Achilles Tendon Injury Claims
Check if you can claim compensation
Whether your tendon went at work, on a badly maintained floor, on a pitch or in a gym, or a rupture was missed when you first sought help, you may be able to claim. Achilles tendon rupture compensation is worked out mostly from how long you were off your feet, which on this injury is measured in months rather than weeks. We handle Achilles tendon injury claims and tendonitis claims on a No Win No Fee basis.
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Can you make an Achilles tendon injury claim?
The usual reason people never ring about an Achilles injury is that it did not feel like an accident. The tendon simply went, on a step, on a pitch, coming down off a ladder, and there seemed to be nobody to blame for it.
That is worth testing rather than assuming. A tendon that gives way under a load it should have coped with often has something behind it: a floor that should not have been wet, a step with no edging or handrail, a task nobody assessed, an antibiotic that should not have been prescribed, or a rupture that went unrecognised at the first appointment and was left to heal long. The injury feels the same in every one of those cases. What decides a claim is the cause, and the cause is not always what it felt like at the time.
The same is true of an achilles tendon claim brought for tendonitis rather than a rupture. A tendonitis injury claim turns on the conditions that produced it, and a tendonitis compensation claim is judged on whether your employer controlled a risk it knew about, not on how dramatic te onset was.
You can walk on a ruptured Achilles tendon, and that is the problem
People expect a snapped tendon to leave them unable to move. It does not. Boyd and colleagues, writing in the British Journal of General Practice in 2015, state that patients with a rupture of the Achilles tendon can still walk, can still actively move the ankle up and down, and may even manage to stand on tiptoes on both feet together, though not on the injured limb alone. That is why the injury gets mistaken for a strain or a sprain and treatment gets delayed.
The same paper gives the test that should have been done. Simmonds’ calf squeeze test, it says, should be understood and remembered by all medical and physiotherapy practitioners. It advises that the result is documented in longhand, and it warns that a neglected tendon rupture will heal, albeit at an elongated length, giving rise to long-term weakness.
An achilles tendon misdiagnosis claim has to clear two separate hurdles, and the paper above only settles the first.
Breach: would a reasonable clinician have carried out the calf squeeze test and recorded what it showed?
Causation: did the delay actually change your outcome, or would the tendon have ended up the same way regardless?
A missed rupture is not negligent on its own, because competent clinicians miss them. Achilles tendon negligence is established only where both questions are answered against the clinician, and both are answered by an independent expert reading your notes rather than by us.
Achilles injuries we handle claims for
From a tendon that went in a second to one that was worn down, or damaged by treatment.
Ruptures at work
Stepping down from a vehicle or a platform, taking a load that should have been shared, missing a step in poor light. Regulation 4 of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 requires an employer to avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable, and to assess what it cannot avoid. Searches for achilles tendon workers compensation land here: in the UK that is an accident at work claim
Slips, trips and bad surfaces
Wet floors with no sign, worn nosings on stairs, a pothole or a raised paving slab. An occupier owes the common duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, and regulation 12 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires floors to be kept free of anything likely to cause a slip. The tendon goes as the foot is forced up while the leg drives forward.
Missed or delayed diagnosis
A rupture sent home as a sprain because nobody squeezed the calf, or an ultrasound that was never arranged. Left unrecognised, the tendon ends draw apart and heal at an elongated length, and the weak push-off that follows can be permanent. A claim for delayed diagnosis of tendon rupture is brought against the trust through NHS Resolution, not against the clinician.
Sport, gym and coaching
Most sporting ruptures are nobody’s fault and are not claims. Some are: a surface that was unfit to play on, equipment that failed, or being pushed back into training before anyone had cleared you to go. The test is whether something went wrong that should not have gone wrong, rather than whether the sport itself carried an obvious risk of injury.
Tendon damage after antibiotics
Ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and the other fluoroquinolones are recognised as capable of damaging or rupturing a tendon. In January 2024 the MHRA said these drugs must be reserved for infections where the usual alternatives will not do, with special caution for anyone older than 60, for renal impairment and for a solid organ transplant, and with no corticosteroid taken alongside them. The risk is not confined to the Achilles.
