Dermatitis And Personal Injury

Dermatitis is a fairly common skin condition that can occur in many different forms. In the simplest terms, it is a general term for skin inflammation. If you are suffering from dermatitis, your skin will typically look dry and red. You could make a claim for dermatitis injury compensation if your condition have been caused by someone else’s negligence.

The causes of dermatitis can vary widely depending upon the type of dermatitis that you have contracted. Some forms can have unknown causes, such as dyshidrotic eczema, but others occur when you come into contact with a material that irritates the skin. If you have contracted dermatitis after being exposed to a harmful material in the workplace, or in a public or clinical setting, you may be able to claim dermatitis injury compensation.

To assess your claim, contact us on 0333 358 2345 or online.

Dermatitis Symptoms

The symptoms of your dermatitis can vary greatly depending upon the severity of your condition. Not everyone with dermatitis will experience all the same symptoms. However, some of the more common and general symptoms include:

• Blisters.
• Rashes.
• Redness to the skin.
• Dry and cracked skin.
• Itchy skin.
• Painful skin, with a slight sting or burning feeling.
• Swelling.

As stated, there are many different types of dermatitis. Some of the most common types include atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema, and dyshidrotic dermatitis – which mostly occurs on the feet and the hands.

However, there is only one type of dermatitis that can form the basis of a personal injury claim. Contact dermatitis is caused by a substance touching the skin and causing irritation or an allergic reaction in severe cases. This can cause:

• Burns.
• Blisters.
• Rashes.
• Redness.
• Itchiness.
• Dry and cracked skin.

You could potentially claim against a business owner, your employer or a medical office if you suffer from contact dermatitis. You should speak to a personal injury solicitor directly if you want to make a claim for dermatitis injury compensation.

Responsibility

All businesses have a responsibility to their staff and customers to ensure their safety while they are on their premises. For example, if you suffer from allergies and you inform a restaurant of your condition, they should ensure that you do not consume or come into contact with anything that could trigger an allergic reaction.

If the restaurant cannot safely ensure this, they should inform you that it would be within your best interests to not eat at their restaurant or to only choose a certain, carefully selected meal. You could suffer from contact dermatitis if you come into contact with a food item that you are allergic too. This could form the basis of a personal injury claim.

Similarly, if you work with hazardous chemicals in your job, you should be given proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and training in order to know how to safely deal with these materials. If you are not given proper PPE or training for your job and you develop contact dermatitis as a result, you could be able to claim compensation.

A similar responsibility is given to health clinicians and practitioners. They should not allow you to come into contact with any materials that could cause you to suffer from contact dermatitis. To find out whether you can claim dermatitis injury compensation, speak to a personal injury solicitor directly.

Some of the materials that commonly cause allergic reactions and contact dermatitis include:

• Food types that you specifically are allergic to.
• Detergents.
• Nickel.
• Cosmetics.
• Poison ivy.
• Oak.

If your employer, a health provider or a business such as a restaurant has failed to keep you safe, you could be able to claim compensation. To find out how much compensation you can claim, speak to First Personal Injury directly.

As stated, you cannot claim for dermatitis that has been caused by more natural causes such as hormonal changes within your body. You can only cause for dermatitis that has clearly been caused by someone else’s negligent behaviour or carelessness.

It is important to note that contact or allergic dermatitis usually appears within a very short period of coming into contact with the harmful substance that has induced the condition. The chemicals that cause these types of dermatitis can often be found within cleaning products. Therefore, even if you have been working at a specific company for years, a slight change to their cleaning or sanitising routine could cause dermatitis to flare up when you have never had an issue with it before. If you have experienced contact or allergic dermatitis that you believe was caused by conditions in the workplace, it may be worth speaking to your employer to try and determine if any different cleaning products are being used to normal.

Stress-induced Dermatitis

While this is not a very common claim type in comparison to contact dermatitis, you could potentially claim for stress-induced dermatitis. For example, if your job is causing you mental strife and you have informed your employer of this and they have failed to address your concerns, causing you to then develop dermatitis, you could claim.

To find out whether your case is valid enough to pursue a personal injury claim for dermatitis, speak to First Personal Injury directly.

Amount Of Time To Claim

You have three-years to make a dermatitis personal injury claim from the date that you realised you had symptoms. It is important that you do not delay once you realise that you have symptoms of dermatitis. If it has been more than three-years since you realised you had symptoms, First Personal Injury may still be able to help you if you work for the same company who you believe are at fault for causing your illness or if you left that company less than three-years ago. To find out whether you can make a personal injury claim, you need to speak to a personal injury solicitor directly.

 Dermatitis Injury Compensation Amounts

The amount of compensation that you are awarded is unique to each personal injury case because every personal injury case is unique. The amount of compensation that you are awarded will be determined by two categories: general damages and special damages.

General Damages

General damages refers to the physical and emotional damage caused by your injuries. In the simplest terms, it refers to compensation for pain and suffering. This type of compensation also covers any losses of amenity, aka a decrease in ability to function, that has arisen from the injuries sustained in an accident. Compensation will be awarded based upon the severity of these factors, understanding that the higher the severity of the injuries, the worse the pain/suffering and impact upon your life. To view estimates for personal injury types, visit our compensation calculator.

An example of a compensation estimate is £3,0101 – £46,780 for an elbow injury. You could be awarded anywhere between £22,340 – £82,080 for a severe knee injury. As you can see, compensation amounts can vary wildly for the same type of injury. Therefore, the best way to determine how much compensation you are likely to be awarded is to speak to a personal injury solicitor directly.

Special Damages

Special damages compensation refers to compensation that covers the financial losses and expenses incurred as a result of an accident or medical negligence. Special damages could help to reclaim a loss of income if you have been unable to work due to your injuries. Similarly, if you have had to pay to go a medical appointment or if you had to pay to travel to a medical appointment, you could be able to claim these medical costs back.

You should keep detailed records of any receipts or other documents which help to outline any relevant financial losses relating to your injuries. These can later be used during your personal injury case to try and determine how much dermatitis compensation you are owed. Once again, you should speak to a personal injury solicitor directly to understand how much compensation you are likely to be owed.

Making Personal Injury Claims

If you have suffered a personal injury, you may be entitled to receive compensation. First Personal Injury is available to assist you and ensure that you win the compensation that you deserve.

Contact our specialist team to begin the process, either by phone on 0333 358 2345 or through our online form.