Were you or someone you love badly burned?

If you were burned in a fire, an explosion, a scald, or by a defective product, you are in the right place.

Are you in an emergency right now?

• Cool the burn with cool (not ice) running water for several minutes.
• Call 911 for a large burn, a burn on the face or hands, or any burn with smoke or chemical exposure.
• Remove clothing or jewelry near the burn unless it is stuck to the skin.
• Do not put butter, ice, or ointments on a serious burn.
• Get medical care right away.
• This page is for after you are safe.

This page covers burn injury claim deadlines and what to do right now. We are the injured person's advocate. We connect you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours, so you get the full settlement your recovery deserves. Always free. Talk to an advocate. We usually reply within minutes, at most one business day.

About 1.1 million burns happen in the United States each year, and roughly 50,000 require hospitalization, with about 20,000 covering more than 25% of the person's body (American Burn Association).

Why burn injury cases are tricky

A kitchen fire might involve a defective appliance (a product issue) and a landlord who ignored broken smoke detectors (a property issue) at the same time. Figuring out who is responsible, and in what share, is often the hardest part. A lawyer sorts out who is responsible and in what share. Talk to an advocate and they will introduce you to one.

Even when a landlord or property owner is legally at fault, they may not carry enough insurance to cover a serious burn. This can make it harder to collect money even after a claim succeeds, which is one more reason to get help early.

Recovery from a serious burn takes a long time, often including skin grafts and multiple surgeries, so the real cost is frequently not clear for months. Settling early, before doctors know the full treatment plan, can mean settling for far less than the injury actually costs.

Protect your case

1. Get emergency medical care first. Burn severity is not always obvious right away, and this record documents your injury.
2. Talk to an advocate at WeHelpInjured. It is free.
3. Keep the item involved, such as an appliance, cookware, or packaging, if it was part of what caused the burn. Do not throw it away.
4. Take photos of the injury, the scene, and anything that may have caused it.
5. Keep every record: medical bills, discharge notes, photos of the wound as it heals, and any work you missed.
6. Warning: don't wait! The filing deadline is a trap. It is different in every state, so people wait, and waiting kills cases. The longer you wait, the fuzzier memories get and the item that caused the burn can be discarded or lost. Talk to an advocate immediately. And important: medical claims can have different, often shorter deadlines. Do not assume the standard rule covers a hospital or doctor case. Find your state on our state pages.

Never do these

• Never give a recorded statement to an insurance company, even your own. Talk to an advocate first.
• Never throw away the product or item involved. It may be evidence.
• Never sign a release or accept a first settlement offer before you talk to an advocate first.
• Never settle before doctors know the full treatment plan, including future grafts or surgeries.

What real burn injury cases have paid

These are publicly reported results. They are examples only, not a promise of what any case is worth. We are not a law firm.

• $4.9 billion verdict (later reduced by the trial judge to about $1.2 billion total): a Los Angeles jury ruled for six people, including four children, burned when their car's fuel tank exploded in a rear-end crash, finding General Motors had known about the fire risk (NPR).
• $35 million-plus in damages (part of a total payout reported near $56 million with interest): a Ramsey County, Minnesota jury ruled for a brewery worker scalded over 40% of his body by 180-degree water from a power-washing hose (Star Tribune).
• $17 million verdict: an Alachua County, Florida jury ruled for a mother and daughter burned in a kitchen explosion caused by an aerosol can left in an oven broiler drawer, with the mother burned over 27% of her body (Expert Institute).
• $9.1 million award (reduced from a $55.5 million jury verdict under Colorado's statutory damages cap): a federal court upheld an award for a Denver woman burned over 13% of her body when her Crock-Pot pressure cooker exploded (AboutLawsuits.com).

Both product makers and property owners can be held responsible when their carelessness causes a burn.

When it goes wrong: a true story

In 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque was burned by a cup of McDonald's coffee served near 180 degrees, suffering third-degree burns on 6% of her body and needing skin grafts and about a week in the hospital. At first, her family handled it alone. They wrote to McDonald's asking the company to check its coffee temperature and cover her roughly $10,000 in medical bills. McDonald's offered $800, less than a tenth of her bills. Only after she hired a lawyer did evidence come out showing McDonald's had received about 700 prior complaints about burns from its coffee (Retro Report). A company's first offer to someone without help can be a fraction of what an injury actually costs. Talk to an advocate before you accept any offer.

What we can help with

We help you understand what documentation supports a burn injury claim, learn about state benefits you may qualify for, and connect you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours. All of it is free to you. We never take money from injured people.

Talk to an advocate. Recovering from a serious burn is hard enough.

Sources

• American Burn Association, Burn Incidence and Treatment in the United States: https://www.ameriburn.org/prevention/burn-incidence-and-treatment-in-the-united-states
• NPR, on the General Motors fuel tank verdict: https://www.npr.org/1999/07/09/1053866/general-motors-gas-tanks
• Retro Report, transcript on the McDonald's hot coffee case: https://retroreport.org/transcript/transcript-the-misunderstood-mcdonalds-hot-coffee-lawsuit/
• Star Tribune, on the Summit Brewing burn verdict: https://www.startribune.com/jury-verdict-means-56-million-for-man-badly-burned-by-hot-water-while-working-at-summit-brewing/600205114
• Expert Institute, on the $17 million apartment explosion verdict: https://www.expertinstitute.com/resources/insights/17-million-verdict-apartment-explosion-burn-injuries/
• AboutLawsuits.com, on the Crock-Pot pressure cooker verdict: https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/judge-upholds-9m-crock-pot-pressure-cooker-lawsuit-verdict/