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. We handle Achilles tendon injury claims on a No Win No Fee basis and will explain your options clearly.
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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 was missed when you first sought help and 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.
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. Guidance in the British Journal of General Practice makes clear that someone with a complete rupture can still walk, can still move the ankle up and down, and may even get up on tiptoes with both feet together, though not on the injured leg alone.
That means the injury can be mistaken for a strain or sprain and treatment delayed. If a neglected rupture heals at an elongated length, it can lead to long-term weakness. The Simmonds calf squeeze test can help identify an acute rupture, and an important question in missed-diagnosis cases is whether an appropriate examination was carried out.
of Achilles tendon ruptures can be missed by non-specialists, or about one in five
A missed rupture is not always negligent. But if the assessment fell below an appropriate standard of care and the delay worsened your outcome, you may be able to claim compensation.
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. The question is usually whether the task was assessed and whether anyone was given the equipment to do it safely.
Slips, trips and bad surfaces
Wet floors with no sign, worn nosings on stairs, a pothole or a raised paving slab. The tendon goes as the foot is forced up while the leg drives forward, which is exactly what an unexpected drop or a sudden slide does.
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.
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.
Tendon damage after antibiotics
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics carry a recognised risk of tendon damage and rupture. The MHRA says systemic fluoroquinolones should only be used when other recommended antibiotics are inappropriate, with special caution in people over 60 and avoidance of concurrent corticosteroid use.
Tendinopathy that built up
Pain and thickening that came on slowly through standing, walking or climbing all day in unsuitable footwear. Harder to prove than a rupture, and still worth asking about where the working conditions were the real driver.
Nine weeks in a boot, and that is if it goes well
An Achilles rupture is not a few weeks off. Treated without surgery, the boot stays on day and night for around nine weeks, coming off somewhere between weeks nine and eleven, and the tendon can rupture again during the six weeks after that.
That is why the time off work is often the biggest single element of an Achilles claim, ahead of the injury itself. A desk job might restart at around eight weeks. A job on your feet is a different conversation, and so is a manual car you are not supposed to drive for at least nine weeks.
- 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
- The injury itself, and any lasting weakness, limp or loss of confidence on your feet
- Physiotherapy, boots, crutches, surgery and the appointments that go with them
- Earnings lost while you were off, and where a job on your feet is no longer possible
- Help at home, travel to hospital, and childcare while you could not weight bear
How Achilles tendon injury compensation is worked out
Two tendons that both ruptured can be worth very different amounts, because what matters is where you end up rather than what tore. Whether you regained full push-off strength, whether the tendon healed at the right length, and whether you can go back to the job and the sport you had are what a medical expert is asked to report on.
For that reason these claims are usually valued once your recovery is clear, not at the first phone call. Where a rupture was missed and healed long, the question is narrower and harder: what your outcome would have been if it had been picked up when you first asked for help.
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 when you first sought help, the claim can be about the delay rather than about how it happened.
My rupture was missed and sent home as a sprain. Is that negligence?
Not automatically. Ruptures are missed often enough that a mistake on its own does not decide it, and about one in five are missed by non-specialists. What matters is whether a reasonable clinician would have examined you differently, in particular whether the calf squeeze test was done and recorded, and whether the delay actually changed your outcome. Both questions are answered by an independent expert reading your notes, which is work we arrange.
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 should only be used when other recommended antibiotics are inappropriate. Risk is higher in people over 60, those with renal impairment or organ transplants, and people taking corticosteroids. Tendon damage can occur within 48 hours or several months after treatment.
Do I need to have had surgery to claim?
No. Surgery is not required for an Achilles tendon injury claim. In one UK study, 97.1% of acute ruptures were managed without surgery, usually with immobilisation and a boot. A claim depends on how the injury happened, whether someone breached a duty of care, and the harm and financial losses caused. Tendinopathy and partial tears may also support a claim where negligence at work or on someone else’s premises caused the injury.
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.
- Free, no-obligation review
- No Win No Fee available
- SRA-regulated solicitors
Check if you can make a claim
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Not sure if you have a claim?
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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