Knee Injury Claim Payouts: How To Calculate Your Compensation Settlement

We describe what a knee injury claim for compensation is; the different bones, cartilage, ligaments, tendons and muscles that make up your knee; how to show “legal fault” for your injuries; the two main types of compensation that can form part of your knee injury claim with examples of how much your compensation settlement should be for various different knee injuries.

Table Of Payouts For Knee Injury Claims In 2023

Our table is a handy summary of the (full details you will find later in this article) different types of knee injury you might experience – together with the compensation payout you can expect to claim for pain, suffering and loss of amenity.

What is a knee injury claim?

Should you injure a your knee as a result of negligence and/or breach of statutory duty – you will likely be able to make a knee injury claim for compensation from the person, business or body considered legally at fault. Compensation will include money for pain, suffering and loss of amenity plus past and future financial loss and expense you may incur as a direct result of your knee injury.

Read on – we provide more detail later in our article about the different types of compensation you can claim.

Examples of typical of knee injury claims

You might injure your knee in many different settings, which might include:

Motorbike and cyclist accidents

Motorbikers and cyclists are vulnerable road users, when hit by a car or knocked off a bike due to other forms of collision – various serious injures can be caused, including knee injuries.

Workplace accidents

Falls from height at work (such as ladder claims), being hit by falling objects or by work machinery (such as a forklift truck accident) – may often result in knee injuries.

Medical negligence

Defective surgical procedure, slips on wet hospital floors or falls out of hospital beds are just some examples of clinical negligence that can lead to knee injury claims.

* Criminal injury

Criminal assault can often result in knee injury.

*Watch out – compensation paid for criminal injury via the CICA are calculated on a different basis than set out in this article. See our criminal injuries compensation guide for more details.

What body parts can be injured in your knee?

Your knee is one of the most complex joints – with many different body parts that can be injured, which include:.

Bones of the knee

At the knee two bones, known as the tibia (or shinbone) and fibula, in the lower leg are attached to the femur (or thigh bone) in the upper leg.

The bone of the” knee cap” itself is known medically as the “patella”.

See our leg injury claim article for examples of the amounts of compensation you can claim for an injury to your upper and lower leg.

Cartilage of the knee

Cartilage is a tough tissue found in the human body at joints where bones meet other bones. It is stiff and strong – but not as strong and as inflexible as bone.

Behind your kneecap there are three cartilages – two meniscus cartilages and a cartilage known as the gristle.

Ligaments of the knee

Ligaments are fibrous tissues which connect bones to other bones.

There are four ligaments in the knee – two cruciate ligaments (in the centre of your knee) and two collateral ligaments (either side of your knee).

Tendons of the knee

A tendon is a strong tissue which connects muscles to bones.

The knee has one main tendon known as the kneecap or patellar tendon.

Muscles joining at the knee

Your knee attaches two muscles in the upper leg (the quadriceps at the front of your leg and the hamstrings muscles at the back of your upper leg) with a muscle in your lower leg (the calf muscle – at the back of your lower leg).

How to show who is legally at fault for your knee damage?

Deciding who is legally at fault for your knee injury claim is not a straight forward process as it will depend on the circumstances of your particular accident and the law which surrounds accidents of the kind you have suffered.

For example: if you had a motorcycle or other road accident – the Highway Code can be referred to, which will help decide who was responsible. If you had a lifting accident at work the Health and Safety at Work Regulations and Manual Handling Regulations would set out the duties of your employer.

We recommend – contact a specialist personal injury solicitor to decide who is “legally at fault” to pay your knee injury compensation claim. A specialist lawyer will be familiar with all the relevant law that will apply to your accident.

What types of compensation can you claim for your knee injury?

A knee injury claim will consist of two main types of compensation payment:

Pain and suffering

Knee injuries cause you to experience pain, to suffer as a result and lessen your enjoyment of certain activities you used to enjoy before you were injured.

Imagine you fractured your knee cap, ripped a cruciate ligament or tore a cartilage – you will suffer a great deal of pain and inconvenience. For each type of knee injury you suffer you will be entitled to claim compensation depending on the severity and duration of your injury. This is known as compensation for “pain, suffering and loss of amenity”.

Watch out – your solicitor must obtain a medico-legal report from an independent medical expert to set out the extent of your injuries, your likely duration of pain until recovery or any ongoing disability or future weaknesses. It is this report that the court will rely on as proof of your knee injury. In addition, the injuries described can be compared by your solicitor to other claims decided by the courts in the past to determine how much your pain and suffering claim is worth.

Financial loss and expenses

This part of your knee injury claim will include compensation for all of the financial losses, inconveniences and expenses you experience directly as a result of your accident.

Be aware – your claim will include not only past losses, but also losses predicted into the future until your knee recovery takes place or, if you suffer disability, potential future losses for the rest of your life.

Some examples of financial loss and expense include:

Lost income – past and future

A knee injury can affect your ability to work. You may initially be unable to work and then return to work with reduced hours whilst your knee strengthens. You may need a knee replacement operation – requiring further time form work.

Your knee injury might be such that the medical expert report predicts early onset arthritis with the need to retire earlier than normal.

Medical expenses

Knee injuries will invariably result in the need of medical expenses, such as knee braces, supports, painkillers, etc.

Care and assistance

Your knee injury might be such that you need the equivalent or nursing assistance or lighter help in the home by friends and family members. You might need help bathing, shopping, preparing food and looking after your home.

Watch out – a rate can be claimed even if care is provided by a partner, family and friends. You will need a statement from the relevant person setting out what they did and the duration of time, so try to keep a diary of these times and tasks. This will help your solicitor prepare a statement in support at a later time.

Travel expenses

Injury results in the need to travel for medical treatment. You may use your car, a friend’s or or a relative’s car. In any event – a rate can be claimed for travel to your hospital and GP.

Remember – keep receipts for any parking expense at the hospital as this can be claimed too.

Should you use public transport or a taxi – keep your receipts to support your loss.

Average compensation payouts for pain and suffering from knee injury

The approximate amounts of compensation for pain and suffering for various different knee injury claims, with settlement in 2023, include:

Twists and painful bruising knee injuries

If you suffer relatively modest knee injuries, such as twists, strains, lacerations and bruising – with symptoms lasting between a month and a year and thereafter a complete recovery, you can expect a compensation settlement of between £2,000 – £6,000.

Twists, strains and short acceleration of pre-existing condition

Twists, strains, lacerations or ligament injuries with symptoms up to 3 years. Also, an acceleration or exacerbation of a pre-existing knee problem by up to 3 years. Your knee injury claim is likely to have an average payout calculated between £6,000 – £14,000.

Torn cartilage, meniscus tear, dislocation

If you tear a meniscus (medial or lateral) cartilage or the gristle cartilage or suffer a knee dislocation which results in weakness or your knee not being as stable as before your accident (perhaps requiring the use of a knee brace or support) – your compensation calculation will be between £15,000 – £26,000.

To see our tear of meniscus claim article for a more detailed analysis of meniscus knee injuries and compensation amounts.

Severe knee injuries, arthrodesis, knee replacement

In the most serious knee injuries – you might suffer a fracture of the patella, bad tears to the cruciate or collateral ligaments, nasty torn cartilage (medial meniscus or lateral meniscus), limitation of movement of your knee, degenerative osteoarthritis, an arthrodesis could be necessary or knee replacement surgery. These types of injury will result in a knee injury claim settlement of between £26,000 – £96,000.

Summary

In this article we have described all the different parts of your knee that can be injured as a result of an accident or negligent act or omission, together with examples of the types and amounts of compensation that can form part of your knee injury claim.

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