Scar Injury
Compensation Claims

If you have been scarred after an accident, you may have a claim

Lacerations and scars can leave lasting physical and emotional impacts, affecting your appearance and confidence. Whether caused by an accident, surgery, or a workplace injury, scarring can be painful and disfiguring, requiring ongoing medical treatment and care.

If you’ve been left with permanent scarring due to someone else’s negligence, you can claim compensation. You can make a No Win, No Fee compensation claim with the help and support of a personal injury solicitor.

What to consider when making a scar claim

• You can make a claim whether your cut or scar was caused by an accident at work, on the road, or in a public place.
• You can also claim for scarring that was caused by, or became harder to treat due to medical negligence.
• Compensation can start at £1,890 for minor facial scarring, up to £116,300 for widespread burns with ongoing pain and psychological harm.
• You have up to 3 years from the date of your injury to start a claim, but you may improve your chance of success by starting your claim as soon as you can.
• Compensation varies according to the severity of the cut or scar, and your injury's impact on your life and work. Use our compensation calculator to estimate your claim.
• Your compensation will also reflect the psychological impact a cut or scar has had on your life, including compensation for anxiety and depression.
• Compensation will also cover the cost of scar reduction, cosmetic treatments and therapy.
• You're eligible to claim under a no win, no fee agreement.

20 million people are affected by scarring - you are not alone

Scar injuries are very common, as they are a natural result of the body's healing process following cuts, burns, surgical incisions, or other skin traumas. The severity and visibility of scars can vary greatly depending on the nature of the injury, the healing process, and individual skin types.

While some scars are minor and fade over time, others can be more prominent or lead to complications like restricted movement, especially if they are in areas of high skin tension or mobility.

Scarring affects over 20 million people in the UK (craniofacialsociety.co.uk).

According to research published by the University of Bristol and the Scar Free Foundation, over 20 million people in the UK have some sort of scar.

An estimated 1 in 5 people across the UK have a significant difference or scar on their face, according to research published by the charity Changing Faces.

If you decide to make a scar injury claim, your personal injury solicitor will take you through every step of the claims process. Your solicitor will be with you until you win your claim and get the compensation you need to move forward.

If you need information on scar symptoms and treatment, see: scars (nhs.uk).

How much compensation can I claim for a scar?

The level of compensation you can claim for a scar or laceration will depend on:

• the seriousness of your injury,
• the effect your injury has on your daily routine and work life,
• any expenses or financial setbacks caused by your injury.

General damages are awarded for pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA). Awards for general damages are set by the Judicial College (judiciary.uk) and published in their guidelines for personal injury awards.

Additional compensation for facial scarring

The courts recognise that facial scarring is more visible than scarring to other parts of the body. Compensation awards are consequently much higher for facial scarring.

The precise amount of compensation you will receive can depend on a number of factors, including:

• The severity of the injury. The more disfiguring the facial scarring, the higher the award.
• Age. Younger claimants tend to receive larger compensation awards than older claimants. This is because younger people have to live with the disfigurement for a longer period and often are more self conscious about their appearance.

Does gender still affect the amount of compensation?

Not any more. Prior to the most recent Judicial College guidelines, women received more general damages for a scar than men. This is no longer the case.

However, in some circumstances, the courts may still consider that facial appearance is more important to a woman than to a man, depending on employment, psychological and other factors, and may make a higher award.

Special damages are awarded to compensate you for any costs or losses you've incurred or might incur as a result of your accident. These costs might include loss of earnings (including future earnings loss and retraining costs), or any other out of pocket expenses.

Special damages may also be awarded for medical treatments or procedures that you might need to treat your scar injury, including scar creams, silicone sheets, laser therapy and steroid injections.

Read more:

A complete list of recoverable losses in a personal injury claim

How is compensation calculated if I have multiple injuries?

Average scar injury general damages compensation table

The following scar injury payouts refer to the Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases, 17th Edition by the Judicial College (oup.com).

These tables are used by solicitors or by the courts as a starting point when calculating your compensation.

Please note: these average figures represent general damages only, and do not include any element of special damages (e.g. lost wages).

Facial scarring

Non-facial body scars

Can I claim for PTSD or other psychological trauma?

If you have suffered psychological harm in addition to a physical injury or illness, you are not alone.

According to our 2024 Personal Injury Claimant Survey shows that 29.03% of potential claimants sustained a psychological injury, 70.97% of which related to a physical injury.

Scar injuries can lead to social anxiety (social phobia), and emotional distress about altered appearance and concerns about societal perceptions. Depression and anxiety, sometimes leading to feelings of shame and aggression are also common.

Compensation for psychological harm can help you access mental health support and therapies not always available through the NHS.

Our compensation calculator can estimate your compensation for psychological injuries. Or you can call us on 0800 376 1001 to speak to a specialist advisor.

