Claims for deafness may be made in circumstances where there is either total or partial loss of hearing. When assessing such claims for personal injury after an accident, regard will be had as to whether the personal injury led to sudden and immediate deafness without any opportunity to adapt or whether deafness came on gradually as is the case in noise exposure circumstances. Consideration will also be given to the question as to whether the personal injury was sustained at an early age so that it has, over time, had an effect on the victim's speech. Similarly, it is important to consider, when assessing claims, whether the personal injury causing deafness affects the victim's ability to balance.
Where there is total deafness and loss of speech, claims may attract awards of the order of £57,500 right up to £72,500. Claims in this range will be reserved for cases where instability has arisen at an early age and there has been a serious effect on the development of normal speech.
Moving down
the scale, personal injury accident claims in cases of total deafness where there is no loss of speech ability should see claims settled for between £46,500 and £57,500.
Whre the
accident victim suffers personal injuries causing total loss of hearing in one ear, claims should be paid out for between £16,500 and £23,750. Claims in the upper end of the bracket will be where the accidents victim has associated problems such as dizziness, tinnitus (these are cases where the sufferer constantly hears noises such as ringing) or headaches.
Claims involving partial loss of
hearing are usually those where there has been exposure
to excessive noise over lengthy periods of time. In
these cases, the level of compensation awarded, depends
to a great extent not only on the level of the lost
hearing but also on the level of tinnitus. Age is a
significant factor in deciding the level of claims
in this type of case. Claims may be paid in the range
from £4,000 to £23,750. Those at the bottom end of
the scale will typically be claims where there is only
slight hearing loss and slight tinnitus. Moving up the
scale, accident victims will have increasing levels
of loss of hearing and tinnitus.
To make a claim either call
Accident Aid on 0800 180 4780 or forward your query
without any obligation to Accident Aid by email and you
will be contacted by an accident injury lawyer who will
advise as to whether you may be entitled to claim
compensation for your injury and any other losses you may have sustained.
