Male health claims

Men can experience an injury or illness as a result of a negligent procedure or inadequate care. Incorrect advice, mistaken diagnosis, lack of care or even a failure to safeguard your health can cause serious damage which may be permanent.

This category of claims covers issues that are specifically aimed at men.

Women: visit our female health claims section for information about personal injury and pregnancy/childbirth/gynaecology.

What does male health claims include?

This includes industrial injuries and disease; road traffic accidents; crime and abuse and medical negligence. Sports injuries are another category of claims.

Each of these areas is discussed individually within this guide as well as featuring in this section.

These categories affect women as well: they too can suffer a personal injury due to a road traffic accident, violent assault, workplace accident or medical malpractice.

But, statistics show that men are more likely to experience an injury or illness in certain situations. One example is industrial diseases such as asbestosis or coal miner’s lung which tend to mainly affect men. This is because traditionally, men have been employed in these types of jobs rather than women.

Industrial injuries and diseases

This includes asbestos related diseases, e.g. mesothelioma, vibration white finger, black lung; noise related hearing loss and factory accidents.

These tend to affect men more than women for the simple reason that men are more likely to be employed in these types of occupations than women.

Occupations such as coal mining, construction work, labouring, engineering are traditional male areas of work. These types of jobs have usually been undertaken by men which is due to the fact that they involve heavy lifting and carrying which requires a great deal of physical strength.

Road traffic accidents

Both sexes drive but it does appear to be the case that many road traffic accidents involve young male drivers. This is not to say that women do not become involved in accidents and statistics show that this is the case.

Whether this difference is due to impulsive, risk taking behaviour by young males as compared to young females is still open to debate. It may be that men prefer to drive or ride a motorbike at higher speeds than women although we have to be careful not to stereotype.

Motorbike accidents tend to involve more men than women although this can be attributed to the fact that more men than women ride motorbikes. However, this is changing as more and more women are buying motorbikes which accounts for an increase in female motorcycling accidents.

Crime and abuse

There are certain crimes such as domestic abuse and sexual abuse in which the victims are more likely to be men than women.

But, men are more likely to be the victim of a violent crime such as physical assault or mugging which results in a personal injury. The 16 to 24 age group for men is most at risk although this equally applies to women in this age group.

(Source: Office for National Statistics)

Men worry less about becoming a victim of crime but statistics from this website show that they are more likely to be a victim of crime than women.

We can assume that compensation claims for injuries sustained from a violent assault are likely to be made by greater numbers of men than women.

Medical negligence

This applies to both men and women. A personal injury can be sustained due to a faulty medical procedure, misdiagnosis, inadequate care or incorrect medication.

There are injuries which are sustained only by women and these include damage to the female reproductive system. Examples of these include a failed termination (abortion), sterilisation or injuries sustained to the mother and/or baby during childbirth.

Injuries can occur to the male reproductive system and include sterility and erectile dysfunction (impotence).

Sports injuries

Both men and women experience sports injuries although often in different types of sports.

Football and rugby are still dominated by men although increasing numbers of women are participating in these sports. This increased participation may result in a rising number of claims by women.

There is always a risk of an injury with sport but if the injury has occurred due to negligence or inadequate facilities or supervision then a claim for compensation can be made.

Making a claim for compensation for a male health injury

If you are a man who has suffered an injury or illness due to negligence in any of the above mentioned areas then you may be able to make a claim for compensation.

You can also make a claim if you have become injured as a result of lack of care in any of the other categories of claims, for example, a slip, trip or fall over a broken paving slab in the street.

Find a personal injury solicitor, lawyer or claims management firm who have knowledge and experience of your type of claim. They will have handled many claims such as yours and will be able to advise you accordingly.

They will assess your claim to start with to see if there are reasonable grounds for compensation before proceeding any further.

For more information about the claims process, visit our making a claim for compensation section.

Time limit for claiming compensation for a male health injury

Most personal injury claims have a 3 year time limit. This starts from the date of the original accident or diagnosis of your illness and a claim must be made within this time limit.

Your lawyer or solicitor will discuss this with you and any other related issues.