Humans are by nature empathetic. When we see someone in trouble we instinctively want to help. If you were to witness a car accident or see a colleague injured at work, your first thought is likely to be concerned for their safety and wellbeing.
When we rush help others, we do it without a second thought for our own safety. Whilst we might have the best of intentions, we could also be putting ourselves at risk and end up injuring ourselves.
Which leads to the question: if you get hurt while trying to protect or help someone else, could you be entitled to compensation?
Of course, the answer is rarely a straightforward yes or no. It will depend on the unique circumstances of the situation and in particular, whether another person’s negligence caused the dangerous situation.
Can You Claim Compensation for an Injury Sustained While Helping Someone?
Potentially, yes.
It is possible for someone who suffers injury, while attempting to help or rescue another person, to make a personal injury claim.
The crux of the matter is whether someone owed you a duty of care, and if so, whether they breached that duty. If they did, you will need to prove whether that breach caused your injuries.
Interestingly, it isn’t necessarily the person who was in the first accident (the one being helped) who is responsible for the helper’s injury. Depending on the situation, if you were injured trying to help someone else, your claim could be against the person or organisation whose negligence caused the danger in the first place.
However, having altruistic intentions does not automatically mean you are eligible to claim compensation.
What Is a Rescue Claim?
In simple terms, rescue claims arise when someone is injured while trying to save someone else from danger. In these cases, it is the rescuer who is pursuing the personal injury claim, not the person in the original accident.
For example:
A person (‘A’) is texting while driving, goes through a red light and crashes into another driver’s (B) car, flipping it and trapping the driver inside.
A bystander (C) sees the crash and rushes over to help. They (C) manage to pull the trapped driver out of a broken window, but during the rescue they (C) sustain a deep cut to their arm, causing nerve damage.
In a scenario like this, the law relating to rescue claims acknowledges that the driver (A) who was texting caused an immediate and dangerous situation and that it could be predicted that someone would come to help.
Because the first driver (A) caused the crash, they are potentially responsible for the injuries to both the other driver (B)and the bystander (C) who, subsequently, are both entitled to pursue a personal injury claim against (A).
As with any personal injury claim, whether or not a claim is successful largely depends on the specific facts of the case such as how the danger arose and the rescuer’s response.
In a well known case from 1959, two men lost their lives after they were overcome by poisonous fumes while working in a well on a farm. A doctor who attempted to rescue them by lowering himself down the well with rope tied round his waste, also lost his life.
The Court of Appeal found that the men’s employer was responsible for all three deaths.
The court took the view that if an employer’s negligence put workers in danger, it was reasonably foreseeable that someone might attempt to rescue them.
The employer was therefore held liable for the fatal consequences of the rescue attempt, including the death of the doctor.
In What Situations Might Someone Be Injured While Trying to Help?
We’ve already mentioned road traffic accidents in the example above, but there are other scenarios in which a person may be injured as a result of trying to help someone else.
These could include (but aren’t limited to):
- Workplace accidents – a fellow employee goes to help a colleague who has fallen from a height, been injured in an unsafe working environment or trapped by machinery.
- Accidents in public places – someone attempts to help a person who has slipped on a wet floor inside a supermarket, a child who has fallen from an unsafe piece of playground equipment or a pedestrian who trips on a cracked pavement.
- Fires and other emergencies – a fire breaks out in a concert venue, and a bystander tries to pull someone to safety or someone offers hands on assistance during a major disaster (such as a train crash or building collapse).
These are just some examples of potential situations where the rescue principle could apply.
Who Might Be Held Responsible for a Rescuer’s Injuries?
We touched on it earlier, but let’s look in a bit more detail.
If responsibility for the rescuer’s injuries isn’t with the person being rescued, then who is responsible?
It usually comes down to who caused the danger in the first place and whether owed a duty of care which was breached.
Returning to the examples from earlier, a claim could potentially be brought against an employer, a business, a negligent driver or a local authority.
The key is understanding whether the original incident and the injury sustained during a rescue attempt are connected.
In a personal injury claim, your solicitor would need to investigate whether the defendant (the person or organisation responsible) caused the rescuer’s injuries, from a legal standpoint.
In addition, the defendant could also be liable for any injuries caused to the person in the original incident.
What If You Put Yourself in Danger to Help Someone?
This is an interesting question and one worth exploring.
