What Can I Make a Personal Injury Claim for?

Many people tend to assume that when someone makes a claim for personal injury, they are purely making a claim for money for the injuries sustained.

However in many cases, a personal injury has a more profound impact on the individual’s life. For example, they might be unable to work, or when serious injuries have been sustained, they might have long term care and equipment needs. Or adaptations may have to be made to their house or need to move to a different house.

There are a number of different heads of damage that an injured person can claim.

General Damages

This head of loss, also known as pain and suffering, is awarded for physical and psychological injuries sustained in an accident.  As well as the actual injury, we take into consideration any loss of amenity when valuing this head of loss, for example, if a person has been unable to take part in their hobbies, or leisure pastimes, as a result of the accident.

The amount of compensation you receive for general damages will vary depending on the severity of your injuries.  We value a claim by instructing an independent medical expert. The expert will review your medical records and examine you to prepare a report.  We will then use the report to help us value your claim. We do this by researching case law and considering a publication used by the Courts, entitled the Judicial College Guidelines.

Special Damages

This is compensation for any financial losses, or out of pocket expenses you have incurred as a result of your accident. This can include:

Loss of earnings – This includes income lost since the accident, as a result of you being unable to work, or working reduced hours. It can also include future loss of earnings, if you can no longer work, or you have a reduced working capacity.

Pension loss – If you have had to give up work, or have been absent from work and either yourself, or your employer has stopped making contributions to your pension, then this could have an effect on your pension entitlement.

Treatment costs – You might have needed to buy aids, or equipment to help you better cope with your injuries, or paid for private treatment with a physiotherapist, chiropractor, or osteopath to help your recovery.

Prescriptions and over the counter medication – If you have purchased over the counter medication, or paid for prescriptions, you may be able to claim back the cost, especially if you need to continue taking them in the future.

Care and assistance – You may require assistance from professional carers, or even friends, or family members in the short, or longer term.  You may be able to claim the cost of professional carers, or make a claim for gratuitous care if help was provided by family and friends.

Travelling costs – If your injuries mean that you can no longer drive, or you need to attend frequent medical appointments, you may have extra costs for taxis and public transport.

Loss of use of a vehicle – If you were involved in a road traffic accident that damaged your car, leaving you unable to drive it, then you may be able to claim for the period of time that you are without a vehicle.

Personal effects – If some of your clothing, or personal effects were damaged in the accident, then you may be able to recover costs for these items.

Maintenance and housekeeping costs – You may be able to recover any costs you have incurred employing the professional services of someone to carry out maintenance, or housekeeping,  gardening, cleaning, DIY and car maintenance, or you could make a gratuitous care claim, if family and friends provided help.

Housing costs – If your injuries are particularly severe, you may need to make adaptations to your current home. These could include the installation of handrails, ramps and stair lifts. In the most serious of cases, if reasonable adaptations cannot be made to your home to meet your needs, then you might need alternative accommodation.

The above list is not exhaustive but gives an indication of the various heads of loss that you may be able to claim. If you instruct a member of Rothera Bray’s personal injury team, they will assess which heads of loss you may be able to recover. Please remember that it is up to you as the Claimant to prove your losses, so please retain evidence, such as receipts and invoices.