Key advice when you claim for a skin injury
- You can claim if you were injured as a result of another person's negligence.
- General damages awards can range from around £2,000 for short-term dermatitis to over £115,000 for serious, deep burns and scarring. Use our compensation calculator to estimate your claim.
- Medical reports play a crucial role in assessing and settling claims.
- Psychological impacts of skin injuries are often significant and can be included in your compensation claim.
- Claims can be made within 3 years of your injury. If you were under 18 when injured, you have until your 21st birthday to file a claim.
- You can start a claim with no win, no fee.
If a skin injury has set you back, we'll help you move forward
Suffering a skin injury, whether due to a burn, chemical exposure, or a cosmetic procedure gone wrong, can have a lasting physical and emotional impact.
If you have been affected by a skin injury, we can help. If your injuries were caused by someone else's actions or negligence, you may be entitled to claim compensation.
You can make a No Win, No Fee skin injury compensation claim with the help and support of a personal injury solicitor.
With around 15,000 workers suffering from work-related skin problems each year, you are not alone
Skin injuries often result from burns, chemical exposures, cuts, and allergic reactions. They are most common in workplaces with hazardous materials, kitchens, and in the beauty and cosmetic industry.
An estimated 15,000 people were working in 2022/23 with skin problems caused or made worse by their work (hse.gov.uk).
If you need information on burn and scald symptoms and treatment, see: burns and scalds (nhs.uk).
How much compensation can I claim for a skin injury?
How much you can claim for your skin injury is based on:
- the nature and severity of your injury,
- the extent to which your injury limits your daily life and working ability,
- the financial losses or expenses you've faced because of your injury.
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Updated October 2024
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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.
In addition to physical pain and discomfort, the courts recognise that skin conditions and injuries may be highly visible and can lead to an injured claimant experience self-consciousness, anxiety and depression.
Compensation awarded in relation to skin injuries is therefore consequently higher for skin injuries that have caused additional psychological harm.
Special damages are for financial losses and expenses you have incurred because of your accident. In addition to paying for loss of earnings, including lost overtime, holiday pay, benefits and pension contributions, special damages can cover any care costs and medical procedures you need, such as cleaning the wound, topical antibiotics, dressing the wound and pain medication.
Read more:
A complete list of recoverable losses in a personal injury claim
How is compensation calculated if I have multiple injuries?
Average skin injury general damages compensation table
The following skin 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).
Dermatitis
| Severity | Example | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Short-term dermatitis | Affecting hands or other parts of the body (other than your face and scalp), where symptoms resolve with treatment, or short term aggravation of an existing condition | £1,890 to £4,380 |
| Longer-term dermatitis | Affecting hands or other parts of the body (other than your face and scalp), where symptoms take several months or years to resolve with treatment | £9,590 to £12,660 |
| Dermatitis lasting years or indefinitely | Symptoms that last indefinitely, and that affect your daily life and ability to work | £15,250 to £21,300 |
Facial scarring
| Severity | Example | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Minor (relatively) | A hardly noticeable scar (or scars) | £1,890 to £3,920 |
| Moderate | A single scar that can be camouflaged with makeup, or multiple small scars that don't markedly affect your appearance | £4,380 to £15,250 |
| Significant | Significant scarring where the worst affects are reduced by cosmetic surgery, and/or with causing a psychological impact | £10,110 to £33,380 |
| Serious | Substantial disfigurement and/or a significant psychological impact | £19,930 to £53,720 |
| Severe | A younger person (under 30) with substantial disfigurement and/or a significant psychological impact | £33,040 to £107,990 |
Non-facial body scars
| Severity | Example | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Minor | Burns with scarring and ongoing pain | £2,630 to £8,690 |
| Moderate | Scarring such as an exploratory laparotomy scar | Around £9,590 |
| Serious | A noticeable laceration scar or single disfiguring scar | £8,690 to £25,220 |
| Severe | Severe burns with continuing pain and psychological injury | Up to £116,300 |
Claiming compensation for psychological injuries
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.
Skin injuries often lead to self-consciousness and social anxiety (social phobia) about visible scars, social isolation, potential disfigurement.
Your solicitor will help ensure that any psychological harm you have suffered as the result of another party's negligence is recognised and included in the calculation of your compensation award or settlement. In addition, you can also claim for mental health treatment costs that may not be readily available on 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 have a skin injury claim?
You can claim compensation for a skin injury, if:
- you became ill in the last 3 years, and;
- someone else was responsible, and;
- they 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.
Compensation claims with shared fault
It's not unusual for personal injury claims to involve fault on both sides.
In our 2024 Personal Injury Claimant Survey, we found that 13.99% of respondents felt they had at least some responsibility for the injuries they sustained.
