Last Updated: 17 September 2025. You may be able to claim post-traumatic stress disorder compensation if you can show how the condition resulted from someone else’s negligent actions. PTSD compensation varies from up to £28,250 for more moderate cases to between £66,920 and £141,240 if the condition is categorised as severe. If you are making a No Win No Fee personal injury claim, you’ll generally need to start pursuing compensation within 3 years of any accident. You may also have the option to seek compensation via several government initiatives, such as the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), if you are a serving or former service member.
If you’re looking for information on how to make a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) claim, this guide explains the personal injury claims process. Laid out in simple and easy-to-read sections below, we start by explaining what PTSD is and how you could qualify to seek compensation for it.
We also explore how you could claim as the secondary victim of a traumatic event that left you with PTSD. Compensation can be awarded for the emotional toll and financial losses, so we explain those in detail. As time limits apply for seeking damages, we have a section that focuses on this.
Lastly, we look at how a solicitor from our panel might be able to handle your claim for a psychological injury through a version of the No Win No Fee contract called a ‘Conditional Fee Agreement’. This frees you from financial concerns that might be holding you back from seeking legal help.
PTSD can shatter lives and create decades-long emotional and financial issues for the victim. Rather than struggle on, speak to our advisory team to see if you could start a compensation claim against the third party at fault. You can:
- Ring 0800 408 7827 to speak to us now to discuss your physical and psychological injuries.
- Submit your potential claim and contact us online.
- Ask the live discussion portal a question in strict confidence.
Jump To A Section Of Our Guide
- What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
- What Is A PTSD Claim?
- How Can PTSD Be Caused?
- Can I Claim For Physical and Psychological Injuries?
- Can I Claim For PTSD As A Secondary Victim?
- How Much Compensation For PTSD?
- How Long Do I Have To Make A PTSD Claim?
- Evidence To Support Your PTSD Claim
- Can I Claim For Psychological Injuries On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Learn More About Claiming Personal Injury Compensation
What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
According to an overview from the NHS, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological condition caused by extremely frightening or distressing events. A sufferer of PTSD may replay the traumatic event over and over again in flashbacks and nightmares, causing them notable feelings of anger, fear, isolation and guilt.
Symptoms can also include insomnia and may lead to depression, increased anxiety and feelings of hopelessness or suicidal thoughts. The impact on everyday life can be severe and very disruptive.
What Is A PTSD Claim?
A compensation claim for post-traumatic stress disorder is a personal injury case made against a third party for causing harm. In order to meet the criteria for starting a claim like this, the person would need to demonstrate the following:
- They were owed a duty of care (this is a legal obligation placed on individuals or organisations to avoid causing others foreseeable harm).
- The third party in question failed to meet this duty of care.
- PTSD and/or physical injuries resulted directly.
In tort law, fulfilling all three criteria is often used to define negligence. If you feel that you can demonstrate all three points, speak to our team of advisors. You could move ahead with a valid PTSD claim today.
How Can PTSD Be Caused?
Next, we look at some scenarios where the negligent acts of others might trigger a PTSD reaction:
Accidents At Work
Employers have a legal duty of care to take practicable and reasonable steps to prevent staff from being harmed, as detailed in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). A failure of this duty could result in any number of scenarios where an employee suffers both physical injury and accompanying psychological harm. For example:
- The unsafe tools provided at work malfunction and cause a worker to suffer a bloody and traumatic cutting injury, resulting in the injured person suffering nightmares and flashbacks of the event.
- Management didn’t provide personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety goggles, and a worker suffered a severe anxiety disorder after losing sight in one eye.
- A worker experienced a trauma reaction after seeing a colleague fall to their death from an unguarded height on a construction site.
Road Traffic Accidents
Road users owe a duty of care to each other to navigate in ways that minimise the risk of injury or damage. To fully comply with the duty of care, they must follow the law in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and other obligations listed in the Highway Code.
Road traffic accidents can be particularly catastrophic and may result in both psychological and physical injuries that are life-altering. Some examples:
- A drunk driver collides with other motorists and causes a serious rear-end collision accident. Those involved suffer both physical and psychological injuries.
- A motorist was speeding above the legal limit and hit a pedestrian. The car accident left the person deeply scarred by the event and with an inability to return to work. They made a PTSD claim to help with spiralling costs.
- A motorist was not concentrating on the road ahead, failed to stop in time and pushed a cyclist into oncoming traffic. The cyclist experienced life-altering injuries and suffered crippling flashbacks and nightmares about the incident for years afterwards.
Criminal Injuries
The victim of violent crime and sexual assault can often be left with psychological scars long after the physical ones have healed. In cases like this, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) might be able to award compensation to the victims of violent crimes in England, Scotland and Wales.
If this applies to you, speak to our advisory team for specific guidance on claims of criminal assault. Seeking compensation for psychological injuries after experiencing or witnessing traumatic events like these could be easier with their support. Call to learn more.
Can I Claim For Physical and Psychological Injuries?
Your claim might include physical injuries (like facial scarring) as well as emotional ones. When submitting a personal injury claim that covers multiple injuries, you need to show that the same action or inaction was the root cause of everything.
Personal injury lawyers can offer expert help to correctly put together a multi-part injury claim. The solicitors on our panel would calculate each injury, whether psychological or physical and fully value the compensation amount owed to you.
