Care and assistance is something that many people do not consider to be a thing they can recover when claiming for compensation. Of course, when you are injured, everyday tasks such as shopping, cleaning and washing can become an extremely difficult task which you now require help with to complete.
This help can be obtained professionally, but it can also include help from friends and family. Unbeknown to many, help from your nearest and dearest can be recovered – but how does this work?
After the case has got moving and you are happy to proceed, you will receive something called a “Client Care Questionnaire” which is simply a form which is broken down into the common activities such as the above and you are required to estimate how long you have received help doing these things. Please bear in mind that these estimations do have to be “reasonable” and therefore it is important that you are honest when completing this form as the court does not look to kindly on people “over exaggerating” their claim!
So for example: if you have had to have help doing the weekly shop – say on average this takes 2 hours – if you have not been able to do this for 6 weeks that is 12 hours that somebody else has had to help you with. We then take these 12 hours and claim the time back at around a rate of £5- £6 per hour. Again, if you have had help washing which usually takes around 30 minutes over this period we would calculate the above rate for the time and so on and so forth.
It is a simple process to recover for care and assistance and one that as specialist personal injury lawyers we are more than familiar with. Of course, the more seriously injured you are, the more care and assistance you will require.
Another important warning to take heed of is that whenever you are making a claim for compensation you are under a duty to mitigate your losses. This means that you are under a duty to keep your losses to a “reasonable minimum”. Therefore this also adds to the importance of ensuring that you make a reasonable estimation as to the help you have received.
If you have any questions regarding claiming for care and assistance, or indeed any questions about pursuing a personal injury claim then simply contact us. One of our friendly personal injury specialists will be happy to explain the process and confirm what you may be able to recover.
