

It is vital that you seek medical assistance immediately, and register your compensation claim with a personal injury solicitor as soon as possible, so that the progress and consequences of your eye injury can be accurately assessed.
Sight is perhaps the most important of our senses if we are to lead a normal life. Amounts awarded for eye injury are therefore quite high. For example:
Transient or minor eye injury, such as being hit in the eye, with some temporary visual disturbance, but with a complete recovery. £1,000 to £4,500.
Permanent impairment or complete loss of sight in one eye. £6,500 to £28,000.
Complete loss of an eye. £28,000 to £34,000.
Total loss of sight in one eye with reduced vision in the other eye. £33,000 to £90,000.
Eye injury causing total blindness. About £140,000.
Many personal injury solicitors will not charge for advice given during the first meeting. Only once they have decided whether you may have a case will they consider proceeding, when they will charge for further advice. You will then have to agree how your solicitor’s fees are to be paid in the event that you win, lose, or drop the case.
While you will already have a close relationship with the solicitor who handles your affairs, such as writing a will, arranging property transfers and so on, you should always go to a solicitor who specialises in giving advice on personal injury claims.
The effects of an injury can be wide ranging and more than your legal rights are involved in determining your eligibility for, and amount of, compensation. For this reason, a solicitor requires a combination of legal and medical expertise, and most personal injury solicitors will have built up a list of useful contacts and barristers’ chambers to call on when specialist advice is required.
In the first instance, check that your solicitor’s firm includes lawyers who are accredited members of the two principle legal bodies in this field; the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIC) and the Law Society’s personal injury panel. You should also ask if they have solicitors who belong to associations for the specific injury your claim is about – for example the Spinal Injuries Association or the Headway Panel.
You should also ask your solicitor about their record in personal injury claims. Can they give you any case histories of advice given for successful claims similar to yours?