Damages in Personal Injury Claims: What Am I Entitled To?

A personal injury claim is about more than just the damages you might receive. Taking legal action could get an admission that someone did something wrong and caused your injury.

It could also help the person or organisation responsible see that something needs to be fixed. This could help them stop your accident happening to anyone else.

But compensation is a huge help to someone who’s been hurt through no fault of their own.

It can help to make a difficult time a little easier by letting you take the time to recover, as well as pay for any medical treatment you might need.

General damages

Your compensation will be split into two parts: general damages and special damages.

General damages are what you receive for the effect your injury has had on your life, including the physical pain you’ve been through. These amounts are set out in the Judicial College Guidelines. They set out that specific injuries will be awarded a specific range of compensation.

For example, a fractured forearm could be awarded between £5,280 and £15,300. Meanwhile, a knee injury that causes long-term problems could see between £20,880 and £34,660 in compensation.

General damages are also awarded for the mental pain you could experience after your accident. If you suffer from stress or anxiety after it happened, you are entitled to compensation for it.

They’ll also be awarded for any negative impact on your quality of life, such as having to give up hobbies or activities you took part in before the accident. And if you can no longer do your job and have to find a new career, general damages could compensate you for this.

Your solicitor will set out all the ways that your injury has affected your life, working to get you the compensation you deserve.

Start a compensation claim here

Special damages

It’s not just the pain your injury has caused you that you could receive compensation for. Special damages reimburse you for the financial cost of your injury.

The impact on your finances may be your biggest worry after an injury. This is because there’s the chance it could stop you working, meaning you then see a loss of earnings, depending on your situation. But special damages can help cover this by compensating you for this loss of earnings.

This part of your compensation also reimburses you for any medical expenses – such as physiotherapy – as well as the cost of travel to get to those appointments.

If you suffered any damage to your belongings in the accident, special damages can also cover repairs or replacements. This could be items like mobile phones, clothing or vehicles.

To be able to claim certain special damages, you’ll need to have proof of your expenses – so make sure you save the receipts from what you pay for. This includes transport costs, so make sure you keep any public transport tickets or request a taxi receipt.

Deadline for claiming damages

In most cases, you’ll have three years from the date of your accident to make a claim for damages. But there are some exceptions to this rule.

For example, you can claim on behalf of a child at any point until their 18th birthday. From that date, they will then have three years to begin a claim themselves.

And if you’re claiming on behalf of an adult who lacks the capacity to claim for themselves, you won’t have any deadline to meet. You will only face a time limit if they recover and regain the capacity to manage their own claim.

Interim payments

If your injury has had an immediate effect on your finances, you could be understandably worried about what to do. This is something you should discuss with your solicitor because they may be able to secure an interim payment for you.

This is part of your compensation that’s awarded before your claim is fully settled. You can use it to pay for urgent medical care, adaptations to your home or anything else that needs an immediate investment.

Interim payments are taken out of your final compensation. This means that if you receive one, your final compensation amount will be reduced by that amount.

You can apply for an interim payment if the defendant has admitted liability and they have the necessary insurance. The court also has the power to order an interim payment.

Compensation amounts

The fact there are so many elements considered in a claim makes it difficult to know exactly how much you might be awarded in compensation.

With both general and special damages to be considered, two people with a similar injury could end up with very different compensation amounts.

So to find out how much you might be entitled to, the best thing to do is speak to our team of expert claims advisors. They could help you work out whether you have a strong claim and match you to a specialist accident solicitor.

To get in touch, just give us call or start your claim online.

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