Facing emotional distress can be challenging, especially when it’s inflicted by someone else’s actions. In the UK, you can sue someone for emotional distress. However, before filing a successful emotional distress claim there are many things to consider. It is not surprising that we are frequently asked questions about emotional distress claims. This may be because claiming for emotional distress is sometimes not as straightforward as other claim types.
At some point, all of us have experienced emotional distress, but it’s not necessarily something you can always claim for. In this blog, we will detail what emotional distress is, how you can sue, examples of occasions when you are able to sue for emotional distress, and what you may expect when pursuing an emotional distress claim.
What Is Emotional Distress?
To put it simply, emotional distress is mental suffering. To expand on this, emotional distress is mental suffering as a response to an experience that arises from the effect (or memory) of a particular event, occurrence, pattern of events or conditions.
Emotional distress can be a very disconcerting experience. Some of the symptoms of emotional distress can include:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Flashbacks to the event
- Fatigue
- Spontaneous and controllable motions (which often result in crying)
- Insomnia and nightmares
- Chronic headaches
- Shame and guilt
- Weight loss or gain
When Can You Sue For Emotional Distress
To sue for emotional distress, you must prove that the emotional distress has arisen as a direct result of someone else’s neglect or extreme/outrageous conduct. To prove this, you may need to provide evidence of your suffering. This could include giving the authorities access to your private mental health record. This can be upsetting, as it may feel as though your privacy is being violated. However, you must remember that this is only done to draw a direct connection between the incident and your suffering. It’s not done to uncover or dissect any past trauma.
Before pursuing the claim, it is also important that you do so after receiving sound legal advice. Receiving appropriate legal advice can be the difference between a robust and successful claim and a failed one.
If you still want to continue with your claim after receiving professional legal advice, then knowing the circumstances in which you can claim may be helpful. Examples of when you might want to claim for emotional distress include:
Accidents Which Cause Personal Injury
Accidents which cause personal injury can result in more than just physical injuries. They can leave a devastatingly long-lasting psychological impact. If you are a victim of an accident that has caused a personal injury, then firstly we are very sorry that this has happened to you. However, you may be able to sue for emotional distress as part of your claim.
Intentional Harm Like Bullying Or Harassment
Being bullied or harassed can be a devastating experience. It can lead to feelings of isolation and hopelessness, but it does not have to be that way. There is always support available. Furthermore, if you have been bullied or harassed and want to hold someone accountable, then suing for emotional distress may be a viable option.
Suing someone who has bullied and harassed you may go some way to providing a better peace of mind with regards to closure, as well as ensuring you feel adequately looked after.
Medical Mistakes
Medical mistakes can happen to any of us. If you experience a medical mistake, the result of it can have lifelong consequences, which can undoubtedly cause a lot of emotional distress. It will come as no surprise that you can sometimes sue a medical professional if you have suffered as a result of a medical mistake that they have made.
Unfair Treatment At Work
Unfair treatment may force you to change jobs or career paths entirely, which can be disconcerting (especially if you enjoy your work). Being made to switch jobs due to mistreatment is completely unfair and unacceptable. Suing those who have treated you unfairly can mitigate the distressing feelings around the situation. Unequal payment, unfair dismissal, harassing behaviour, and mistreatment due to race or religious beliefs can all constitute mistreatment at work.
It’s important to know that, while it is possible to sue for emotional distress relating to mistreatment at work, the process can be long and complicated. To be successful in your claim, you must ensure your claim is recorded via the appropriate avenues, which usually includes filing a formal HR complaint and other workplace documentation.
Sexual Assault Or Abuse
Sexual assault or abuse is one of the most horrific experiences that can happen to anyone. Healing from the experience can require much time and support from family members and friends. While suing for emotional distress relating to a sexual assault or abuse may not be towards the top of your list, doing so may help you to gain closure.
How To Make An Emotional Distress Claim
If you are contemplating making an emotional distress claim in the UK, there are a few things to consider. Breaking the process down, these are the main steps to take:
Seek Professional Advice And Help
As previously alluded to, before you do anything you should consult a solicitor who has experience in emotional distress claims. They will guide you on how to conduct your claim and set expectations of how likely your claim is to be successful.
Establish The Link Between Negligence And Your Condition
As with any claim, you must prove that the person’s negligence and your emotional distress have a direct link (e.g. if your claim was related to being bullied or harassed at work, you will need to draw upon official workplace documentation). This may include a report filed to your HR department regarding your mistreatment, which could then be used to demonstrate how they failed to enact a proper investigation or did not implement acceptable anti-bullying measures.
Another example may be when a healthcare professional deviates from the expected standard of care, leading to a medical error that drastically affects you. This could be a failure to conduct a thorough assessment, misdiagnosing a condition, or prescribing inappropriate medication without monitoring.
Document The Impact
Documenting the impact of negligence is of paramount importance. Without the appropriate documentation, your claim’s likelihood of success is significantly reduced. Records of your emotional distress include therapy notes and any other documentation that clearly showcases the impact on your mental well-being.
Acquire Evidence
Gathering as much evidence as you can is critical when it comes to proving your emotional distress. Some evidence you may wish to gather includes witness statements and photographs of the incident that caused your mental suffering.
