Face Injury Claims
Facial Injury Compensation Claims
Making a facial injury claim can help you recover financially and emotionally after a serious accident. Speak to Osbornes Law for expert advice.
Call 020 7485 8811 today.
“Osbornes fields a specialist personal injury team with standout expertise in catastrophic trauma, regularly securing multimillion-pound settlements in spinal, brain, and amputation cases. “
“Osbornes is a well-regarded personal injury practice well equipped to advise on high-value and high-profile claims.”
Facial injuries are some of the most personally distressing personal injuries we handle. Beyond the immediate pain and loss of function, permanent scarring or disfigurement affects confidence, mental health, work and social life for years. Awards for facial injury reflect that broader impact, not just the physical damage.
If your facial injury was caused by someone else, you may be entitled to compensation. Our personal injury solicitors handle facial injury claims on a no win, no fee basis and routinely instruct reconstructive and maxillofacial specialists to evidence the full long-term consequences.
Table of Contents
Common facial injury patterns we handle
Facial injury claims tend to involve one or more of the following, often in combination:
Facial fractures. The nose is the most commonly broken facial bone, but the more clinically significant injuries are to the cheekbone (zygoma), eye socket (orbit), upper jaw (maxilla) and lower jaw (mandible). Multiple-bone (Le Fort) fractures are typical in high-energy road traffic accidents and falls. Many facial fractures require open surgical fixation under a maxillofacial team and can leave permanent asymmetry, dental problems and altered facial sensation.
Facial scarring and disfigurement. Caused by cuts, burns, dog bites, surgical repair and degloving injuries. The Judicial College Guidelines specifically recognise the psychological impact of facial scarring, and severe scarring with a severe psychological reaction sits at the top of the facial-injury bracket.
Dental injuries. Lost or fractured teeth, root damage, jaw misalignment and the need for implants, bridges or extensive restorative dental work. Treatment is often staged over years.
Eye and vision damage. Where a facial injury affects the eye itself, the claim may also fall under our eye injury claims work. Vision loss linked to facial trauma is valued at a significantly higher level than orbital fracture alone.
Soft-tissue lacerations and contusions. Cuts that heal with cosmetic scarring, bruising, and damage to facial nerves (facial palsy is a recognised complication that can leave permanent loss of expression on one side of the face).
How facial injuries usually happen
- Road traffic accidents. The single biggest cause of significant facial injury claims, particularly where airbags don’t deploy or where pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists make face-first contact.
- Assaults and criminal injuries. Punches, kicks and weapon attacks are a recognised pattern. Claims can be pursued through a civil action or via the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
- Accidents at work. Falls onto hard surfaces, impacts from machinery, chemical splash incidents and workplace accidents where face protection should have been provided.
- Dog bites. Particularly when the bite is to the face of a child. Most pursued under the Animals Act 1971 against the owner.
- Sports and falls. Rugby tackles, cycling crashes, skiing and falls down stairs are common causes of facial fracture and dental injury.
- Clinical and cosmetic negligence. Botched cosmetic surgery, dermal-filler complications, dental-implant errors and surgical mishaps can give rise to a clinical negligence claim.
Do you have a facial injury claim?
You can usually claim if:
- Someone owed you a duty of care and breached it (another road user, employer, occupier, attacker, dog owner or healthcare provider)
- Their breach caused your facial injury
- The accident happened in the last three years (or the date you became aware your injury was caused by negligence)
If you were partly to blame you may still claim under contributory negligence. Children have until their 21st birthday. For criminal-injury claims pursued through CICA the time limit is two years from the date of the incident, not three.
Facial injury compensation: how it is valued
Your claim has two parts. General damages compensate for pain, suffering, scarring and the psychological impact. Special damages cover financial losses including reconstructive surgery (often staged over years), dental work and implants, psychological therapy, lost earnings, and the cost of camouflage cosmetics or scar-revision procedures.
The Judicial College Guidelines (17th edition, April 2024) place facial injuries in these bands:
- Multiple fractures involving permanent facial deformity: £18,180 to £29,220
- Frontal facial fractures (a single facial bone with continuing symptoms): £29,060 to £44,840
- Cheekbone (zygomatic) serious fracture: £12,450 to £19,260
- Cheekbone simple fracture with surgical reduction: £5,310 to £7,880
- Cheekbone simple fracture, no surgery: £2,830 to £3,650
- Minor facial scars: £2,080 to £4,310
- Moderate facial scars (less significant scarring or single scar with mitigated effect): £4,820 to £16,770
- Significant facial scarring (visible scarring, some psychological impact): £11,120 to £36,720
- Less severe facial scarring (substantial disfigurement with significant psychological reaction): £21,920 to £59,090
- Very severe facial scarring (cosmetic effect very disfiguring with severe psychological reaction): £36,340 to £118,790
Nasal, jaw and dental injuries are valued under their own sub-brackets within the Guidelines. Current 18th edition figures (April 2026) are approximately 8% higher and your final valuation will reflect inflation to the date of assessment. The psychological injury aspect is often the largest single component of a severe facial-injury award and is assessed separately by a consultant psychiatrist.
