When you are suffering from an injury as a result of an accident, it is inevitable that you will incur some losses. This can include things such as loss of earnings, medical and treatment expenses but also any items that may have been damaged because of the accident. This last one some may think is only applicable to road traffic accidents as of course cars are inevitably damaged one way or another; but items such as clothing and jewellery are always vulnerable to damage.
However, understandably, there has to be something in place to ensure these losses are not exaggerated and stay in the realm of “reasonableness“. This word is used A LOT in relation to losses and is the main guiding principle when calculating losses. So always think to yourself “Is this reasonable?” when incurring any losses – hiring a supercar rather than the courtesy car offered to you is probably not mitigating your loss (unless your car you’re temporarily replacing happens to be a supercar, because an argument for having like-for-like may be accepted).
So what does “mitigating you losses” mean? Basically, that you must try and keep your losses to a reasonable minimum.
For example : in relation to loss of earnings you’ll be expected to judge your ability to work and return when reasonably expected and not try and maximise your losses by staying off work longer than necessary.
Although it is up to the defence to prove that you could and should have mitigated your losses, if you’re seen to have not tried to take steps to do so the law does not look upon this kindly, and therefore in the end you can end up losing money and being unnecessarily disappointed.
For example : if you were offered medical treatment for free and this could be just as helpful and done just as quick as private treatment, you may be seen to have not mitigated your loss by choosing to pay and not be reimbursed for this expense.
Of course, this is just an example and therefore should not be taken as a “rule” as each case differs and your solicitor will always guide you and advise on these types of issues.
With a majority of cases, a person can incur a lot of losses, especially when their injury is serious and mitigating your losses should not be looked upon as a bad thing. By doing this, you can avoid unnecessary arguments and get the compensation you deserve.
The point of compensation is to try and place you back into the position you were prior to your accident and resulting injury. Here at The Injury lawyers we get you the maximum amount of compensation you deserve and you keep 100% of it, however, we would advise people to always be mindful of this duty to mitigate!
