Broken Tooth Claims
An Introduction to Broken Tooth Injury Claims
Broken tooth injury claims are civil legal actions which enable you to recover compensation when you have broken your tooth in an accident for which you were not at fault. You will be eligible to make broken tooth injury claims for compensation when it can be proven that the accident in which your tooth was broken was caused by somebody who had a “duty of care” towards you and – either by their action or a lack of action – that person´s negligence was responsible for your tooth injury.
No two claims for a broken tooth injury are the same – even when the nature and severity of the injury are identical – as compensation for a broken tooth injury should account for consequences of your tooth injury and how they affect your quality of life as much as the physical trauma you experienced at the time of the accident. Consequently, it is always in your best interests to discuss the circumstances of your accident and tooth injury with an experienced solicitor prior to making broken tooth injury claims for compensation.
Broken Tooth Injury Claims and Your Health
Your health is the most important factor in claims for a broken tooth injury and although you will have sought professional medical attention at a hospital or dental clinic at the time of your tooth injury, it is essential that you keep any out-patient appointments after your discharge to prevent claims from the negligent party´s insurers that you made your tooth injury worse by your own lack of care. Your “contributory negligence” will not disqualify you from making claims for broken tooth injury compensation, but it might affect how much your broken tooth injury claim is worth.
Broken tooth injury claims should also consider any psychological injury you have sustained either during your accident or while recovering from a broken tooth injury. Therefore, if you have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder because of the manner in which your tooth injury was sustained, suffered from depression or anxiety during your recovery from a broken tooth or lost your confidence to drive, work or socialise as a direct result of your broken tooth injury, you should advise your solicitor – who will arrange for the appropriate proof of psychological injury, and include this factor in your claim for broken tooth injury compensation.
Establishing Negligence in Broken Tooth Injury Claims
Even though a negligent driver, employer or other third party may have admitted their liability for your tooth injury at the time your accident happened, when you claim compensation for a broken tooth injury, the settlement of your claim is made by the negligent party´s insurers – even when claims for a broken tooth injury are processed by the Injuries Board Ireland. Therefore, as the negligent party´s insurer was not present at the time of your accident, claims for broken tooth injury compensation have to be compiled which establish that the insurance company´s client was indeed the negligent party and thereby liable for your tooth injury.
In order to establish negligence in broken tooth injury claims, an accident report should be made to either the Garda, your employer or at the offices of anther third party responsible for your tooth injury, and a copy retained to submit with your application for assessment to the Injuries Board Ireland. You can support claims for broken tooth injury compensation with photographs taken at the scene of the accident or CCTV video, and statements from witnesses who saw your broken tooth injury accident occur. Indeed the more evidence of negligence in broken tooth injury claims you – or a solicitor on your behalf – can collect, the likelier it is that your claim for broken tooth injury compensation will be successful.
The Process for Making Broken Tooth Injury Compensation Claims
There are two main ways in which claims for broken tooth injury compensation are processed. The first is that your solicitor sends a Letter of Claim to the negligent party, advising them that you are claiming compensation for a broken tooth injury. The negligent party will usually forward the letter on to his insurers – advising them whether or not they accept liability for your broken tooth injury – and, if liability is not contested, your solicitor will enter into negotiations with the insurance company to obtain the maximum possible settlement of your broken tooth injury compensation claim.
The second method of claiming compensation for a broken tooth injury is that an application is sent to the Injuries Board Ireland, requesting an assessment of your claim. The Injuries Board Ireland will then write to the negligent party, asking them to confirm that they accept liability for your tooth injury and calculate – once confirmation is received – what your broken tooth injury claim is worth based on the information you have provided and a further independent medical examination. The Injuries Board Ireland will advise both you and the negligent party how much compensation for a broken tooth injury they believe you should receive and – if both you and the negligent party are in agreement with the Injuries Board´s decision – they will issue an Order to Pay, and the negligent party´s insurers will send you a cheque in settlement of your broken tooth injury claim.
The Injuries Board´s Role in Broken Tooth Injury Claims
The Injuries Board Ireland plays an important role in the settlement of broken tooth injury claims as, if liability for your tooth injury is contested, or how much compensation for a broken tooth injury you should receive is disputed, the Injuries Board Ireland has to issue an “Authorisation” before you are allowed to take your claim for a broken tooth injury to court. It is estimated that as many as a third of all broken tooth injury claims are resolved in court, and without the “Authorisation” from the Injuries Board Ireland, you will be unable to proceed with a claim for broken tooth injury compensation if negotiations between your solicitor and the negligent party´s insurers fail to satisfactorily resolve your broken tooth injury claim.
