Foot injuries can lead to significant compensation claims
September 29, 2022

There are 26 bones in the foot and almost as many ways of injuring it. We’ve dealt with many claims for compensation where people have suffered injuries to one or both of their feet. Some of these are the result of slipping on a wet floor, or tripping over a broken paving slab, but we’ve also seen long-lasting injuries, including when a client’s foot was run over by a forklift truck and another client who was badly hurt when a large speaker fell off a wall onto his foot. These injuries did eventually settle down but only after surgery to correct nerve and bone damage, and some minor niggling pain remained.

Perhaps the worst injuries we have seen have occurred on building sites. One client fell from a great height, landing flat on his feet and fracturing both heels after a scaffold board he was standing on tipped upwards. Another fell from a ladder and suffered the same injury.  Heels can withstand significant impact, but if they do break, the surface of the bone can be disrupted leading to permanent pain. Most construction jobs are highly physical, meaning anyone who suffers this kind of injury is often left unable to work and given no choice but to rethink their career. Thankfully, we’re experienced in helping them recover compensation for past and future loss of earnings if their earning capacity is reduced.

Even minor trips and slips can cause significant pain and inconvenience for many months – something I recently experienced myself. I badly sprained my foot after falling down a step while on holiday in Cyprus and, although it was entirely my fault, the experience opened my eyes to just how inconvenient foot injuries can be.

Now I understand how my clients feel – it’s not just the pain, it has such an effect on your day to day life. First of all, the emergency doctors thought it was fractured so they put my foot in a plaster cast and told me not to put any weight on it. I had no idea how difficult it is to get around on crutches, placing your weight on your hands and arms. My shoulders hurt for days afterwards and I even had to get down the stairs on my bottom! I was left feeling so dependent on others to help.

I saw an orthopaedic doctor a couple of days later and he told me there was no fracture. The cast was removed and I was at least able to bear some weight on my foot – it was painful but I now had some mobility. We often have clients in the same situation, who have been told they’ve suffered a fracture and put in a cast, only to find out this isn’t the case after we send them to see an orthopaedic specialist. With that in mind, I wasn’t surprised to find nothing was broken after my own fall.

As well as being more careful about where I place my feet, my biggest takeaway has been a much greater understanding of how debilitating even a relatively minor foot injury can be. It’s essential to make your solicitor aware of all the ways that you were inconvenienced – not just how painful it was. Factors like this come under what we call “loss of amenity” and it’s our responsibility to show the judge just how much the injury affected the claimant’s day-to-day life, so they receive the compensation they deserve.

If you’ve injured your foot in an accident that wasn’t your fault, call James Hemsley or Beth King on 020 8313 1300 for a free chat to discuss how we can help, and whether we can act on a no win, no fee basis to get you compensation. Alternatively, email us at james.hemsley@marsons.co.uk or beth.king@marsons.co.uk.