How Are Personal Injury Claims Valued?

When pursuing a claim for Personal Injury, many people would like to know from the outset, how much compensation they should expect to receive.

Unfortunately, we are usually unable to give an accurate estimate at the start of a claim, particularly if your symptoms are ongoing and you are not yet fully recovered. We normally base our valuation on medical evidence which will be obtained at a later stage of the claim.

When we come to the valuation stage, there are two types of awards of damages to be made: General Damages and Special Damages.

General Damages

General Damages relate to the injuries you have suffered as a result of the accident. These are calculated using the Judicial College Guidelines, which provide suggestions as to what amounts should be awarded for specific types of injuries. These are also split into higher and lower amounts, depending on the severity and duration of the injury sustained. If your symptoms were permanent, or you recovered within 3 months of the accident, the guidelines have suggestions as to the value of your injury. We also use records of previous cases in which Judges have made awards for similar cases.

Often we will give you a range of valuations for your injury, from a lower amount (which we think a mean judge would award you) to a higher amount which we think you might recover from a very generous judge at Court, so you know between what figures your claim might be valued.

If, for example, we told you that your claim was worth between £5,000 and £7,000, we would try and obtain an award of damages of £7,000 or more, but would advise you that any offer of £5,000 or more should be taken seriously as we could not guarantee that you would be awarded more than that by the Court.

Special Damages

Special Damages are the financial losses you suffer as a result of the accident. These include past and future losses, such as loss of income, travelling expenses, medication costs including prescription charges, damaged clothing, missed or cancelled events, care and assistance provided by friends and relatives, unused gym memberships, ruined holidays, the cost of private therapy, reduced pension payments, loss of use of a vehicle, car hire charges and insurance excesses. Usually, an injured person’s largest financial loss relates to their earnings.

In cases where the injuries are permanently disabling, the future losses (particularly earnings, pension loss, future paid care and accommodation) form the largest part of the value.

We always ask clients to keep detailed records of all their losses from the date of the injury until settlement to ensure that nothing is missed. This will include mileage driven by them and others as a result of the injury, hours of unpaid assistance by friends and family, receipts for items such as medication, parking tickets from hospital and physiotherapy appointments and taxi and bus fares.

The above lists for Special Damages are not exhaustive. There may be loses suffered on account of the accident that you would be able to claim for, provided they have, or will be incurred as a result of your injury.

If you have suffered an accident and would like some advice about whether you can make a claim, please call our expert team of lawyers on 0121 752 2818 or email info@personalinjurylawyerbirmingham.org

By: Jonathan Stittle
Title: How Are Personal Injury Claims Valued?
Sourced From: www.tayloremmet.co.uk/blog/wordpress/how-are-personal-injury-claims-valued-2/
Published Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2020 10:04:10 +0000