It can be an instinctive reaction to want to help someone in trouble, and often we do it without thinking about the consequences. But if you are injured as a result of trying to help someone else, consideration must be given to whether someone else’s negligence caused the danger, or whether your own actions played a part in the injuries you suffered.
That’s not to say that you should never attempt to help someone if you find yourself in a possible rescue situation. The law recognises that people act instinctively when someone is in danger, and taking a risk by trying to help them doesn’t automatically prevent you from making a claim.
The simple rule is that the law will give you more leeway to take a higher risk to save a human life than to save property.
For example, it would be considered reasonable to go into a smoke-filled house to rescue a person, but it would not be reasonable to re-enter the house to retrieve a photo album.
This is the type of scenario where the line is crossed between reasonable and unnecessary risk and could affect whether you’re entitled to compensation.
However, a dangerous or unsuccessful rescue attempt does not automatically prevent you from making a claim. It will be dependent on the specific facts of the case.
This is also where the principle of contributory negligence could be relevant.
In personal injury law, contributory negligence essentially means that you played a part in causing your own injuries. If you make a claim against the negligent party and they prove that your own actions caused or worsened your injuries, the blame will be split between both parties.
In this instance, the amount of compensation you receive is likely to be reduced on a percentage basis (depending on how much to blame you were).
What Should You Do If You’re Injured While Helping Someone?
Whether you are the victim of an accident, or you have been hurt when helping someone else, the first thing to do is seek medical attention for your injuries.
Once you are out of danger and have spoken to a medical professional, you should report the incident to the relevant authorities, make a record of what happened in as much detail as possible and gather as much evidence as you can including witness statements, photographs and any available CCTV.
You should also keep a record of any medical treatment you received, time off work, financial losses and any other related expenses such as medical treatment or travel costs for example.
If you can, try to establish the cause of the original accident as this could be helpful in identifying who is responsible for your injuries.
What Compensation Could You Receive for Injuries Sustained During a Rescue?
Unfortunately, the degree of heroism involved in the rescue does not affect the amount of compensation you could receive.
In personal injury claims, compensation is assessed based on the pain of injury itself as well as its impact on your ability to work and to live your life.
Suffering serious injuries, can mean that you may never be able to live life in the same way you did before the injury, and the amount of compensation you receive will take this into account.
You compensation award will be split into two different types.
General damages cover pain, suffering and loss of amenity (enjoyment of life)
Special damages to cover things such as loss of earnings, medical expenses, rehabilitation and current (and future) care needs.
Any contributory negligence on your part will also affect the final amount you receive.
Our compensation calculator gives you the headline figures for different types of injury, based on the latest Judicial College Guidelines.
How Long Do You Have to Make a Rescue Injury Claim?
In England and Wales, the statutory limitation period is three years. In most cases this starts from the date of the accident or the date from which you reasonably knew you had an injury.
There are some exceptions to this.
If the injured person is under the age of 18, the three years begins on their 18th birthday.
If the injured person does not have mental capacity to claim. If they later regain capacity, the clock starts on the date that they regained it. If, however, they never regain capacity, their claim can be made by a litigation friend (someone to act on their behalf) and there is no limitation period.
It is always worth seeking legal advice as early as possible after the accident, as it can take time to put together all the necessary information in order to make a claim. This is especially important when there are several people involved.
The longer you wait to gather evidence the more likely it is for details to be forgotten or evidence to be lost or deleted.
Getting Legal Advice After Being Injured While Helping Someone
When you see someone in trouble and rush to help, your first thought is unlikely to be your own safety or whether you could claim compensation for a potential injury.
Your instincts kick in and the adrenaline takes over, and you might not even realise you’ve sustained any injuries until later.
But when the dust settles, the adrenaline wears off and you start thinking more clearly, you may realise that your injuries, and the incident itself, could have been avoided.
Remember, not every injury caused by a rescue attempt will lead to a personal injury claim, and it will depend on how the danger arose, the circumstances of the rescue and whether someone else was at fault.
But if you believe your injuries (and the accident) could have been avoided, give us a call. As experts in personal injury claims we can discuss the incident, help you establish the facts and advise you on whether you may have a valid claim.
A call us doesn’t commit you to anything, and we handle most cases on a no win no fee basis, so you only pay us anything if your claim is successful.
For an informal chat with one of our friendly team, call Mooneerams on 029 2199 1927 or fill in our enquiry form and we will be in touch.
Posted in Personal Injury Claims
