Special Damages are made up of financial losses that you or even others affected by the claim incur. The common ones are things such as lost earnings from being off of work, medical expenses for treatment or prescription / over the counter medication you have to buy, travel expenses, and another key item called Care and Assistance.
Anyone is entitled to make a care and assistance claim, so long as it can be justified. Care and assistance is for any person making a claim who has to rely upon anyone else to look after themselves. This type of thing is common in serious injury claims, or cases where a debilitating injury has been sustained – such as any limb disability from, say, a broken leg, or dislocated arm, etc. Naturally, these types of injuries usually result in serious mobility impairment – everyday tasks can become a struggle, or even nigh impossible, in some circumstances.
What Can Care and Assistance Cover?
Care and assistance can cover so many different things. Ultimately, anything that is too difficult for you to do because of your injuries might well fall within this category. Common examples are:
- Personal hygiene – assistance with washing yourself, dressing yourself, etc.
- Cooking – assistance with meal preparation, for example
- Cleaning – household chores, such as vacuuming and surface cleaning, to laundry and the dishes after eating.
- Travel – you may need someone to take you to appointments or treatment clinics.
- Shopping!– as I’m sure you need to survive with your everyday household goods
If you are suffering from a debilitating leg injury for example, perhaps one that has left you in a splint and unable to put weight on the leg, leaving you reliant on crutches, I know for a fact that the stuff mentioned above is likely to be stuff you will need help with. When you’re supporting yourself with crutches using both arms, you don’t have a lot of dexterity to do anything else!
Ultimately, you will need help from a partner, family member, friend, or other associate. So, the next big question is – how do we work this out in to your claim?
Well, you can simply claim back an hourly rate for the person that helped you out. Even if you’re not paying them, which is likely the case in most instances where a partner, family member, or friend assists, you can still claim back a fee for them in the region of around £6.00 – £8.00 per hour. So, if your partner has to help you out around four hours a day, that’s potentially £32.00 that could be claimed back for them. If this goes on seven days a week, that’s £224.00 per week. If this goes on for 10 weeks, the total care and assistance clam could be worth around £2,240.00 which is claimed on top of your payout. That’s a lot of money…
Can You Claim For It?
So long as medical evidence can support your claim for care and assistance, the above is example is one that is common practice in claims. With a debilitating injury that genuinely incapacitates you to such an extent, you’re going to need a lot of help; this is recognised for the claims process.
One thing you should watch out for though is that not all lawyers can be bothered to make a claim for this. We have known examples in the past of law firms that do not bother to make care and assistance claims for their clients – just so they can save some money personally on the work involved for collating this head of claim. Commonly its solicitors that you get referred to through your own insurance company or through some claims company direct or accident helpline that would be inclined to cut corners like this. They pay huge referral fees to insurers and claims companies who act as middlemen for your claim; that leaves them with less money to spend on you and your claim.
If you have suffered an injury that has seriously incapacitated you, it is always advisable to enlist the help of a specialist and independent lawyer to make sure that your claim is fully maximised. Furthermore, you are likely entitled to vital medical care that can easily be arranged at no cost to you.
For more information or advice, please don’t hesitate to call us on 0800 634 75 75 today.