Office accident injury claims, Scotland

You have three years. The time limit comes from the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, not the English Limitation Act 1980, whatever you may have read elsewhere. The three years usually run from the date the accident occurred.

Where an injury developed over time, they run from the date you first knew, or could reasonably have known, that your injury was linked to your work. That matters for repetitive strain, musculoskeletal conditions and industrial disease, where people make the connection years after the symptoms start.

Different rules apply to under 16s, to those who lack capacity to raise a claim, and to fatal cases. If you are unsure whether your window has closed, ask rather than assume.

Waiting costs you even inside the three years. CCTV is often overwritten within 30 days, employer records get archived, and witness recollections fade. The sooner you call, the more options you have.

Get medical attention first, even for an injury that seems minor, because symptoms often develop over the next few days. Then make sure the accident is reported and recorded, and write down what happened while it is fresh. Notes made at the time are among the strongest evidence in any injury claim.

The accident book entry, photographs of the hazard and your injury before anything is tidied away, witness contact details, your medical records, payslips and receipts, and a short diary of how the injury affects your day. If you have none of it, the claim is still worth assessing, because most evidence is obtained from the employer after the claim is intimated.

A missing entry does not end your claim. Emails, messages, an occupational health referral, a colleague's recollection or your GP notes can all establish that the accident happened when you say it did. If an entry exists but is wrong, tell us, because a dispute over what was written is often revealing in itself.

Ask in writing as soon as you can, because footage is routinely overwritten within about 30 days. You are entitled to request footage of yourself. We can make the request formally on your behalf, but speed matters more than who sends it.

Insurers frequently deny liability before they have seen the evidence, then withdraw once risk assessments, training records and witness statements are produced. Where a denial holds, raising court proceedings may be needed to force the issue, though most contested claims still settle before anyone gives evidence.

It takes under an hour and is arranged locally. The expert is independent, instructed to assess your injury rather than treat it, and does not act for your employer. They will ask about the accident, your symptoms and how the injury affects your daily life, and you will see the report and can correct factual errors before it is used.

Employers' liability insurance is compulsory, so an insurer meets your claim rather than your employer. Dismissing you for asserting a legal right is unlawful, and most claims resolve without working relationships changing. If you are treated unfairly after claiming, tell us, because that is a separate legal issue we can advise on.

No. Your claim is against your employer, not the person who left the box in the walkway, and the insurer pays. This misunderstanding keeps more people from claiming than the cost ever does.

That depends on your contract. Some employers pay full company sick pay for a period, others pay only Statutory Sick Pay, which is well below most salaries. Any shortfall between your normal earnings and what you received forms part of your claim as lost income, so keep your payslips.

Leaving is no barrier, provided you are inside the three year time limit, and plenty of people wait until they have moved on. If the business has been dissolved, the historic employers' liability insurer can usually be traced and the claim pursued against them.

We act on a no win no fee basis. There are no upfront costs and nothing to pay if your claim fails. If it succeeds, a success fee comes out of your compensation, capped by law under the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018. Qualified one way costs shifting also protects unsuccessful pursuers from the other side's expenses in most circumstances, which removes nearly all the financial risk of legal action.