Many potential claimants out there may be aware that they are entitled to compensation for their injuries – it may be advertising for personal injury claiming that is responsible for that, or just the increased awareness of your right to make a claim. However, many claimants that approach The Injury Lawyers remain unaware of the financial losses they may be entitled to claim as l a result of their accident.
In order to discover what losses you may be entitled to, the simplest question to ask your self is ‘if I had not had the accident, would I be in a better position financially?’ If the answer to this is yes then you should ask yourself why that is – I have set out below a few possible suggestions as to areas of loss you may have incurred due to your accident:
- Loss of earnings – if you have been absent from work as a result of your accident, and been on reduced pay or been left unpaid, then you may have a claim for lost earnings. Your loss of earnings claim is calculated from an average of 13 weeks pay slips prior to the date of the accident – so these would need to be kept safe or requested from your employer. If you are self- employed, the average is calculated from 3 years profit and loss accounts.
- Treatment costs – if you have incurred any losses through paying for expensive private treatment as a result of your accident, this may also be an item of loss which you can claim back.
- Travel costs – if you have paid for travel costs as a result of your accident, for example for travel to and from medical appointments, then you may be able to claim for this as well. A solicitor would ask you for any travel receipts or documents to support your claim – or work out a mileage rate reflective of the distance travelled.
- Medication and / or prescription costs – prescription and medication can be costly; especially when you need it frequently. Keep receipts as evidence, and we can look to claim these back for you.
- Other losses – you may have purchased a special mattress on the advice of a medical expert in order to assist with your injury symptoms, or similar. Items such as these may also be claimed back as part of your claim.
There are items that you can claim back which you may have not even considered, as they have not caused you a direct financial loss. An example of this is care and assistance. If you have required the assistance of a carer, which may have been a professional carer or even a family member or friend, you may claim back their time at an hourly rate. Any payment received for this is payable to the carer/carers.
If you require any further information regarding your losses feel free to give us a call.