Achilles tendonitis and tendinopathy that built up
Pain and thickening that came on slowly through standing, walking or climbing all day in unsuitable footwear. Tendonitis and tendinopathy are the same complaint under two names, the second being the term clinicians now prefer. A tendonitis compensation claim is harder to prove than a rupture and worth asking about where the working conditions were the real driver. Tendonitis work no win no fee funding is no different.
Nine weeks in a boot, and that is if it goes well
An Achilles rupture is not a few weeks off, and that is the single most important fact about what these claims are worth. Compensation for achilles tendon rupture is made of two parts: general damages for the injury, and special damages for what the injury cost you. On this injury the second part is usually the larger one, because the recovery is counted in months.
The published protocol tells you why. Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust’s conservative management leaflet sets out roughly nine weeks of treatment, up to two weeks in a plaster cast and the rest in a specialist boot, with the boot coming off between weeks nine and eleven and a flat shoe with a single heel raise for two to four weeks after that.
It advises that office work is more sensibly resumed at around eight weeks when the boot comes off, that a physically demanding job may take twelve to sixteen weeks, that you should not drive a manual car for at least nine weeks, and that return to sport takes between four and twelve months depending on the sport. It also warns that in the first six weeks after the boot is removed the tendon can rupture again.
- Around nine weeks of treatment in a cast followed by a boot, with the boot removed at around nine to eleven weeks
- Office work may be possible earlier, but return at around eight weeks is advised; physically demanding work may take twelve to sixteen weeks
- No driving a manual car for at least nine weeks
- Return to sport between four and twelve months, depending on the sport and recovery
How Achilles tendon injury compensation is worked out
Two tendons that both ruptured can be worth very different amounts, because the injury is only half of the claim and the other half is your job, your treatment and how far back you get. Achilles tendon compensation claims are therefore valued once your recovery is clear, not at the first phone call. That is equally true of achilles tendon rupture compensation claims, of tendon rupture compensation claims on any other tendon, and of achilles tendon payouts quoted to you by anybody before an expert has examined you.
One point specific to work claims. Since 1 October 2013, section 69 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 has meant that a breach of health and safety regulations is no longer actionable in itself.
The claim is brought in negligence, with the regulations standing as evidence of the standard expected. It does not make these claims harder to win, but it changes how they are argued, and it is why the regulations named further up this page are a starting point rather than the whole answer.
Torn tendon claims beyond the Achilles
The Achilles is the tendon people name, but the law is the same for the rest. A torn tendon claim for a hand, wrist, shoulder, knee or biceps tendon is brought on the same duties and valued the same way. Tendon injury compensation and tendon damage compensation are worked out from the medical evidence and your losses, exactly as above, and tendon damage negligence claims where a tear was missed or a repair was delayed follow the misdiagnosis route rather than the accident route.
If your tendon injury compensation claim is not an Achilles one, tell us which tendon and we will take it from there.
Evidence in an Achilles tendon injury claim
A great deal turns on the first set of notes. What was examined, what was found and what was written down in that first appointment often settles both what happened and who is answerable for it.
Told it was just a sprain? Say so when you call. A rupture sent home as a soft tissue injury is one of the more common patterns we see, and the records from that appointment matter more than anything you can gather now.
No Win No Fee Achilles tendon claims
Starting costs nothing, and if the claim does not succeed you will not pay for our work, subject to the terms of your agreement. If it succeeds, a success fee agreed with you at the outset comes out of the compensation.
Who actually pays depends on where it happened. An accident at work is met by the employer’s insurers, a fall in a shop or a car park by the occupier’s, and a missed diagnosis in an NHS hospital is handled by NHS Resolution rather than by the staff involved.
You will see the full terms in writing before anything is signed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know before starting your claim.
My Achilles just went. Can that really be a claim?
