Personal injury claims are increasing year upon year. This may be due to the fact that the no win, no fee system enables victims of accidents to bring their claim with no financial hardship to themselves. It may also be that people are more aware of their rights and what they can claim for. Whatever the reason we know that many of our clients come to us needing advice on what they can claim back.
In view of the above we at The Injury Lawyers feel that we must inform our blog readers of the different types of losses they can claim back in the event the other side admit fault.
Firstly, the most important loss to many of our clients, is a loss of earnings claim. If you have had to take time off work due to your accident then you may be able to claim back for any loss of earnings you have incurred. In order to support this claim we would normally request 13 weeks pay slips from you as evidence of your earnings. In the event you are self-employed we would normally ask for 3 years of profit and loss accounts and would take an average of these earnings. Even if you have not taken unpaid leave off work and have taken them as holidays, these may also be claimed back. Depending on your employer, you may get a buy back arrangement for your holidays then simply claim this money from the other side.
Another item of loss is for care and assistance. In the event you do have assistance caring for yourself, such as shopping or completing other general chores, this can be claimed back at an hourly rate and be payable to your carer/carers. However, it must be noted that due to the nature of the claim the other side may not pay the total amount requested.
Other items of loss can include prescription costs, travel to medical appointments, and treatment costs – such as physiotherapy. As you can see, there are many items of loss which can be claimed back from the other side and this is by no means an exhaustive list.
We always advise our clients from the outset of their claim to keep hold of receipts for costs arising from their accident as these will support their claims. These losses, as set out above, are collated into a Schedule of Loss, which is sent to the client to approve. The losses within this are claimed separately from a client’s compensation for their injury.
