Toe Injury Compensation Claims
Broken toes can be debilitating. Walking, driving, working, and simply performing basic tasks suddenly becomes a whole lot more complicated as you heal.
Although to some people toe injuries may seem minor, for others a toe injury, particularly a broken toe, can be a serious injury and can limit your ability to do your job and other everyday activities. Foot and toe injuries are relatively common and, whilst they may sound mild compared to other bone breakages, they can have a significant impact on your life, sometimes causing issues that can last a lifetime.
Common Causes of Toe Injuries
There are many ways in which you may sustain a foot or toe injury. This may be as a result of contact with objects - such as tripping over immobile objects, kicking a toe, or crushing injuries. Toe injuries can range from mild, such as a stubbed toe, through to serious, such as a crush injury causing multiple injuries across the foot, requiring an amputation of a toe or toes.
Some of the most common foot and toe injuries are caused by:
Crush Injuries: This is where the toes or foot is trapped between two objects causing damage such as soft tissue damage, broken bones, ligament damage, bleeding, and pain.
Breaks: This is where a bone in the toe is broken due to impact or contact with an object.
Sprains and Strains: This is where the toes have soft tissue damage, swelling and pain.
Amputation: This is where the toes are partially or completely amputated due to trauma.
Toe Injury at Work
Workplace injuries can happen due to contact with machinery, tools or vehicles, or due to accidents such as crush injuries. Some work environments and jobs are very strenuous and require you to be on your feet all day. The likelihood of sustaining a broken toe injury in these sorts of circumstances is much greater if you undertake work that requires manual labour with moveable, heavy objects.
A fall from height in your workplace could cause you to sustain a broken toe or foot injury especially if you land awkwardly.
Your footwear may also be a contributing factor for broken toe injuries. In some cases, you may not have appropriate footwear (e.g. steel-capped boots) for your employment and this can cause you to suffer to or foot injuries, such as plantar fasciitis, which can worsen over time.
If you have sustained broken toes due to a workplace accident, then you may be able to make a claim for compensation.
Talk with an experienced WorkCover lawyer to learn more.
Toe Injury Due to a Motor Vehicle Accident
You may not realise but toe and feet injuries during a car crash are quite common. It is a natural response for your body to tense and brace itself when you are involved in a motor vehicle accident. Your ankles and feet often receive the full force of pressure from the impact of your body weight, this sudden force can at times lead to broken toes, feet ankles and legs.
Find out more about making a motor vehicle compensation claim.
Toe Injury Caused by Slip and Fall
Slips, trips and falls can happen in almost any scenario - in building foyers, shops, restaurants, supermarkets, on the street or while using public transport. No matter where you slip, trip or fall, you may sustain a broken toe injury as a result. You may fall heavily on your foot and toe or in the process of tripping over or kick your toe against a solid object or wall and fracture one or multiple toes.
What Evidence is Required to Make toe Injury Workers Compensation Claims?
If you have been injured in an accident and broken a toe or multiple toes, you should seek medical treatment for your injuries first and foremost. Your medical professional will decide on the best treatment for your toe after completing a thorough diagnosis to determine the severity of the injury. An X-Ray is the most common diagnostic test done to determine if the toe is broken and to pinpoint the exact location and the severity of the fracture. When you are seeing your doctor, be sure to let them know how you sustained the injuries you are presenting with.
Toe injury compensation will depend on the severity of the injuries and the extent to which your mobility is affected.
When preparing for your toe injury claim you will need to:
- Firstly, seek medical treatment is the primary priority. Ensure any reports or documentation received be kept safely.
- Seek legal advice from an experienced lawyer in relation to your possible rights, entitlement and best next steps.
- If the injury was sustained whilst you were working, or travelling to, from, or in the course of your work, contact your employer's insurer (usually WorkCover) and ask to lodge a claim.
- If when you spoke initially to a lawyer, if they discussed your ability to run a common law claim, they will then provide you with additional information at this point, as to the next steps to take.
Make sure to keep copies of both the claim form and the medical certificate before you give the originals to your employer or workers' compensation insurer.
How Long do Toe Injury Settlements Usually Take?
Settlement timeframes are very much dependant on individual circumstances, no two broken toe or foot injury claims are the same. Most claims usually settle within 12 to 18 months, however this purely a guide
One key factor in determining the time it will take for the claim to settle is the amount of time it takes for the injury to become 'stable and stationary,' which is when it is deemed that further medical treatment would not have a significant effect on improvement of the injury.
A foot injury and broken toe injury can be difficult to recover from, as there are many small bones in the toe and foot which cannot be set in a plaster cast and which simply require time to heal. In some other cases you may need to isolate the toe and or foot and joint, and wear a moon boot, or similar, to ensure that you do not further damage. All of which these factors can have various timeframes to heal and get you on the right track again.
Your legal team will be able to provide an estimate of the timeframes you can expect once they have fully reviewed your claim and have a thorough understanding of the impacts of your injuries.
Is There a Time Limit For Making a Toe Injury Compensation Claim?
In Queensland there are time limits for making personal injury compensation claims. In most work injury claims, you have three years from the time the injury occurred for most claims unless you were under 18 when the injury occurred. For injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents, more stringent timelines apply.
Time limits may vary depending also on which compensation avenue you are needing to take.
Seeking legal advice as soon as you can may assist in making sure you receive the full compensation you deserve for your toe and foot injury claims. A lawyer will ensure that your legal rights are protected.
Generally, for a number of reasons, it is best to engage a lawyer as soon as possible after the injury, however, even if your injury sits outside of any timeline, it is important to reach out and explain your situation to a lawyer, as some exceptions do apply.
How Much Does it Cost to Lodge a Toe Compensation Claim?
We offer a ‘No Win. No Fee. No Catch’® promise on all claims your broken toe injury compensation claim, which means there are no upfront costs and you will never be left out of pocket. Fees are calculated on the amount of work completed and will be explained to you in full before your claim commences and before you sign any kind of agreement.
No two claims are the same, therefore fees vary, and it would not be beneficial to provide even a guide regarding fees.
Can I Represent Myself When Making a Toe Injury Workers Compensation Claim?
Legal representation isn’t required when making any personal injury compensation claim in Queensland, however it is strongly advised that you do seek legal advice, to ensure one's rights and entitlements are protected.
To lodge a WorkCover claim, no legal representation is required, however seeking advice shortly after the injury is recommended, as you may be able to consider running a common law claim, potentially securing additional compensation.
In the case you choose to run a common law claim, although it is possible to self-represent in a common law claim, this is not advised.
This is for the following reasons:
- There is a significant amount of legal knowledge that is required to run a claim, and more significant knowledge can lead to a better outcome.
- The amount of work involved is significant and would take a considerable amount of time to complete, and this without the systems and efficiencies that a law firm has available.
- Experience ads a significant amount of value in running a claim, and this is something that legal professionals have, and can improve the outcome of a claim significantly.
What Are The Average Payouts For Toe Injury Compensation Claims?
There is no schedule for how much compensation you may receive for personal injury claims, due to every situation and circumstance surrounding injuries being so different for everyone. Toe injury compensation payments might be for a broken big toe, or might be for something more serious like the complete or partial amputation of a toe, or multiple toes, and therefore the degree of compensation can vary greatly.
Lodge A "No Win No Fee" Claim
If you suffer injuries whilst at work, and you are looking for further information in terms of making a claim. Here at Smith's Lawyers, we offer a free consultation for injured people looking to seek compensation. As mentioned before, we also have a "No Win. No Fee. No Catch." policy, which means you will never be out of pocket.
Get in touch with us today to give yourself the best opportunity to understand your rights.
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