Facial Scarring Compensation Claim: Payout Amounts For Minor To Severe Scars On Your Face
Find out the types of negligent act which can lead to facial scarring compensation claims; how your solicitor calculates the amount of compensation you can claim; what effect your gender and age can have on your compensation payments; why scars to the face from burns may attract a larger payout; the aggravating symptoms of different scar types – with examples of facial disfigurement average compensation payouts for both men and women.
- Facial Scarring Compensation Claim: Payout Amounts For Minor To Severe Scars On Your Face
- Table Of Facial Scarring Compensation Payouts In 2023
- What types of negligent acts can cause facial scarring?
- How does your solicitor calculate your facial scarring compensation payout?
- Do women receive more compensation for scarring than men?
- Does your age affect the amount of compensation you can receive?
- Do facial scars caused by burns attract more compensated?
- What other aspects of scarring can lead to larger compensation payout amounts?
- Examples of facial scarring compensation payout calculations in 2023
- Summary Of Facial Scarring Compensation Claims
- Free Specialist Solicitor Help
- Table Of Facial Scarring Compensation Payouts In 2023
Table Of Facial Scarring Compensation Payouts In 2023
This is our brief summarising table of compensation payouts for facial scarring.
Read on – the calculation of these figures, the different types of aggravating factors and the different types of scar are all explained later in this article.
| Facial Scarring | Claim Payouts In 2023 |
|---|---|
| Minor | £1,700 – £3,500 |
| Moderate | £4,000 – £13,800 |
| Significant | £9,000 – £30,000 |
| Severe | £30,000 – £97,000 |
What types of negligent acts can cause facial scarring?
There are many different types of accident or negligent acts, which can cause a scar to the face and disfigurement. The person legally at fault for their negligence will be responsible for paying your facial scarring compensation.
Watch out – It is not just negligent acts that can give rise to a claim – a negligent omission (failure to do something) may also give rise to a claim.
Each type of negligent act has a different procedure for claiming compensation, some examples (with links to the claims process for each), include:
Road traffic accident causing facial disfigurement
A RTA such as a car accident or motorcycle collision can cause many different types of injury – including minor and severe facial scarring.
See our road traffic accident article – for a guide on the claims process for recovering compensation for road accident claims.
Work injury claims
An employer owes a duty to keep employees safe. Injury at work – such as those involving the use of chemicals without adequate PPE can cause burns and defective machinery can lead to facial scarring claims.
See our accident at work article to access our works compensation claims process guide.
Clinical injury causing facial scarring
Surgical procedures in hospitals and other medical settings can sometimes go wrong and lead to scarring and other injuries.
Our medical negligence article sets out the process for claiming compensation for clinical error..
Other types of accident causing facial scarring
Other types of UK accident might include slip trip fall claims, animal attack claims, etc.
How does your solicitor calculate your facial scarring compensation payout?
The amount of facial scarring compensation you can claim does not generally depend on the accident type, but on the severity of the facial injury.
Watch out – criminal injuries can often lead to facial scarring, but the basis of calculation of compensation amounts for criminal injury is different than all other types of injury claim.
Your lawyer can calculate how much your claim is worth based upon an independent medico-legal report (typically produced by a plastic surgeon). This report will be based upon a medical examination and a review of your GP and hospital notes.
The plastic surgeon will describe how severe your injury is, refer to photographs of your scarring, describe if the scars are hypertrophic (raised scar tissue), whether the scarring causes any discomfort (pain and itchiness) and set out what the future holds in a prognosis explaining whether any corrective surgery would assist in reducing the appearance of the scar.
Your solicitor will look at the medical report and look at claims previously decided by the courts to decide to determine how much compensation you should recover.
Do women receive more compensation for scarring than men?
“Yes and No” – up to the middle of 2017 there were two different award scales for men and women, but the law has recently recalibrated to allow men to recover as much as women for the same scar, so long as the psychological impact can be shown to be equally as significant.
Remember – the overall payout is in part determined by the psychological effect on the victim in addition to the extent of the facial scarring itself.
Women are sometimes viewed as having a stronger psychological reaction to facial scarring than men – so indirectly might be awarded more than men for the same scar. If however the psychological effect can be shown to be the same for a man and a woman – the award should be the same.
Does your age affect the amount of compensation you can receive?
“Yes” – the young tend to receive larger average compensation payouts than an older person as a young person is often more self-conscious and will have to live for a longer period with the disfigurement.
Do facial scars caused by burns attract more compensated?
Unfortunately, burns can often lead to a lot more pain and sensory loss than other types of scar, so it is often the case that the pain and suffering award for burns scars will attract more compensation.
In other words – for the same scar, the one caused by burning would typically be at the higher end of the compensation bracket (see later).
Be aware – in this article when we discuss compensation for facial scarring – we are considering the payout for pain and suffering caused by the injury itself.
Remember – in addition to compensation for pain and suffering, you are entitled to claim financial loss and expense as a direct result of your injuries.
What other aspects of scarring can lead to larger compensation payout amounts?
Facial scarring can have a number of characteristics that can make the scarring worse in appearance, touch and sensation.
Hyperpigmentation
Hyperpigmentation is localised darkening of the skin caused by the skin damage. The darkening of the colour may be more visible when it is colder or sunnier.
Hyperpigmentation causes facial scars to be more visible and so can lead to larger claim payouts.
Hypertrophic And Keloid Scars
Hypertrophic and keloid scarring are both caused by an excess tissue growth when your body attempts to heal the facial wound, This results in a scar being raised above the normal skin level and is often a different colour than the surrounding skin – making the scar more visible.
Facial scarring that is keloid – can extend beyond the original wound area, whereas hypertrophic scars may improve over time.
These types of scars on your face will typically be painful and can cause irritation, such as tightness and itching.
Sunken, Pitted, Atrophic Scarring
A facial wound might cause some tissue to be ripped away and underlying fat to be lost – given a sunken or pitted appearance to the rest of the surrounding skin.
This type of facial scarring is known as atrophic scarring.
Contractures
Burns that lead to scarring will often cause contractures – a restriction in movement in your skin surrounding the scar area (due to tightening of the skin).
Examples of facial scarring compensation payout calculations in 2023
Some examples of average compensation payouts for the pain and suffering from facial scarring in 2023, include:
Minor Facial Scarring
If you experience scarring to the face, which is trivial in its visibility and psychological effect, you can expect to recover an average compensation payout of between £1,700 – £3,500.
Moderate Facial Scarring Compensation
This might be a single scar or a number of scars that may have initially been more significant, but whose appearance have improved before settlement of your claim. Moderate facial scarring will typically lead to average compensation payouts being calculated between £4,000 – £13,800.
Significant Facial Scarring Payouts
More significant scarring might need the intervention of plastic surgery and have a psychological reaction to the visible facial scarring (visible from a short distance only). Your average claim payout is likely between £9,000 – £30,000.
Severe Scarring And Disfigurement
If the facial scarring that you have is of the worst kind with a significant psychological reaction – you can expect the largest compensation payouts. Burns and younger Claimants will likely receive the highest amount of compensation of all. Severe facial scarring average payouts will be calculated between £30,000 – £97,000,
Summary Of Facial Scarring Compensation Claims
In this article you have seen examples of facial scarring compensation amounts for all manner of facial scars and the aggravating factors that lead to higher compensation payout amounts.
Free Specialist Solicitor Help
If you would like to discuss your facial scarring claim with our solicitors in person free of charge, ask a question or have your facial scarring claim assessed – see our free telephone and online legal help options.
