability where they are at fault because if it goes to court and you win, they will not only pay compensation but your court fees too. 

Before the court date, if it looks like you have a strong chance of winning the case, we may negotiate a settlement with your employer which they must accept to avoid going to court and the litigation process. This also saves you money in court costs for your compensation claim if you were to lose.

It is worth noting however that 95% of personal injury claims, whether in the workplace or not, never reach court.

Could I be sacked if I make such a claim?

If you try to make a personal injury compensation claim against your employer for an accident, by law your employer cannot sack you for doing so. 

Even if your employer threatens to sack you they are breaking the law. Your employer equally cannot treat you unfairly or detrimentally for making a claim. 

If any of these occur, you could consider contacting an employment solicitor who can advise you on any further claims you can make against your employer. 

Think you could be entitled to claim for an accident at work? 

If you suffer an accident in the workplace, you may be entitled to claim compensation. The last thing you expect when you carry out your job is to have the unfortunate experience of an accident in the workplace. If you do happen to suffer an injury at work, and compensation is owed to you, it is only right that you claim what you deserve. 

There are many different ways that workplace accidents can happen as there are a wide variety of industries people work across. For example, if you work in an office you could be the victim of an office accident. Those working in manual labour jobs, for example, stand a chance of suffering an injury while at work and the same for those who work in industrial jobs where they could suffer industrial injuries.  An accident in the workplace could occur no matter where you work and sadly where it does, it can completely change your everyday life rather than potentially just stop you from working.  It is, therefore, crucial that you claim to receive the compensation you deserve.

So call National Accident Helpline today on or you can ask us to call you back here. We can help make a claim for your accident at work and can do so by beginning your claim online.