Even if you partly caused the accident or your injuries (refered to as 'contributory negligence'), you may still be entitled to make a claim. These claims can often be settled on the basis of 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 claim skin injury compensation?
In most cases, you have 3 years from the date of your accident or injury.
If you were injured when you were under 18, a parent, guardian or adult 'litigation friend' can make a claim on your behalf. Once you turn 18, you have until your 21st birthday to start an injury claim.
Preventing skin injuries
Employers, particularly in professions like nursing, hairdressing, cleaning, and engineering, must follow Health and Safety regulations to prevent dermatitis from contact with harmful substances. They should inform employees about risks, provide protective clothing and PPE, and limit exposure to potentially hazardous substances.
Failure to protect employees can lead to employer liability for skin condition claims.
Read more about types of skin injury
Burns and scalds
Burn and scald injuries have many causes including fire, steam, chemicals, electrical equipment and sunbeds.
Inadequate health and safety measures frequently lead to burns and scalds in the workplace. Waiter, waitress injury claims and kitchen staff are particularly at risk from these injuries.
Machinery that heats liquids to high temperatures may cause severe scalding - especially if the pipes containing superheated steam burst or fracture. Inadequate training when operating such equipment is strong evidence of an employer's negligence.
Less frequently, burn injuries may also be a result of road traffic accidents; from use of defective products that overheat or through beauty treatments such as waxing.
Depending on how deeply they penetrate the skin's surface, burns or scalds are classified as first, second or third-degree. An assessment of the severity of the burn will usually be made during treatment, but an independent medical report will confirm the seriousness of the injury for the purposes of calculating compensation.
Read more about symptoms and treatment at: burns and scalds (nhs.uk).
Cold injuries
Workers whose occupation includes working in cold storage centres may sustain cold injuries to the skin from contact with frozen substances such as metal racking.
Read more about symptoms and treatment at: cold injury and frostbite (nhs.uk).
Dermabrasion
Dermabrasion, where a brush or wheel is used to remove the upper layers of skin, is a technique designed encourage the to replace damaged skin with new skin.
Because there are inherent risks in the procedure, including infection, scarring and sensitivity of the treated skin, claiming for compensation if this happens may be difficult.
If, however, a technician carried out the procedure too roughly and removed more skin than was planned it may be possible to bring a claim compensation. The technician may also be found negligent if the risks were not fully explained before the procedure took place.
Read more about symptoms and treatment at: microdermabrasion (nhs.uk).
Dermatitis
Characterised by red, inflamed, dry and itchy skin, rashes may cover specific parts of the body or spread over large areas. Dermatitis may range in severity from a mild, temporary case through to serious and long-lasting skin disease.
There are a number of different subtypes of dermatitis, triggered by a variety of causes. The most common is contact dermatitis - usually a result of direct contact with substances which are known irritants. These include detergents, chemicals, cleaning fluids, solvents, rubber and oils.
Read more about symptoms and treatment at: dermatitis (nhs.uk).
Scars
Classified as 'secondary injuries', scars are formed as a consequence of healing following a primary injury to the skin - such as a burn or scald or laceration. Scar injuries may cause permanent changes to an individual's skin and therefore may have a strong psychological impact on a claimant.
To bring a claim for compensation for scarring the cause of the original accident (that created the primary injury) must be established in order to determine liability.
Claiming for secondary skin injuries
If a claim for an initial skin injury has already been settled, making a further claim for any subsequent scarring is very unlikely to succeed.
Getting an independent medical report is a vital step when assessing a claim, and it is not recommended that a settlement offer be accepted without this report. The report will provide a prognosis which may include details of likely scarring and will enable a more accurate settlement to be reached.
Read more about symptoms and treatment at: scars (nhs.uk).
How the cause of your skin injury impacts the claims process
How your skin injury happened will affect your claim. Click the icons below for details.
Can I make a no win, no fee skin injury claim?
Yes. With no win, no fee, you can claim skin injury compensation without financial risk. If your claim isn't successful, you pay nothing. If you win, you only pay a pre-agreed percentage of your compensation.
Get expert advice now
Interested in talking to an injury specialist about your claim?
- Calls are FREE
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Call 0800 376 1001
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Contact dermatitis - NHS (reviewed: 28/07/2024)
Frostbite - NHS (reviewed: 29/07/2024)
Microdermabrasion - NHS (reviewed: 02/08/2024)
Author:
Howard Willis, Personal injury solicitor
About the author
Howard Willis qualified as a solicitor in 1984 and has specialised in personal injury for over 25 years. He is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and is a recognised Law Society Personal Injury Panel expert.