Sometimes, and the only way to know is to look at what you were doing and where. A tendon that goes on a wet floor with no warning sign, on a broken step, under a load nobody assessed, or while doing a job in unsuitable footwear is a different situation from one that goes on a five a side pitch. There is also a second route people forget: if the rupture was missed the first time you were seen, the claim can be about the delay rather than about how it happened.
How much compensation for an achilles tendon injury?
It is the two halves added together: the injury, valued on the medical report once your recovery is clear, and your losses, proved with documents. On this injury the losses half is usually the bigger of the two, because the published recovery protocol runs to nine weeks in a boot and twelve to sixteen weeks before physically demanding work. Ask us and we will work out what your own job stands to lose over that period rather than quoting you a band.
My rupture was missed and sent home as a sprain. Is that negligence?
Not automatically. What matters is whether a reasonable clinician would have examined you differently, in particular whether Simmonds’ calf squeeze test was done and recorded, and whether the delay actually changed your outcome. An achilles tendon rupture misdiagnosis claim, and equally a tendon damage misdiagnosis claim on any other tendon, is decided by an independent expert who reads your notes, which is work we arrange.
Can I claim compensation for tendonitis?
Yes, where something somebody else controlled caused it. Tendonitis compensation claims usually come out of work: hours spent standing or climbing, unsuitable footwear an employer supplied or required, or a task that was never assessed. Tendonitis negligence claims are also brought where the condition was misdiagnosed or mismanaged. A tendonitis misdiagnosis claim runs the same two routes as a rupture, and tendonitis injury claim funding is No Win No Fee like any other.
Can I claim if it happened playing sport?
Most sporting ruptures are not claims. Taking part means accepting the ordinary risks of the game. What is not accepted is a pitch or court left in a state it should not have been in, equipment that failed, a coach pushing someone back before they were cleared, or a facility that ignored a hazard it knew about. If any of that sounds like your situation, it is worth a conversation.
Can antibiotics cause an Achilles tendon rupture?
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics, including ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, carry a recognised risk of tendon damage and rupture. Since January 2024 the MHRA says they must only be used when other antibiotics commonly recommended for the infection are inappropriate. Risk is higher in people older than 60 and in those with renal impairment or solid organ transplants, and coadministration with a corticosteroid is to be avoided. Tendon damage can occur within 48 hours of starting treatment or become apparent months after stopping.
Do I need to have had surgery to claim?
No. In a UK emergency department study of 361 acute Achilles ruptures between March 2015 and June 2021, 97.1 per cent were managed without surgery, usually with immobilisation and a boot. A claim depends on how the injury happened, whether somebody breached a duty of care, and the harm and losses that followed. Tendinopathy and partial tears can support a claim on the same basis.
How long do I have to bring an Achilles tendon claim?
Three years, under section 11 of the Limitation Act 1980. For a missed diagnosis those three years can run from the date you knew the delay had harmed you rather than from the first appointment. A child has until their twenty-first birthday under section 28, and different rules again apply to somebody who lacks capacity.
Is an achilles tendon injury claim the same as a medical negligence claim?
It depends which route you are on. Where the tendon went because of an unsafe floor, an unassessed task or defective equipment, it is a personal injury claim against an employer or an occupier. Where a rupture was missed, achilles tendon medical negligence is claimed against the trust through NHS Resolution. Achilles tendon negligence compensation and achilles tendon clinical negligence are the same claim under two phrasings, and some people have both routes open at once.
What is this claim called?
People search for it a dozen ways and they all reach the same file. An achilles tendon rupture compensation claim, an achilles tendon injury compensation claim, an achilles tendon claim, achilles tendon settlements, tendon injury compensation claims and a delayed diagnosis of tendon injury claim are the same work. You do not need the right words to make the call.
Check if you can make a claim
Tell us where you were and what happened to the tendon. You do not need a diagnosis, a scan result or any paperwork to get started, and there is no obligation to go ahead.
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Most people who ring us about an Achilles injury start by apologising for wasting our time. Tell us where you were, how it went and what you were told afterwards, and we will give you an honest answer, free and with no obligation.
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