Making Farm Accident Claims: Expert Help And Guidance
No-win, No-fee claims
Most people have an impression of farming life as a rural idyll, and it can be the best job in the world. However, farms are also incredibly dangerous places to work. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), almost one-third of farm workers will receive an injury at work, and farming also accounts for a fifth of all workplace fatalities.
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Making Farm Accident Claims: Expert Help And Guidance
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Most people have an impression of farming life as a rural idyll, and it can be the best job in the world. However, farms are also incredibly dangerous places to work. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), almost one-third of farm workers will receive an injury at work, and farming also accounts for a fifth of all workplace fatalities.
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What are Farm Accident Claims?
There are numerous causes of farm accidents, ranging from agricultural accidents with farm machinery, head injuries caused by incidents with farm animals, through to fatal farm tractor accidents. Even without livestock, farms are hazardous locations, home to dangerous chemicals, sophisticated and complex machinery, and potential risks like slurry pits and grain silos.
Farm owners and managers are responsible for keeping their workers safe on all areas of the farm and during different elements of the job, such as handling livestock, using toxic substances, or operating large and dangerous machinery.
Farm accidents can happen for many different reasons, including unsafe working practices, a failure to provide appropriate training or equipment, or other employer negligence. Farm accident claims are not just made by employees. A farm owner also owes a duty of care to visitors and members of the public who may be able to bring a claim for farm accident compensation if they are injured on the premises.
Farm accident claims fall under the umbrella of personal injury claims, which is a type of civil action. Most people who want to make a compensation claim for a farm accident use specialist personal injury solicitors.
Let’s take a look at the different types of farm accidents that can occur.
Why use us?
Free Consultation
we offer a free consultation for anyone looking to make a compensation claim for farm injuries or a farm accident.
No win, no fee
if your agricultural accident leads to a successful compensation claim, you won’t have to pay a penny towards your legal fees.
Claim experts
we use specialist personal injury solicitors with expertise in farm accident claims and a proven track record in farming accident cases. Our personal injury team has handled thousands of farm injury claims.
Are Workplace Accidents Common?
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is an independent body responsible for enforcing health and safety laws in the country. They conduct inspections, issue fines and publish statistics on the rates of injuries and accidents.
Here’s a breakdown of their findings from 2022/2023, the latest available:
- Around 561,000 workers reported suffering an injury
- 135 workers sadly lost their lives in work-related accidents
- As a result of accidents at work, the economy is estimated to have lost 3.7 million working days
- Combined with work-related ill health, such as stress, the total annual cost to the British economy is £20.7 billion
With 561,000 injuries last year, this works out at around 1,537 injuries at work a day, which is a startling figure and one that proves just how common they are.
What Are The Most Common Injuries Sustained By Farm Workers?
Most common farm accidents can be divided into different groups:-
- Injuries caused by farm animals include kick injuries, crushing injuries, injuries from falls and being trampled, and even some examples of a road traffic accident caused by straying livestock. Livestock can be unpredictable even with the best practices and safety procedures in place.
- Farm equipment accidents from heavy machinery include crush injuries, injuries from falling objects, and contact with moving machinery like balers and conveyor belts. Some fatal accidents are caused by people being struck by a moving vehicle.
- Falling from height, whether working on a building or farm machinery.
Many farming accidents lead to severe injuries and, sadly, fatal injuries; farms are dangerous places to work, and that’s a fact.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recorded 21 fatal accidents to farm workers in 2022/23, actually a slightly lower figure than over the previous five years when the average was 26 fatalities. In 2022/23, there were also six fatal injuries to members of the public.
Not every farming accident involves a severe injury; there are plenty of slips, trips, falls, and manual handling accidents caused by lifting awkward and heavy objects without proper training and safety procedures.
Injury claims can also arise after many years, perhaps prolonged exposure to a chemical or unacceptable levels of dust, which can lead to respiratory conditions like emphysema or farmer’s lung. The origin of a personal injury claim can sometimes be a long time away in the past; farm accident compensation claims don’t have to involve an immediate accident.
