Regardless of the circumstances in which you have sustained a herniated disk, in order to make claims for herniated disk compensation in Ireland, the accident in which you sustained the injury must be the result of the carelessness of somebody who owed you a reasonable duty of care. This does not mean that person had to be physically available at the time of your disk injury in order to claim compensation for a herniated disk – just that your disk injury was the result of their negligence.
It is not always a single individual against whom a herniated disk claim for compensation is made. Compensation claims for herniated disk injuries can be made against corporate bodies, local councils and State agencies who have failed in their duty of care to protect you from foreseeable risks and, once it is established that the incident in which your disk was injured could have been prevented had greater care been taken by one of these “third parties”, you will be entitled to make a claim for a herniated disk and recover compensation for your injury.
Getting Treatment for a Disk Injury
One of the most essential elements of a herniated disk claim for compensation is the action you took following the incident in which your disk was injured. In many circumstances, common sense would have prevailed and you would have obtained an immediate medical examination of your disk injury at a hospital or clinic, or at your family GP´s surgery. While swift medical attention is very important for the sake of your health, it can also have an impact on the success of compensation claims for herniated disk injuries.
If – for any inexcusable reason – you failed to seek immediate medical attention for your herniated disk, it could be alleged when your claim for a herniated disk is made that you exacerbated your injury by your own carelessness. If this is the case, it may not disqualify you from claiming herniated disk compensation, but you may find that how much compensation for a herniated disk injury you receive is reduced to account for your own lack of care.
Supporting a Herniated Disk Claim for Compensation
If you were able to gather evidence of negligence following the incident in which you injured your disk, it can be used to support a herniated disk claim for compensation – provided that you did not place yourself in danger of further injury in order to obtain it. What evidence of negligence you should gather can contrast greatly depending on the nature of the incident in which you sustained a disk injury, and can include photographs taken on a mobile phone at the scene of an accident, the contact details of people who can verify the details of your accident or physical evidence – such as when faulty goods bought from a shop have been responsible for injuring your disk.
If you were unable to collect evidence of negligence as a result of being incapacitated by your disk injury, or because you decided to seek medical attention for your herniated disk as your priority, it may still possible after the event to obtain evidence in support of compensation claims for herniated disk injuries from:-
- The Health and Safety Authority if your disk injury was sustained at work,
- CCTV video if your injured your disk in a trip in the street or a slip in a shop, or
- The Gardai if your disk was injured in a road traffic accident.
In most scenarios in which you may sustain a disk injury it may be possible to recover some evidence of negligence in support of a claim for a herniated disk. If you are unable to collect evidence yourself because of your disk injury, ask a family member or friend (or a solicitor) to collect it on your behalf at the earliest opportunity – while the evidence you need to support your claim for herniated disk compensation is still available and before the memories of witnesses begin to deteriorate.
How Much Compensation for a Herniated Disk?
The “value” of compensation claims for herniated disk injuries in Ireland is calculated according to the “Book of Quantum” – a publication which lists a comprehensive list of injuries and allocates a financial value to a herniated disk depending on how severe your disk injury is and how long you may take to recover from it. This figure of compensation for a herniated disk is then adjusted to account for your age, previous state of health and what effect your disk injury has on your quality of life.
You are also eligible to include in your claim for a herniated disk any quantifiable psychological trauma you experienced due to the nature of the incident in which your disk was injured and any financial expenses you have incurred due to your disk injury. Unless you have had experience of submitting an application for assessment to the Injuries Board in the past, it is very difficult to adequately communicate all the consequences of a disk injury on the application for assessment, you are therefore advised to have a solicitor review your herniated disk claim for compensation before providing it to the Injuries Board to ensure you receive your maximum entitlement of herniated disk compensation.
Compensation Claim for a Herniated Disk: Summary
No two compensation claims for herniated disk injuries in Ireland are identical – no matter how similar the situation of each accident are – and it is always in your best interests to discuss your accident and disk injury with a solicitor at the first possible opportunity. A solicitor will be able to assist with potential issues such as establishing liability for your disk injury, collecting evidence of negligence on your behalf and ensuring that your application for the assessment of herniated disk compensation to the Injuries Board appropriately reflects the consequences that your injured disk have made to your livelihood.
A disk injury can often be a debilitating experience, and although no amount of compensation for a herniated disk can ever make up for the negligence of the person who was to blame for your injury, it costs nothing to find out whether you have a herniated disk claim for compensation which it is worth your while to pursue. Therefore, it is recommended that you discuss your eligibility to make a compensation claim for a herniated disk with a solicitor at the earliest practical opportunity.