The Injuries Board Ireland declines to disclose exactly how many broken tooth injury claims are settled according to their assessments, but many observers are of the opinion that the resolution of claims for broken tooth injury compensation is equally divided between negotiated settlement, injury board assessment and litigation in court – with up to 90 percent of claims for broken tooth injury compensation submitted to the Injuries Board Ireland having been prepared by an experienced personal injury solicitor.
Broken Tooth Injury Claims and Litigation
Inasmuch as the possibility of court action can often dissuade people from making broken tooth injury claims, insurance companies are even less keen of the prospect of litigating a claim for broken tooth injury compensation in court. The costs of litigating broken tooth injury claims in court are substantial and, no matter how justified the insurance company feel they are in denying their client´s liability for your broken tooth injury, the financial risk they are taking (that a court will find in your favour) often prompts an out of court settlement of a broken tooth injury claim without the admission of liability.
This is especially true when litigation is required to resolve a dispute over how much your broken tooth injury compensation claim is worth. Courts tend to look down upon financial disputes of this nature and both parties will be encouraged to negotiate a broken tooth injury compensation settlement before an appearance in court is necessary. Nonetheless, because there is the possibility that your broken tooth injury compensation claim may have to be presented in court, your solicitor will prepare the strongest possible broken tooth injury claim with litigation in mind as soon as he or she has accepted your case.
How Much Are Broken Tooth Injury Claims Worth?
How much compensation for a broken tooth injury you will be entitled to receive will depend on the severity and extent of your injury and subject to the range of broken tooth injury compensation values published in the Book of Quantum. Your age, gender and general physical condition prior to the accident in which your tooth was broken will also be taken into account, along with the impact that your tooth injury has on your quality of life and your lack of ability to complete day-to-day tasks without assistance. Due to the fact that – as you recover from your tooth injury – many of the limitations you had to put up with will be forgotten, it is recommended that you maintain a diary to record the times when your broken tooth injury prevents you from enjoying a full social life or participating in leisure pursuits.
Broken tooth injury claims also enable you to recover any financial costs you may have incurred which are directly attributable to your broken tooth. These can range from the cost of medical treatment and medication to the expense of using public transport should your broken tooth injury prevent you from driving. Broken tooth injury special damages – as they are known – also ensure that any income you have lost from being unable to work is replaced and, when your broken tooth injury claim is ultimately resolved, you should be no worse off financially than if your broken tooth accident had never happened.
Third Party Capture and Broken Tooth Injury Claims
Although it would be impossible for a solicitor to tell you how much compensation for a broken tooth injury you would be entitled to receive on an initial consultation, it is important that you are aware at an early stage how much your broken tooth injury claim is worth. This is because you may be approached directly by the negligent party´s insurers when a Letter of Claim is received with an offer of compensation in settlement of your broken tooth injury claim.
An insurance company´s approach with an offer of compensation for your broken tooth injury claim is not necessarily a bad event, as it confirms their client´s liability for your broken tooth injury. However, without a full assessment of your broken tooth injury compensation claim, it is unlikely that the insurance company´s offer is appropriate to your entitlement to broken tooth injury compensation and, should it prove to be inadequate to cover your medical costs and loss of income, you cannot go back to the insurance company and ask for more compensation for a broken tooth injury.
Broken Tooth Injury Claims for Children
If your child has broken their tooth in an accident for which they were not to blame, they can only claim broken tooth injury compensation through a parent or guardian acting as their “next friend”. A “next friend” has to be approved by court and be prepared to accept the financial consequences of making a claim for broken tooth injury compensation should the claim be unsuccessful. You will therefore need a solicitor to assist with the process of making broken tooth injury claims for children when you first start your claim.
Furthermore, any settlements of broken tooth injury claims for children – irrespective of whether the broken tooth injury compensation has been agreed by negotiation, assessed by the Injuries Board Ireland or awarded in court – have to be approved by a judge before payment of broken tooth injury compensation can be made. Compensation settlements for children´s broken tooth injury claims are usually held by the court until the child reached the age of eighteen, but can be released on application to the court if some of the broken tooth injury compensation is required for educational or medical purposes.
Broken Tooth Injury Claims Summary
Irrespective of whether the accident which caused your broken tooth injury happened recently or up to two years ago, you should always engage the services of a solicitor at the earliest possible opportunity to advise you about your entitlement to broken tooth injury compensation and to assist you at the start of the broken tooth injury claims process. At a time when you may be feeling both physically and emotionally traumatised, a claim for broken tooth injury compensation can be taken out of your hands and dealt with professionally – allowing you to focus on making a quicker recovery from your broken tooth injury.