Obtain a Professional Diagnosis
Obtaining a professional diagnosis from a reputable source can go a long way towards strengthening your claim. A professional diagnosis can serve as a key piece of evidence when making your claim, and help it to be successful.
Engage In Mediation or Pre-Action Protocols
Emotional distress claims don’t always go to court. In some cases, a settlement can be reached through mediation or pre-action protocols. This is where both parties exchange information and enter negotiations in order to come to a resolution.
Be Prepared For Court (If Applicable)
We hope you don’t have to take a case to court. However, in some instances, a settlement may not be reachable. Therefore, you must be prepared to initiate court proceedings to achieve your desired resolution. Court processes can be long and complicated, resulting in stresses that can take a toll on you mentally and physically. Before initiating court proceedings, it is always important to consider the likelihood of success and the stress you are willing to endure in order to see your claim settled. It is also strongly advised to heed advice from an experienced legal professional before proceeding to court.
How Much Compensation Can You Get For Emotional Distress?
Deciphering exactly how much compensation you can get from an emotional distress claim can be difficult, especially when you consider that most emotional distress claims are brought alongside other types of claims. Technically speaking, compensation for injuries to feelings can range anywhere from a formal apology to tens of added thousands of pounds in compensation.
Exactly how much compensation you receive can depend greatly on numerous factors, including the severity of the negligence and the impact the incident has had on your life.
A court can order the other party to pay damages relating to financial losses, personal injury (which can include depression), injury to feelings and aggravated damages. Understanding what the other party may have to pay can be extremely beneficial when contemplating the compensation you may receive.
What Is The Success Rate of Emotional Distress Claims?
Similar to how much compensation you will receive from an emotional distress claim, the success rate of cases can depend on many factors. This can include the type of emotional distress, the strength of the evidence presented, the legal advice you have received and the severity of the overall situation.
Who Can You Sue For Emotional Distress?
One of the most common questions we get asked is “who can you sue for emotional distress?”. To put it simply, there isn’t a definitive list of individuals you can sue for emotional distress, but here are some common examples and the potential circumstances under which a person might bring such a case:
Can you sue a landlord for emotional distress?
Landlords have a duty of care to tenants when they enter a tenancy, meaning certain levels of care are expected. If the landlord fails their duty, it can lead to emotional distress. Sometimes, it is possible to sue a landlord for this distress. Instances when you may choose to sue your landlord include:
- If the landlord fails in their duty of care and can no longer provide a safe and livable environment.
- If the landlord makes repeat, unexpected visits without good reason.
- If a landlord retaliates in response to repair requests, and this retaliation results in a revenge eviction.
- If a landlord evicts you, the tenant, without a sufficient reason.
- If the landlord discriminates against you or other tenants based on certain characteristics.
- If the landlord exhibits generally harassing behaviour.
Can you sue a family member for emotional distress?
Suing a family member for emotional distress in the UK is generally a complex and sensitive matter. Before pursuing a claim, it is sometimes worth considering the impact that the process will have on you and the rest of your family. While it’s technically possible to sue a family member for emotional distress, the legal system often views family relationships differently, especially when compared to more professional and non-domestic relationships.
Courts are usually hesitant to intervene in family disputes, preferring to encourage reconciliation and resolution through methods like family mediation. As such, legal actions within families for emotional distress are rare.
However, if you experience severe emotional distress caused by a family member, it’s advisable to seek legal advice. A family law solicitor can offer guidance based on the specifics of your situation.
Can you sue an employer for emotional distress?
If a workplace becomes a site of unacceptable behaviour and an employer ignores it, then employees experiencing emotional distress may have legal grounds to seek compensation.
For instance, if an employer fails to act on multiple complaints about sexual harassment by a manager, they can be held liable for the resulting emotional distress suffered by their employees.
Where the emotional distress arises as a result of a physical injury, suffered whilst working, then you can sue your employer for any emotional distress that flows from the accident and the injuries. At The Claims Partnership, we investigate this possibility in every work accident claim we administer.
Can you sue a business for emotional distress?
Businesses can make mistakes which can lead to more than just monetary issues; they can directly impact your life. If you can make a direct connection between an action taken by a business and your form of emotional suffering, then you may be able to sue a business for emotional distress.
Can you sue a hospital for emotional distress?
Claiming against a hospital can seem daunting, so it would be understandable that you may do everything you can to not claim against them. However, sometimes suing a hospital is the only option to ensure that those who should be held accountable are. While hospital claims are usually associated with personal and physical injury, you can also encompass emotional distress as part of your claim.
Can you sue the government for emotional distress?
When considering who you may be able to sue for emotional distress, it may surprise you to hear the government mentioned. While it may be unlikely, under certain circumstances you may be able to sue the government for emotional distress.
To sue the government, you must prove that they have acted unlawfully and negligently. The exact process of pursuing a claim can differ greatly depending on the government department. For example, The Department for Work and Pensions offers a ‘financial redress for maladministration’. This is for cases where a department has failed to act properly or fairly.
Contact The Claims Partnership for Emotional Distress Claims
If you need to pursue an emotional distress claim, then contact The Claims Partnership. We have years of experience when it comes to dealing with all manner of claim types. Your mental health and physical well-being are important to us, so contact us today and let us help you get the compensation you deserve.