Furthermore, they can use medical evidence to calculate amounts that you might need in the future for ongoing treatments, counselling, or physiotherapy. This will ensure that your PTSD claim is filed in full because once settled, you cannot reopen it for any reason, including if further injuries later become apparent.
Speak to a member of our advisory team for more details about multiple injury claims.
Can I Claim For PTSD As A Secondary Victim?
A secondary victim is a term used for someone who suffered psychological harm after witnessing a traumatic event happening to others. An example could be a passenger in a car accident who survived unscathed but saw the other passengers lose their lives or suffer serious injury.
The tragedy and horror of the event can leave a lasting impact on this person. With this in mind, they would qualify to claim compensation from the third party that put them through the ordeal. If this happened to you, speak to our advisory team about your options for making a PTSD claim.
How Much Compensation For PTSD?
Each personal injury claim varies, but if it is successful, the compensation may include both general and special damages. General damages reflect the physical pain and psychological suffering the person endured. It will also take into account how badly the person’s life was impacted by the traumatic event and injuries.
To calculate a suitable amount for this, those involved might refer to medical records and psychiatric evaluations. In fact, a solicitor from our panel can help organise an assessment with an independent specialist to help. This medical evidence could then be compared to entries for psychological harm listed in publications like the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This publication provides guideline brackets for various types of injuries, including mental health damage.
Below is a brief excerpt from the JCG (except the first line) detailing psychological harm. The brackets shown are purely guidelines, as each claim has a different outcome:
Compensation Guidelines
| Nature of Harm | Severity | Compensation Guidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Forms of Severe Harm, Together With Special Damages for Costs Like Lost earnings and Psychiatrist Fees | Severe | Up to £500,000 and over |
| General Psychiatric Damage | (a) Severe | £66,920 up to £141,240 |
| (b) Moderately Severe | £23,270 up to £66,920 | |
| (c) Moderate | £7,150 up to £23,270 | |
| (d) Less Severe | £1,880 up to £7,150 | |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | (a) Severe | £73,050 up to £122,850 |
| (b) Moderately Severe | £28,250 up to £73,050 | |
| (c) Moderate | £9,980 up to £28,250 | |
| (d) Less Severe | £4,820 up to £9,980 |
Another facet of psychological injury compensation claims can be special damages. This head of loss reimburses the person for their related financial expenses and costs. PTSD can greatly disable people and make life impossible to live as they did prior to the event. So if you have documented evidence of the financial harm caused by this, this can be included. For instance:
- Payslips that show you could not work and lost income.
- The expense of seeing a private psychotherapist.
- The costs of prescription medication.
- Proof of expenses for care provided to you by other people.
- Invoices for adaptations needed to your home for new physical injuries.
Speak with a member of our advisory team to learn how much your PTSD claim could be worth.
How Long Do I Have To Make A PTSD Claim?
In standard personal injury claims, a time limit of three years applies in which to start. The Limitation Act 1980 states that, under certain conditions, this might vary. For example:
- People under the age of 18 are not able to start a personal injury claim, so the time limit is paused until they turn 18. Alternatively, the courts have the discretion to appoint a litigation friend to begin the claim for them. Typically, this is a parent, guardian or adult with their best interests.
- There is a freeze on the standard time limit for claimants who lack sufficient mental capacity to start their own PTSD claim. The three-year limit starts from any date that their capacity might return. Or, a litigation friend can launch a case for them at any time during this freeze.
Call an advisor to find out more about time limits and find out if you can launch a claim.
Evidence To Support Your PTSD Claim
If you wish to claim compensation for PTSD, it is very important to collect supporting evidence, like:
- Contact details of eyewitnesses to prepare witness statements.
- Medical records
- CCTV or dashcam footage, if applicable.
- Personal statements or diary entries
- Employment records to demonstrate loss of earnings.
Contact our advisors for more detailed guidance on collecting evidence to seek PTSD compensation and to discuss some more PTSD compensation examples.
Can I Claim For Psychological Injuries On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Making a PTSD claim is a very complex process, and you may be worried about the costs involved. However, if you choose to make your claim with a solicitor from our panel, they’ll simplify the process for you. Your solicitor will work on your case on a No Win No Fee basis. This will be in the form of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which means that you won’t have to pay your solicitor a service fee for their work:
- Upfront or in the beginning.
- While the claim is pending.
- If you lose your case
In the event of a favourable outcome, your PTSD solicitor will charge a success fee. This is derived from a fixed percentage of your compensation, and there is a legal limit to ensure fairness.
With legal help, starting a claim for post-traumatic stress disorder may be less intimidating than imagined. Why not take a moment to see if you could launch a compensation claim today? Just:
- Ring 0800 408 7827 to speak to us now to discuss your physical and psychological injuries.
- Submit your potential claim and contact us online.
- Ask the live discussion portal a question about PTSD claims in strict confidence.
Learn More About Claiming Personal Injury Compensation
The emphasis of this guide was on how to sue for post-traumatic stress disorder. These other articles from our site offer further reading:
- This guide discusses the personal injury claims process in more detail.
- Here, we explore how to sue an insurer for a car accident.
- Also, how to sue for an injury in a public place is looked at.
External resources:
- Here is help and advice on claiming Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from the government.
- Also, a general guide to the mental health services available from the NHS.
- Lastly, this NHS link looks at the benefits of cognitive behavioural therapy to combat PTSD.
In conclusion, we appreciate your interest in our guide about how to claim for post-traumatic stress disorder.