Real-life client story
A cyclist suffered significant facial injuries and impaired vision after being hit by a car turning onto a main road. The driver’s insurer initially refused liability. Laura Swaine at Osbornes arranged specialist medical assessments and began court proceedings. The driver eventually admitted fault and the cyclist received the compensation they deserved. Read the full case study.
Three-year time limit explained
There is a three-year time limit on civil facial-injury claims, running from the date of the accident or the date you first knew your injury was caused by negligence. The date-of-knowledge rule matters most in cosmetic and dental negligence cases where the link between treatment and harm only becomes clear after a second opinion. Children have until their 21st birthday. CICA criminal-injury claims have a separate two-year limit.
Our facial injury team
Facial injuries demand a team that understands the medical evidence (maxillofacial surgery, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, restorative dentistry) and the psychological evidence (the long-term mental health impact of permanent visible injury). Our personal injury solicitors have over 50 years of experience handling facial injury claims, from straightforward nose fractures through to catastrophic facial reconstruction cases. Most cases are handled on a no win, no fee basis.
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Rob Aylott is adept at handling sensitive and complex catastrophic injury claims.
Sam Collard, head of cycling, specialises in severe injury and fatal accident cases.
Rob Aylott leads on amputation disputes, often working with major trauma units.
Department head Sophie Davies handles severe injury and fatality matters with a focus on early rehabilitation.
Osbornes fields a specialist personal injury team with standout expertise in catastrophic trauma, regularly securing multimillion-pound settlements in spinal, brain, and amputation cases.
Excellent firm with a good insight into and prosecution of catastrophic PI work handled by an experienced team.
Osbornes fields a solid team of high quality practitioners, active in a range of catastrophic injury claims.
Osbornes prepares cases well; the whole team is good and lawyers there know their stuff.
They deal with people compassionately and take on the right amount of detail. The firm has some really brilliant key solicitors.
The personal injury team is responsive and its level of service towards clients and other professionals is exceptional and high quality
The team offers specialist expertise in cycling-related injury claims and regularly acts for foreign nationals.
It has considerable experience in cases arising from motor accidents and accidents at work
Osbornes is a well-regarded personal injury practice well equipped to advise on high-value and high-profile claims.
Their team includes bright, hard-working solicitors dedicated to achieving successful outcomes for their clients from partner level to paralegal. Their client care is exceptional.
They are a team who are highly respected in the PI sector.
This is an excellent PI team doing a broad range of PI work.
Osbornes’ ‘highly respected‘ personal injury team is experienced in a range of complex, high-value claims, with notable strength in acting for European clients for whom English is not a first language.
Osbornes’ ‘highly respected‘ personal injury team is experienced in a range of complex, high-value claims
Osbornes’ ‘highly respected‘ personal injury team is experienced in a range of complex, high-value claims.
"Osbornes always provides work of excellent quality and the advice is sound."
"The firm has the ability to handle the most sophisticated and complex matters."
"Osbornes is always client-focused and works tirelessly to obtain the best outcomes."
'The team deals with multi-million pound, often multifaceted claims, involving such factors as severe brain, psychiatric, gynaecological and spinal injury, major trauma, amputation and fatality.'
"They are a boutique firm with highly experienced partners who are well-respected in the industry."
"The team at Osbornes deals with catastrophic injury claims with the same professionalism as the largest firms, but provides a much more client-focused experience."
"A really first-rate team, well capable of dealing with the most serious and complex injuries."
"This team has carved out an exceptional reputation in catastrophic injury work."
"Osbornes has impressed me with their personal touch for clients whilst offering a first-class handling of catastrophic injury claims. The partners all have vast experience and are highly respected in their field."
"This is a really excellent personal injury team that can be regarded as one of the major players in the London claimant personal injury market."
"Osbornes have managed to recruit a team of outstanding catastrophic injury lawyers who are at the top of the game."
"They punch well above their weight. The quality of service they provide equals that of any of the larger top-name firms in this area"
Ben Posford is fiercely bright, with an unrivalled passion for his clients’ cases. His encyclopaedic knowledge of all things PI is second to none. His foresight and commercial nous have propelled Osbornes into the highest echelons of the market where they rightly belong.
The firm has an excellent and innovative line in cases involving non-English speaking claimants, managed by recruiting paralegals with multi-language skills – an impressive route for expansion of the caseload.
Great expanding team with expertise and respect in the sector. Led by a commercially savvy and business minded team.
A really excellent group of PI solicitors, notable for their individual quality.’
A niche firm that punches well above its weight in the catastrophic injury sector, borne out by the quality of work they obtain.
This combination of experience and diligence reaps massive rewards for clients, Osbornes being well known in the industry as a fantastic firm.
