I spoke to my employer about making a tendonitis injury compensation claim and he told me that I can forget about being awarded compensation as his insurance company only covers accidents at work. Is this correct?
An employer is required by law to purchase an insurance policy to ensure that any employee injured at work will be able to claim compensation for their injuries. While your employer is correct in telling you that accidents at work are covered by his insurance policy, he appear to be confused about the qualification criteria for claiming tendonitis injury compensation.
In order for compensation for tendonitis to be claimed against your employer’s liability insurance policy you must be able to prove that your injury developed as a direct result of your work (there was causation), and your tendon injury would have been prevented had your employer fulfilled his duty of care to keep you safe at work.
Your employer should have been aware that the duties you were required to perform carried a risk of a repetitive strain injury developing. This should have been identified in a risk assessment performed by your employer. Actions should have been taken by your employer to reduce the risk of you sustaining an injury, such as providing frequent breaks or rotating the duties you were required to perform. The failure to perform a risk assessment – or to take action to prevent you from sustaining a repetitive strain injury – is likely to constitute negligence and a breach in the duty of care; and personal injury claims for tendonitis could be made on this basis.
Tendonitis can be caused by a single trauma such as an accident, but in the workplace it is more common for this injury to be caused by repetitive actions, and it usually develops over a period of time. Although your injury may have developed as a result of your work, tendon injuries can just as easily be caused by activities undertaken outside the workplace. Many repetitive strain injuries are not work-related, and it is the responsibility of the plaintiff to prove otherwise.
For a claim for a tendon injury to be successful you must be able to prove causation and establish that your injury developed as a direct result of your work duties. Proving causation in a claim for tendonitis injury compensation can be problematic, and a personal injury solicitor should be consulted for legal advice and assistance received with the collection of evidence to support your case.
Recovering compensation for tendonitis can become difficult if the early symptoms of tendonitis were not reported to an employer. If you have not yet made a written record of your symptoms in your employer’s accident book, it is important that you do this as soon as possible. You must be able to prove that your employer has been made aware of your injury.
If your employer has been negligent and failed to take all reasonable actions to prevent you from sustaining an injury in the workplace, a claim for a tendon injury should be possible. However, since your employer has already indicated that his insurance company will not pay you compensation it is possible that liability for personal injury claims for tendonitis may be rejected, and it may be necessary to take your case to court to be decided – although should this be necessary, a solicitor will make the necessary court applications and will take all the necessary steps to ensure a strong claim can be presented to the courts.