Making a facial injury claim

A facial injury claim covers fractures, cuts, and nerve damage to the face. It is caused by a road accident, often from contact with a steering wheel, dashboard, or windscreen, within a wider road accident claim.

It is treated separately from facial scarring, which focuses on the visible mark left behind rather than the underlying injury.

This page explains the types of facial injury, the evidence needed, and how they factor into a claim.

What a facial injury covers

Common injuries include a fractured cheekbone, jaw, nose, or eye socket. Cuts that need stitches are also common.

Some facial injuries also damage a nerve, which can cause numbness or altered sensation. A jaw or eye socket fracture is generally treated as more serious than a nasal fracture.

It can involve the ability to eat normally, or the position of the eye.

How it affects daily life and work

Eating, speaking, and even smiling can be uncomfortable while a facial fracture heals. Jaw injuries sometimes need the mouth to be wired or restricted for a period.

Nerve damage can leave a patch of numbness that some people find unsettling long after the bone itself has healed. Any job involving public-facing work or physical exertion may need to be paused.

This continues until swelling and pain settle enough to manage safely.

The evidence this claim needs

A CT scan or X-ray showing the fracture forms the core evidence. It is joined by a specialist medical report from a maxillofacial or ear, nose and throat surgeon.

Where a nerve is affected, the report should record where the numbness sits and whether it is expected to improve. Dental injury from the same impact is generally assessed as part of a dental injury claim.

How the injury factors into your claim

General damages are assessed against a published compendium of injury awards, together with the medical evidence.^[1] A fracture affecting the jaw or eye socket is generally valued higher than a simple nasal fracture.

Where nerve damage leaves a lasting numbness, that is reflected in the general damages rather than treated as a separate head of loss. Surgery, follow-up scans, and any further procedure to correct the bone are claimed as treatment costs and future medical needs.

Recovery and outlook

Straightforward fractures generally heal over some weeks with rest. Some also need a period of wiring or bracing.

Nerve-related numbness can take much longer to improve, and in some cases does not fully resolve.

What to do next

Follow up with the treating surgeon until they confirm the bone has healed correctly. Early follow-up scans matter for the medical report.

The general deadline to bring this claim is six years from the accident.^[2] There is time to let treatment finish first.

Eye injury covers the separate assessment needed where the eye or eye socket itself was affected.