Can I Make A Farming Accident Claim?
If you’ve had an accident on a farm and want to make a farm injury claim, you’ll need to be able to demonstrate that you meet specific criteria. Let’s take a look at these one at a time.
- You must be able to show that the farm manager or farm owner owed you a duty of care. If you work on the farm (whether employed or self-employed), then your employer has a legal duty to keep you safe and protect you from a farming accident. You won’t have to prove this as the duty is contained in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. If you are on the farm as a contractor or member of the public, then you may still be able to make a claim, but you’ll need to show that the farm owner had a duty to keep you safe.
- Successful farming accident claims must show that the legal duty of care has been breached leading to your agricultural accident. This might be because your employer has not trained you correctly in the use of a specialist piece of agricultural machinery. A member of the public legitimately visiting a farm shop on site could be injured by straying farm livestock that has not been adequately fenced into their field.
- This breach of duty of care led to your farming accident and caused an injury or made an existing injury or health condition worse.
If you’d like to get a free assessment of your farm accident claim, then why not call us for a free eligibility check on the number at the top of this page? You can also pop a message through on live chat.
How Does The Claims Process Work?
To make a claim, we’ll need all the details of your farm accident, including precise information about your injuries, any medical treatment for your farming injury, and access to your medical records.
Evidence to support your farm injury compensation claim includes your employer’s accident book, witness statements, photographs, and film footage. Your personal injury solicitor will need to establish that there is a duty of care and that this has been breached, leading to an accident and serious injuries.
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It’s normal in a farm accident compensation claim to have an independent medical assessment to verify the nature and severity of your injuries and how they have impacted your life, including whether you have suffered any financial losses.
In an agricultural accident claim, you are entitled to claim compensation for the actual injuries you received. However, if an agricultural injury has prevented you from working and you have only been able to claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), then you can also seek compensation for lost earnings and any additional expenses like private health treatment and transport to medical appointments if you are unable to drive.
Sadly, some very serious injuries can be life-changing. You can claim compensation for the expense of permanent changes to your lifestyle, like restrictions to your work or alterations to your living environment.
All of these additional costs are called Special Damages, and you’ll need to provide documentary evidence to support them.
How Much Compensation Is Awarded In Farming Accident Claims?
Each farming accident claim is unique, and the impact of injuries varies according to individual circumstances. Because of this, it can be difficult to give average figures and unhelpful to compare your case with someone else as the financial award may be quite different.
As a rule of thumb, the more severe the injury, the higher the payout. The courts have an established way of valuing injury claims and special damages to ensure that compensation is as consistent and fair as possible. This is also used by insurance companies and the legal profession when they handle an accident claim.
The Judicial College Guidelines are a detailed document that sets out different categories of mental and physical injury and assigns a range of values to help people claim compensation. Here are some specific examples of how much compensation you could receive for your agricultural injuries.
- A head injury caused by a falling object or falling from height, which results in very severe brain damage with the loss of language function and the need for full-time nursing care, will result in an award of between £344,150 and £493,000.
- Lung diseases like farmer’s lung caused by constant exposure to mould, dust, or other chemical irritants and which cause significant impairment of breathing, sleep disturbance, and restriction of physical activity and employment can result in an award varying between £66,890 and £85,460.
- Machinery accidents can result in all types of injuries to the limbs. A serious fracture of one or both forearms when using farming equipment that results in a significant permanent residual disability, whether functional or cosmetic, can be awarded a payment ranging from £47,810 to £73,050.
- Moderate Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, in addition to physical injuries in an agricultural accident which leaves continuing effects but that are not grossly disabling, can lead to an award ranging from £9,980 to £22,250.
You can use our farming injury compensation calculator below to get an immediate idea of how much you could get for a range of injuries. The amount of compensation you receive may be reduced proportionally if you have contributed in part to your accident.
Farm Accident Claims FAQs
Here are the answers to some common questions regarding farm accident claims.
