“Reasonable” is one of those words that gets thrown around A LOT in personal injury claims and it can be quite confusing.
This blog focuses primarily on what is considered “reasonable” in regards to any losses you have incurred as a result of an accident, as this is the primary area where reasonable will be applied when it comes to considering things for a claim.
These types of losses are often referred to as “special damages” and can include things such as:
- Loss of earnings
- Medical Expenses
- Care and Assistance
- Car repairs
As you can see these are all things that commonly arise out of accidents and you are entitled to claim for them. HOWEVER, when you do make claims for these types of things they have to be something that would be “reasonably” expected to occur and the recovery has to be reasonable as well.
So, if you have being receiving care and assistance from friends and family, you are entitled to claim for this if it is reasonable that you needed such help whilst injured. This area heavily relates to the type of injury you have sustained and how this is affecting your everyday life, as common sense prevails in the sense that the more serious your injury the more help you are probably going to need with everyday tasks such as washing, cleaning and shopping. It is advisable to always be realistic when estimating how much help you have had as if it is not found to be “reasonable” it is unlikely you will be able to recover it. This could impede on your genuine claims of help.
Being realistic is basically all you need to be – if your car was merely scratched in your road traffic accident, claiming back for a complete re-vamp of your car is probably not going to be classed as “reasonable”.
We will always seek to recover ALL the losses you have incurred as a result of your accident, as of course, if it wasn’t your fault there is no reason why you should suffer – however, remember that anything you claim for will have to stand this “test of reasonableness” and therefore being honest and realistic means that you are likely to get the amount of compensation you deserve- rather than being penalised for being a little adventurous.