The Osbornes personal injury team now comprises some of the most technically adept and hard hitting lawyers in the business.
Ben Posford is one of London’s best catastrophic injury lawyers, in my view. He is a real brain injury specialist.
Excellent coverage of personal injury, and traumatic brain injury. There is a real specialism in claimants who do not speak English as a first language.
The group is noted for its expertise in matters relating to cycling injuries, and is the official legal partner of the London Cycling Campaign charity.
To complement its strong reputation for high-value and complex personal injury work, the firm continues to develop its 'excellent and innovative line in cases involving non-English speaking claimants'
"Osbornes comprises some of the most technically adept and hard hitting lawyers in the business"
"A small but high-powered team, dealing with cases of significant value and complexity."
"An excellent firm which achieves fantastic outcomes for clients."
"Osbornes Law have captured the magic of keeping the customer service levels of a smaller firm whilst having all the expertise and power of the biggest firms."
"A superb boutique catastrophic injury firm."
"Really good at dealing with people who have suffered a serious injury."
"Affable and charming with very good client-handling skills."
"superb firm with consummate professionals and a human touch."
Osbornes now has a team of highly experienced personal injury lawyers; particularly strong on high-value quantum cases, workplace accidents and claims involving foreign workers injured in the UK.
The team provides fantastic strength-in-depth for personal injury claims. It is also particularly well placed to service clients from Eastern Europe with specialist native language speakers. From the smallest case to a multimillion-pound spinal injury case, Osbornes has the right staff to manage every claim.
Ben Posford remains pre-eminent in his field with expert understanding of litigating cases of the upmost severity. His experience builds on Stuart Kightley’s running of the firm with recent partner additions of Rob Aylott making a fantastic addition.
A firm going from strength-to strength-which retains its client care whilst being able to offer a full personal injury service.
Beneath Ben Posford’s calm and reassuring presence, which clients love, lies a formidable tactical and legal brain. His experience tells and he gets it right at every stage of the process from arranging the best possible rehabilitation, to ensuring, so far as possible, a polite relationship with those acting for the defendant in order to ensure best and early resolution of the claim.
"Clients say he is very impressive, in terms of both his experience and his management of the personal injury team."
"They have an expanding profile in personal injury and clinical negligence and offer a superb, broad service in accidents abroad, enabled by their recruitment of bilingual legal executives who can guide non-English speakers through complex litigation."
"Solid personal injury practice well equipped to advise on high-value and high-profile claims arising from fatalities and severe head and spinal injuries."
"Offers specialist expertise in cycling-related injury claims."
"Offers specialist expertise in cauda equina syndrome cases."
"An exceptional outfit. They take on difficult cases, fight hard and win."
"Stuart Kightley is an incredibly empathetic solicitor who is very knowledgeable about traumatic brain injury."
"They are an outstanding firm to work with. They are consistently impressive in their work."
"Osbornes often handles claims valued at over £1m, particularly relating to severe brain and spinal cord injuries and niche areas such as cauda equina syndrome and cycling accidents."
"The hard-working, thorough and committed Robert Aylott, who brings significant heavyweight personal injury experience."
"Key team members include the energetic and personable Stuart Kightley who is head of the personal injury department."
"Osbornes has a growing influence and impressive work load and is gaining a reputation for handling complex catastrophic work."
"Catastrophic injury cases head Ben Posford is an excellent practical litigator who offers exceptional service."
"Stuart is also very experienced in advising on fatal accidents and workplace accidents."
Thank you for the hard work and patience and for being so patient with my constant questions.
"I have found Osbornes to be thorough, clear and understanding from the initial call. They do exactly what they say they will and with passion! I would recommend them to anyone".
Very good efficient service. Would not hesitate to use again.
I will use Osbornes for any future needs.
I don't think I could have asked for anything more. One of the best dealings I've had with the legal profession.
Sam was excellent and very professional in dealing with our claim.
Head of the personal injury department, Stuart Kightley is a first-rate practitioner, wholly focused on getting his client the best outcome in a pragmatic, sensible and consensual manner.
As a real specialist in spinal cord injuries, Ben Posford is always looking at new angles on how to maximise his cases.
Ben Posford is one of the best catastrophic injury lawyers around.
They provide exceptional service, great knowledge and understanding of the law, excellent client care and tactical nous
Stuart Kightley is praised for his expertise in catastrophic and fatal claims. Clients say he is very impressive, in terms of both his experience and his management of the personal injury team.
My claim was dealt with efficiently and professionally. Communication was excellent, and timely. Shrewd and sound advice was provided at every stage of the claim from beginning through to completion. On the basis of my personal experience I would strongly recommend Osbornes.
I just wish to thank you for your hard work and successful outcome. I am pleased with the result and would recommend you and your firm to anyone in the future.
Ben Posford … is ‘tactically astute’ and ‘one of the best personal injury solicitors around’.
Ben Posford ‘knows how to maximise the value of the claim for his clients’.
