injuries to the eye caused by direct impacts, such as accidents or assaults, can lead to partial or complete loss of sight.

Exposure to harmful chemicals, whether at work or in public spaces, can cause severe damage to the eyes, potentially resulting in permanent vision loss.

A detachment of the retina can cause sudden and severe vision impairment, often requiring immediate medical intervention.

Injuries to the optic nerve, which transmits visual information from the eye to the brain, can lead to irreversible blindness.

Negligence in maintaining cleanliness in public spaces can lead to eye infections, which, if untreated, may cause significant vision impairment.

In cases where foreign objects penetrate the eye, immediate surgical intervention may be necessary to prevent permanent sight loss.

Your claim starts when you reach out to our personal injury team. We’ll discuss the specifics of your situation and provide information that explains what you can expect from your claim.

We’ll begin gathering evidence to support your case. This may involve compiling medical records, incident reports, witness testimonies and communications with other parties involved. For claims involving financial setbacks, we will need relevant evidence that demonstrates your expenses and costs.

Once we’ve built a strong case, we’ll contact the responsible party and their insurance provider, notifying them of your claim.

If liability is accepted, we can start compensation negotiations. In cases where they dispute your claim, we’re fully prepared to escalate the matter to court.

Although many loss of sight compensation claims are resolved amicably, some may need court intervention. If this becomes necessary, you can trust in our expertise to present your evidence and advocate for your rights.

In the event of a successful claim, we’ll make sure the compensation is paid as soon as possible and for the amount agreed.

Several factors in a loss of sight compensation claim depend on the severity of your symptoms, including how much compensation you might be owed. For this reason, it can help to understand the difference between vision loss and being legally blind, which are legally distinct terms that have different implications for loss of sight claims.

Sight loss is a broad term covering any reduction in vision that cannot be corrected with standard glasses or contact lenses. It can range from mild impairment to total blindness. Causes can include trauma, medical negligence, or workplace exposure to harmful substances or accidents. Sight loss may be partial or progressive, and compensation claims will involve assessing the extent of functional impairment and the impact of sight loss on daily life.

Being legally blind is a specific classification based on clinical measurements of vision. A person is considered legally blind (or severely sight impaired) if either of the following applies:

• Visual acuity (sharpness of vision) is 3/60 or worse in the better eye, meaning the person can only see at three metres what a person with normal vision can see at 60 metres.
• Visual field loss (the area a person can see while looking straight ahead) is severely restricted, often to a diameter of less than 20 degrees (known as “tunnel vision”).

As such, there are key differences between these two conditions. A person with sight loss may still have functional vision, while a legally blind person is recognised as having a severe disability. If you are eligible to seek compensation, we'll take the severity of your impairment into account. For example, whether you have temporary or permanent loss, and the extent to which your sight is damaged, will affect the compensation you're owed.

When you make a loss of sight compensation claim, we'll ask a consultant ophthalmologist to assess whether you meet the threshold of legal blindness if you have not already been diagnosed as severely sight impaired. This diagnosis may also make you eligible for additional support, benefits and accessibility accommodations, which can make the process of adjusting to your new circumstances much easier.

In some cases, sight loss may be caused by mistakes in medical treatment. For example, if you reported symptoms of loss of sight that were not investigated, or if unexpected complications from surgery resulted in reduced vision or loss of sight, you may be entitled to make a medical negligence claim. You can find out more information about how to claim compensation from Switalskis' dedicated medical negligence solicitors .

To be eligible to make a sight loss compensation claim, you need to establish that another party’s negligence or wrongdoing directly caused or contributed to their loss of vision. There are several specific elements that you must prove for any personal injury compensation claim, and the circumstances in which your loss of sight injury occurred will determine how we approach this.

• Duty of care: You must show that the defendant owed you a duty of care. This is a legal obligation to keep you safe and exists in many contexts. For example, employers have a legal duty to provide a safe working environment and drivers have a legal responsibility to protect other road users. Medical professionals must adhere to accepted standards of care based on what a reasonable person would expect from a competent professional. In all of these circumstances, an injured person may have been owed a duty of care by the person responsible for their injury.
• Breach of duty: After establishing that you were owed a duty of care, you must prove that the defendant failed to uphold the duty of care. If your accident happened in a workplace, employer negligence may involve inadequate safety measures, a lack of protective eyewear, or unnecessary exposure to hazardous substances. Any failure by your employer to minimise the risk of an eye injury could represent a breach of their duty of care. Similarly, misdiagnosis, delayed treatment, or surgical errors that lead to preventable sight loss would represent a breach of duty of care by the medical professionals involved.
• Causation: You must show that the sight loss you are experiencing was caused by the breach of duty and not by an unrelated pre-existing condition. Medical evidence can be used for this purpose, and we may commission ophthalmology reports confirming the nature and extent of the vision impairment or look at your medical records for evidence. If the sight loss is gradual or caused by occupational exposure over time, expert evidence may be required to establish a causal link.
• Losses and damages: With all of the above demonstrated, you must show the impact of the sight loss on your life, finances and wellbeing to be owed compensation. There are several types of harm or damage that can entitle you to compensation.

While this may sound complicated, an experienced personal injury solicitor can help you to gather evidence, build a strong case and present all of the evidence you need. Severe eye injuries that result in significant sight loss, whether full or partial blindness, can have a devastating impact on your life and your ability to take part in activities you once loved. Compensation can pay for corrective eye surgery in some cases, or provide the other things you need to get your life back on track.