Chronic Pain Claims
Check if you can claim compensation
If lasting pain followed an accident or medical treatment that was not your fault, you may be able to claim for chronic pain on a No Win No Fee basis. We handle these claims across the UK and will explain your options clearly.
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Can you claim for chronic pain?
Yes, where the pain was caused or made worse by someone else’s negligence: a road accident, an unsafe workplace, a fall, or medical treatment that went wrong. Chronic pain means pain that has lasted beyond the expected healing time, usually more than three months, and the law treats it as a real injury even when nothing shows on a scan.
Conditions such as complex regional pain syndrome, fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndrome are recognised in UK courts, and claims for them succeed with the right evidence. Because the injury cannot be photographed, these claims depend on specialist medical opinion and a consistent record of how the pain affects you, and building both is what we do.
When pain outlasts the injury
Most injuries follow a script: they hurt, they heal, the pain stops. Chronic pain breaks that script. A whiplash injury, a crushed hand, a fall or an operation heals on paper, yet the pain continues for months or years, sometimes spreading or intensifying rather than fading.
When the original injury was someone else’s fault, the lasting pain is part of what they are responsible for, not a separate problem you are left to carry. That includes pain conditions triggered by the trauma itself, and pain that poor medical care caused or failed to treat.
adults in England reported chronic pain in the latest Health Survey for England
This includes 13% living with high-impact chronic pain that regularly interferes with life or work. If an accident or negligent medical care caused or worsened your pain, you may be able to claim compensation for its effects and related losses.
Chronic pain conditions you can claim for
Diagnoses vary and often overlap. What matters for the claim is what caused the pain and how it affects you.
Complex regional pain syndrome
CRPS, severe and persistent pain that usually follows an injury to a limb, often out of all proportion to the original damage.
Fibromyalgia after trauma
Widespread pain, fatigue and disturbed sleep that can develop after a physical trauma such as a road accident.
Chronic pain syndrome
Pain that persists long after the injury has healed, often alongside low mood, poor sleep and reduced activity.
Nerve pain
Burning, shooting or electric shock pain from nerve damage in an accident, during surgery, or from a condition treated too late.
Chronic back and neck pain
Whiplash or a back injury that never fully settled, leaving pain that limits work, driving and sleep years after the accident.
Pain after medical treatment
Lasting pain caused by surgical errors, nerve damage during procedures, or a painful condition that was diagnosed or treated too late.
Proving pain that scans cannot show
A broken bone proves itself on an X-ray. Chronic pain has no picture, and insurers sometimes dispute these claims for exactly that reason. That is not a reason to give up; it is a reason to build the claim properly from the start.
Courts decide these cases on the quality and consistency of the evidence: what specialists conclude, what your records show over time, and how credibly your daily life reflects what you describe. Each piece on the right is something we help you put in place.
- Evidence from pain specialists, and where relevant a psychiatrist or rheumatologist
- A pain diary recording your symptoms, medication and limits day by day
- GP and hospital records that tell a consistent story over time
- Statements from family, colleagues or your employer about the change in you
Start the diary today, even before you speak to anyone. Contemporaneous records carry real weight.
- The pain itself and its effect on your daily life and mental health
- Pain management programmes, therapy and ongoing treatment
- Earnings lost so far, and reduced earning capacity in the future
- Help at home, aids and adjustments that make working and living easier
Compensation when the pain does not stop
Pain that persists changes what a claim has to cover. It is not a bill for what has already happened so much as provision for what continues: treatment that goes on for years, work you can no longer do at full capacity, and the help that gets you through difficult days.
That is why chronic pain awards turn heavily on prognosis, and why we will not estimate yours until independent specialists have reported on how your condition is likely to develop.
The four pillars of a chronic pain claim
Two things have to be established: that someone else was at fault, and that the pain is real, lasting and linked to what they did. The four pillars below cover both.
Told it is all in your head? Many of our chronic pain clients heard that first. Specialist evidence exists precisely to answer it.
No Win No Fee chronic pain claims
Living with pain is expensive: treatment, time off, help you never used to need. Pursuing a claim should not add to that. 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 in advance comes out of the compensation, and you will have everything in writing before you decide.
Disputed claims do not cost you more to run. The fee terms stay the same however hard the other side argues.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know before starting your claim.
Can I claim for chronic pain?
Yes, where the pain was caused or made worse by someone else’s negligence, whether that was a road accident, an unsafe workplace, a fall, or medical treatment that went wrong. The claim usually needs to start within three years, and it is built on specialist medical evidence rather than scans alone. A free conversation with our team will tell you whether yours is worth pursuing.
Can I claim if my scans and tests are clear?
Yes. Many chronic pain conditions show nothing on X-rays or MRI scans, and the law does not require them to. What the claim needs instead is a specialist diagnosis, a consistent medical history and credible evidence of how the pain affects your life. Clear scans make the evidence work more important, not the claim impossible.
Can I claim for CRPS or fibromyalgia?
Yes, where the condition was triggered by an accident or by negligent care. Complex regional pain syndrome and fibromyalgia are both recognised in UK courts, and compensation has been awarded for each. These cases lean heavily on the right specialist evidence, typically a pain medicine consultant, and often a rheumatologist or psychiatrist alongside, all of which we arrange.
How much compensation for chronic pain?
More than most people expect, and less predictable than any online figure suggests. Because the pain is ongoing, the award turns on your prognosis: how long the pain is expected to last, what treatment you will need, and what it does to your ability to earn. Two people with the same diagnosis can receive very different amounts, so we value your claim from your expert evidence, not from a table.
How long do I have to make a chronic pain claim?
Usually three years, but the start date matters with chronic pain. Time can run from the accident, or from when you first understood your lasting pain was connected to it, and a diagnosis like CRPS often arrives months after the original injury. If your accident was more than three years ago but your diagnosis was recent, do not assume you are out of time; ask us.
Will the insurer believe me?
Honestly, insurers scrutinise chronic pain claims more than most, because the injury cannot be seen. That is why these claims are built on independent specialist opinion and consistent records rather than on your word alone. Prepared that way, they settle like any other claim, and the great majority resolve without a court hearing.
Check if you can make a chronic pain claim
Tell us how the pain started and what it stops you doing now. We will give you an honest view of your claim, and there is no obligation to go ahead.
- Free, no-obligation review
- No Win No Fee available
- SRA-regulated solicitors
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Not sure if you have a claim?
Tell us how the pain began and we will say honestly whether you can claim for chronic pain, free and with no obligation. Most claims must start within three years, and with late-diagnosed conditions that clock can start later than you think, so it costs nothing to check.
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