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Case Study • Farm Accident • Facial Injury • Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland £65,000 secured for a woman injured helping out on the family farm Campbell & Haughey Solicitors acted for Aoife K., an alias used in place of our…
Campbell & Haughey Solicitors acted for Aoife K., an alias used in place of our client’s real name to protect her privacy. Our client was giving her father a hand on the family farm, holding a trailer door closed while he replaced a hinge. When he struck the hinge with a hammer, the spring in the latch recoiled and hit her in the face. She suffered a broken nose, facial bruising and lasting scarring. Liability was accepted, and the claim was resolved by negotiation for £65,000 without any need for court proceedings. The case is a useful illustration of two things: how quickly an ordinary job on a farm can go wrong, and how a facial injury is valued across several different medical disciplines rather than one.
Solicitor with conduct: [To be confirmed]
Our client was helping her father with a repair on the family farm. A trailer door needed a new hinge fitted, and she was holding the door closed to keep it steady while he worked on it. As he struck the hinge with a hammer, the spring in the door latch recoiled under tension and struck her in the face.
She sustained a broken nose and extensive facial bruising. What might have looked at first like an unlucky knock turned out to have three separate consequences: damage affecting her airways, a visible cosmetic deformity with scarring, and a psychological reaction to both the incident itself and to her changed appearance.
Liability was accepted and was not contested at any stage. That meant the claim could move directly to the question that actually mattered for our client, which was the true extent of her injuries and their effect on her, rather than being held up by an argument about fault.
Claims of this kind are frequently the hardest for people to bring themselves to make, because the person who caused the accident is a family member. It is worth being clear about how this works in practice. Compensation in these cases is met by insurers, not out of a relative’s own pocket. Farms carry liability insurance precisely so that somebody injured on the premises can be compensated, and making a claim does not mean taking action against a parent personally. In our experience it is the single most common reason people delay taking advice about a farm injury, and it is based on a misunderstanding.
A facial injury is rarely a single-discipline case, because the face does several jobs at once. It has a structural and breathing function, an appearance that people are acutely aware of, and a psychological significance that a fractured wrist simply does not carry. Our client’s injuries were assessed accordingly.
Assessment of the damage to her airways following the nasal fracture, addressing breathing, function and any further treatment that might be required.
Assessment of the cosmetic deformity and scarring, the prospects of improvement, and whether any revision procedure would be appropriate in future.
Opinion on the trauma of the incident and on the self-consciousness our client experienced as a result of the visible change to her appearance.
The psychiatric evidence mattered a great deal here, and it is the element most often left out of claims that are handled without proper advice. Compensation for scarring in Northern Ireland is not assessed purely on how a scar looks to a clinician. The Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases in Northern Ireland, known as the “Green Book”, treat the effect of a visible facial injury on the individual as central to its valuation. An injured person who has become self-conscious, who avoids photographs, or who has changed how they present themselves in public, has suffered a real loss, and it needs to be evidenced by somebody qualified to speak to it.
Facial injury sustained on the family farm when a latch spring recoiled during a trailer door repair. Immediate medical attention for a broken nose and facial bruising.
Responsibility for the accident was admitted, allowing the claim to focus on the extent of the injuries rather than on fault.
Reports from a Consultant ENT Surgeon on the airway damage, a Consultant Plastic Surgeon on the cosmetic deformity and scarring, and a Consultant Psychiatrist on the trauma and self-consciousness.
The claim was valued on the full medical picture across all three disciplines, and negotiations opened with the insurer on that basis.
Agreed by negotiation. No writ was issued and our client was never required to attend court.
Liability being accepted does not, by itself, determine what a claim is worth. Four factors drove the figure here.
Airway damage, cosmetic deformity and psychiatric injury were each evidenced by the appropriate consultant rather than being compressed into one general report.
Plastic surgical evidence addressed not just the present appearance but the prospects of improvement and any future treatment.
Self-consciousness following a visible facial injury is a genuine and compensable loss, but only where there is expert evidence to support it.
Resolution came once the full picture was known across all three disciplines, rather than on the basis of an early offer made before the position had settled.
Yes, and it is far more common than people assume. Compensation in these cases is met by insurers rather than by a relative personally, which is precisely why liability insurance exists. Bringing a claim is not the same as taking action against a family member, and in most cases the relative concerned is supportive of the injured person receiving what they are entitled to. This is the most frequent reason we see people delay taking advice after a farm accident.
Possibly. You do not have to be an employee to bring a personal injury claim. Duties are owed to visitors, helpers, contractors and family members who are on the premises, and the correct legal basis of a claim depends on the circumstances of the accident and who was responsible for what. That analysis is part of what a solicitor does at the outset, and it is not something you need to work out for yourself before making contact.
General damages for scarring are assessed by reference to the brackets in the Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases in Northern Ireland, the “Green Book”. The relevant bracket depends on the visibility and permanence of the scarring, whether any further treatment is likely to improve it, and the effect it has had on the individual. That last element is significant. Evidence of psychological impact, including self-consciousness about appearance, forms a genuine part of the valuation and generally needs expert support.
Because a single report cannot competently address unrelated areas of medicine. In this case, the airway damage was a matter for a Consultant ENT Surgeon, the scarring and cosmetic deformity for a Consultant Plastic Surgeon, and the trauma and self-consciousness for a Consultant Psychiatrist. Instructing the right specialists is often what separates a claim valued properly from one settled cheaply.
No. The great majority of personal injury claims in Northern Ireland are resolved by negotiation. In this case liability was accepted, the medical evidence was thorough, and settlement was reached without issuing any proceedings. Our client did not have to attend court at any point.
Yes. Under the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, personal injury proceedings must generally be issued within three years of the date of the accident or the date of knowledge of the injury, whichever is later. Different rules apply to children and to people who lack legal capacity. Early advice is sensible in any event, because evidence on a working farm changes quickly.
Campbell & Haughey Solicitors has been based at 85 William Street, Lurgan since 1978, in the middle of one of Northern Ireland’s most established farming areas, and also practises from offices in Belfast, Ballygawley and Dublin. We act for farming families across Lurgan, Portadown, Craigavon, Armagh, Banbridge and the wider area, both on injury claims and on the wider legal work a farm needs.
Agriculture remains Northern Ireland’s most hazardous industry. The Farm Safety Partnership, which brings together HSENI, DAERA, the Ulster Farmers’ Union, NFU Mutual, the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster and the Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association, identifies four recurring causes of serious farm injury: slurry, animals, falls and equipment. This case fell into the last of those categories, and it happened during an ordinary repair rather than anything that would have looked dangerous at the time.
For the wider legal work we do with farming families, including agricultural conveyancing, conacre and succession planning, see our guide to agricultural law in Lurgan and Co. Armagh.
If you have been injured on a farm, whether you work there, were helping out, or were visiting, it is worth finding out where you stand. That is true even where the accident involved a family member, and particularly where the injury has left any lasting mark. Our initial consultation is free and confidential, and there is no obligation to take matters further.
The client’s name has been changed to “Aoife K.” and identifying details generalised to protect confidentiality. The settlement figure refers to this individual case and is not a prediction of the value of any other claim: the value of a personal injury claim depends on the specific injuries, circumstances and evidence. This case study is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Always take advice from a qualified solicitor about your own circumstances.
