Personal Injury - Compensation
Awards of compensation in personal injury claims can be broken down into:
- general damages
- special damages
General Damages
These are to compensate you for your pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Loss of amenity refers to the loss of the “good things in life”. For example, a leg injury may have a greater impact on an amateur footballer than an armchair sports fan.
We work out the value of your claim by comparing your injuries and the consequences of those with similar previously decided cases known as ‘precedents’. To bring the value of previous awards “up to date” an allowance is made for inflation based on the Retail Price Index.
Special Damages
These are to compensate you for the losses and expenses you incur as a result of the accident including:
- Loss of earnings (after tax and National Insurance),
- Travelling expenses
- Private medical expenses, prescription charges and over-the-counter medication
- Vehicle related claims e.g. repairs or the cost of a hire car whilst yours is fixed
- The value of care provided to you
- The cost of services provided by a professional decorator/gardener or the value of DIY/gardening previously done by you
- Additional heating, electricity bills, laundry costs
- The cost of equipment/aids bought to help with daily living
- The cost of adapting accommodation e.g. installing a disabled bath