Can I Claim Compensation If I Am Self-Employed?
Yes, you can make a claim if you are self-employed. A lot of farming companies in the agricultural industry employ contractors seasonally to undertake certain work on the farm, such as during harvest time or to help with livestock at specific times of year, like lambing. The owner of the land still owes you a duty of care to ensure that you have a safe place to work, are correctly trained to use farm machinery, and have the proper protective equipment if required.
Will I Lose My Job If I Make A Claim?
No, you will not lose your job if you make a claim. Any compensation will be paid either by your employer’s insurance company – it is a legal requirement for them to have employer’s liability insurance cover – or from public liability insurance, which landowners must have if they allow the general public access to their farm.
Can I Make A Claim If The Accident Was Partly My Fault?
Farm workers can still make a claim even if they were partly to blame for a farm accident. Say, for example, you were shown how to follow correct safety procedures when working near slurry pits or around grain silos but failed to observe these, leading to an accident that was partly your fault and also the fault of your employer because they had failed to meet their safety obligations by failing to replace defective protective fencing or warning signs. In this scenario, the court and insurers would decide how much to blame you were for your accident and reduce any compensation payout on a pro rata basis.
Are There Any Time Limits To Claim Compensation After An Accident?
There are time limits, and legislation dictates that you have three years from the date of your injury or crucially, the date you became aware of your injury. For slow and long-term diseases like farmer’s lung, it may not be apparent for months or years that your ill health is being caused by something on the farm. If you are claiming compensation on behalf of a child (called minors) under eighteen, then the three-year period does not start to run until they reach their eighteenth birthday.
Can I Continue To Work For My Employer If I Make A Compensation Claim Against Them?
Employee’s rights defined in law mean you cannot be treated differently or suffer discrimination from your employer because you have decided to claim compensation against them due to an accident caused by their negligence.
Do I Need Personal Injury Solicitors To Make A Farming Accident Claim?
Most personal injury claims are quite complicated, and if your injuries are severe, then time is better spent focusing on your recovery and getting life back to normal. Using our personal injury team will remove all the stress and worry of managing a claim alongside your injuries. You can concentrate on getting better whilst our experienced specialists manage all the legalities. It’s essential to only use a solicitor with specialism in farm accident claims and who is working on a no win no fee basis. This way, there is no financial risk to you if you are not awarded compensation.
Won't I Still Have To Pay Legal Fees If My Case Goes To Court?
Even if your case ends up in court, you still won’t have to pay any legal fees if you are being represented on a no win no fee basis. Called a conditional fee, it’s important to establish from the outset that your solicitor is working on a no win no fee agreement. The solicitor will take a fee, which is a percentage of any compensation award, and the amount of this is contained in the agreement. You should read this document carefully before you start the claims process and make sure you understand and are happy with what it contains.
How Long Does A Farm Accident Claim Take To Settle?
How long a claim takes to settle will depend on how complicated it is and whether the other party admits liability or disputes it. Most simple cases take a few months to resolve and are usually settled within a year. If your injuries are very severe or complex, then some claims will run for years, often because it can take quite a long time to see how much impact the injuries are going to have on the claimant’s lifestyle. In these cases, insurers will often agree to interim payments, which are part payments to help the claimant with immediate financial losses like reduced or zero income and extra healthcare and living expenses.
What Does It Mean If The Health And Safety Executive Are Involved In My Claim?
The Health and Safety Executive may investigate your farm accident if it is very serious or results in death. UK legislation called RIDDOR (The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) requires employers and you, if you are self-employed, to report certain workplace incidents to HSE. The HSE may carry out its own investigation and could prosecute the landowner or farmer in certain circumstances.
Isn't Working With Farm Animals Always Dangerous?
Working with livestock carries inherent risks, but your employer or the farm owner should still ensure the safety of farm workers, contractors, and members of the public whilst they are on the premises. There are safe and established protocols, which help minimise risk as much as possible. These rely on the implementation of thorough training, protective equipment and safe and effective handling and management procedures.