Do I qualify for scar injury compensation?

Yes, you can claim for a scar, if:

• you were injured in the last 3 years, and;
• another party was responsible, and;
• that party owed you a legal duty of care.

Find out online if you can claim with our injury claim calculator. Alternatively, you can speak to a claims advisor on 0800 376 1001 and find out if you have a claim in minutes.

Am I still eligible to claim if I was partially responsible?

Determining legal responsibility for a claimant's injuries can involve myriad factors.

In our recent 2024 Personal Injury Claimant Survey, 13.99% of respondents believed they may have been partly (or wholly) responsible for their injuries.

Claims are possible even when your actions partially caused the accident. In instances of 'contributory negligence', claims are usually settled with a split liability agreement.

Read more:

Can I claim if I feel I was partly responsible for my accident?

How long do I have to start a scar injury claim?

For most injury claims, you have up to 3 years from the date of your injury to start the claims process.

The 3 year limitation period does not apply to minors (under 18s). A parent, guardian or litigation friend can start a claim on a child's behalf up to their 18th birthday and the child has until their 21st birthday to claim for themselves.

Typical scar injury claims

The law considers scars to be 'secondary injuries'. This means that scars are a consequence of the healing process of a primary injury, such as:

• A laceration, for example, cuts sustained in a road traffic accident or from using work machinery.
• A scald or burn injury
• Contact dermatitis, caused by repeated exposure to hazardous substances at work.
• Friction burns, such as the scarring that occurs to knees, elbows, arms, and hands after a trip and fall accident onto fibrous material like a carpet.

When calculating damages for facial or bodily scarring, the courts do not take into account the primary injury or the nature of the accident that caused the primary injury.

Compensation awards are calculated solely by reference to the severity of the scarring and the impact it has on the claimant's life.

For the purposes of bringing a compensation claim, however, the cause of the accident does matter. The personal injury solicitor must prove that the defendant negligently caused the accident and that the primary injury and subsequent scarring arose as a result of the accident.

Assessing the severity of a scar

It is often difficult to predict whether a primary injury will result in a scar, or how noticeable that scar will be.

The depth of the primary injury will influence the healing process, but other facts, including the age and gender of the patient, will also play a part.

As an initial step, your solicitor will arrange a medical assessment to ascertain whether permanent scarring is likely.

What happens during the medical assessment?

As part of the medical, the cosmetic surgeon or other specialist will:

• Examine the claimant's injuries
• Describe how severe those injuries are
• Refer to photographs of the primary injury and the scarring
• Describe the degree of scarring
• Ascertain whether the scars cause pain or discomfort
• Give a prognosis of the future symptoms
• Confirm whether further treatments such as surgery, skin grafts or laser therapy are required to reduce the appearance of the scar tissue.

This report will be used as a basis for the scar injury compensation claim.

What types of cut injuries can you claim compensation for?

Surface lacerations can cause scarring and minor tissue damage, which can lead to infection if not properly treated. If the laceration is deeper, more extensive damage can occur. This includes:

• Muscle damage
• Nerve damage
• Fractured or broken bones

In some of the most severe cases, surgery, skin grafts and even amputation may be needed. All of these can lead to a much longer rehabilitation period.

Even if you suffered relatively minor laceration injury that was not your fault, a compensation claim may be possible.

Who is liable for a laceration injury?

Who is liable in laceration claims depends on the context in which the accident occurred. But whatever the circumstance, liability can only be apportioned once negligence is proven.

Cut injuries in the workplace

Approximately 30 per cent of all workplace injuries involve cut or lacerations, 70 per cent of which are injuries to the hands or fingers. Unfortunately, in many cases they could have been prevented if the employer had properly managed the risks. Typical causes of lacerations in the workplace include:

• Improper training, lack of safety procedures or employees taking short cuts
• Failure to wear proper, cut-resistant gloves
• Contact with metal items such as nails
• Hand tools with blades such as knives, box cutters, screwdrivers and chisels
• Powered machinery with cutting blades, rotating parts, motors and presses
• Handling sharp objects or material such as glass and sheet metal
• Improper tool for the job or tool used improperly
• Tools in poor condition, for example a cracked or broken handle or dull blade
• Missing or improperly adjusted guarding
• Poor housekeeping, clutter and debris
• Poor lighting leading to reduced visibility

In any of these instances an employer could be held liable under a range of health and safety legislation for failing to protect an employee from avoidable harm. This includes the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

What affects the process when claiming for scar injury?

The claims process depends on how your scar injury occurred. Click the icons below to learn more.

Work accidents Public places Road accidents Medical negligence Other accidents

Sources

Author:
Gaynor Haliday, Legal researcher

About the author

Gaynor Haliday is an experienced legal researcher and published author. She has had numerous articles published in the press and is a legal industry commentator.