Injured while playing sports?
Angela Baker explains how to file a personal injury claim.
Have you been injured in a sports accident? This article helps you determine if you are entitled to file a personal injury claim and get compensation for your injury. Keep reading below to find out more!
Physical activity is a great way to remain in top shape, both mentally and physically. But almost every sport comes with the risk of injury, whether it is a bruise, bump, muscle strain, or more serious injuries. Sports injuries are the worst. They happen when you less expect them. They can interrupt your activity, especially when you are a professional athlete. And, the worst part is that they can be painful.
Injuries are inevitable when you are a professional athlete. They can occur due to overtraining, lack of conditioning, falling, and improper form or technique. Such injuries can be prevented with certain precautions such as using the right equipment, wearing protective gear, giving time to your body to rest and repair, and backing off at the first signs of pain.
However, some injuries occur due to someone else's fault. In these cases, your body's condition or your technique has nothing to do with you getting injured. If you are injured when participating in a game or using sports equipment, and the sports injury occurred due to someone's reckless or intentional actions, you can receive compensation for your injury and financial losses.
Keep reading below to find out more about various types of sports injuries that entitle you to file a personal injury claim and how to get compensation.
Types of sports injuries claims
When it comes to injuries such as fractures, a sprained ankle, or muscle strain caused by poor prevention or by someone else in a full-contact sport, it's nearly impossible to get compensation. That is because it is not possible to find a valid reason to make such a claim. However, there are certain situations in which, if you get injured, you can file a personal injury claim to receive compensation. Such situations include:
- When you get injured because of the use of faulty or unmaintained sports equipment.
- When you get injured while playing on a court or a field that is in unsafe conditions, and these conditions caused your injury.
- When you get injured due to an instructor's or coach's negligence or carelessness.
- For example, poor coaching can be one of these circumstances.
- When you get injured due to violent behaviour. This can occur during a game between players.
- When professional athletes or fans get injured in match riots, which can happen when one set of fans decide to fight another team of fans.
- When sports fans or professionals get injured due to poorly maintained stadiums or grounds.
If you have suffered an accident and got injured in any of these situations, you are entitled to file a personal injury claim. However, even if you can file the claim and ask for compensation, your case will only succeed if it can prove certain things.
More precisely, to succeed in an action of negligence, you need to be able to prove three things:
- That you were owed a duty of care (meaning that an individual or an entity had the moral or legal obligation to ensure your safety and well-being)
- That the duty of care was breached (meaning that the person or entity who had that legal or moral obligation to ensure your safety failed to do so)
- That your injury was caused by that person/entity's failure to ensure your safety.
You will need some evidence such as photographic or video evidence, witnesses, referee opinion, and expert evidence to prove these three things.
How to make a personal injury claim for sports injuries
If you believe that you are entitled to file a personal injury claim after sustaining a sports injury, we will explain the process to you.
Sports injuries can be disastrous for a sports professional. Not only that they cause a lot of pain and negative feelings, but they can also end the career of a professional athlete if they are severe and treatment doe not ensure a full recovery. So, it makes sense to want to get compensation for the injury that has caused you so much pain and disrupted your life.
The first thing to do after you suffer a sports injury is to get medical help. It is essential to see a doctor and get checked up as soon as possible. Seeing a doctor is vital for two reasons: to get your injury treated and to have a diagnosis filed and recorded. What is more, your visit to the doctor will also act as proof of financial costs for medication or other medical treatments.
Secondly, you need to see if someone witnessed your accident. A witness will be additional proof of the events that caused your accident and injury.
Next, you need to ask for legal advice from a professional personal injury attorney who can handle your claim case. It is best to choose a solicitor who has previous experience and
knowledge with sports injury claims.
You also need to present any documentation, such as medical records, bills of medical treatments, uncollected wages, etc., to your injury attorney so that they will be used in your claim case. These documents are essential in determining your claim and how much compensation you will be offered if your case succeeds.
When it comes to compensation, the amount you get if your claim case succeeds depends on multiple factors. These factors are the time taken to recover, the number of other sports events that you had to cancel due to the injury you suffered, and the expenses you had as a result of your injury (medical costs and everyday expenditures).
Professional athletes earn their income through sports, and a serious sports injury that leaves them unable to pay can put them through massive financial stress. Sports injury claims are their legal safety net to ensure that they are compensated if someone else's negligence or intention caused their injury.
Page Reference
If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:
- BAKER, A. (2021) Injured while playing sports? [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article635.htm [Accessed
About the Author
Angela Baker is an alternative medicine specialist who is currently working with athletes to help them heal sports injuries without taking medication. She is always seeking to discover new ways for personal and professional growth and is convinced that it's always important to broaden her horizons. That's why Angela researched constantly new alternative treatments to address sports-related conditions. Also, she writes for alive.com, to guide athletes who are looking for alternatives to conventional treatment.