Completing a personal injury claim may be seen as two-pronged. On the one hand you have your claim for your injury compensation to which any good injury lawyer would advise you an approximate value. On the other hand you have you losses. Now, you may wonder – ‘what am I talking about’, and think that your claim was just for compensation. Well, succeeding in a personal injury claim is meant to put you in the position you would have been in had you never have suffered the accident. Therefore, if we did not include in that claim any loss of earnings you had suffered, or all the travel costs you had incurred as a result of the accident, you would still be worse off.
Therefore, any financial losses you incur as a result of the accident will be compiled in a document known as a Schedule of Loss. This document will not contain a valuation for your injury compensation because, as I said, it can be seen as two-pronged; so the compensation part is claimed separately.
Below I have listed some of the more common items of loss which you may see on a Schedule of Loss:
- Loss of Earnings – if you have been absent from work due to your accident and gone unpaid or at a reduced pay, such as Statutory Sick Pay, then you may have a loss of earnings claim. This claim would usually be calculated from average earnings taken from information on 13 wage slips prior to the accident. If you are self –employed the calculation would be based on 3 years profit and loss accounts.
- Care and assistance – if you have required assistance with tasks such as personal care ie washing and dressing or domestic duties such as cleaning and preparing meals – and this was a result of the accident – then you may have a claim for care and assistance. This help is claimed back at an hourly rate and is payable to your carer/s.
- Treatment costs – at The Injury Lawyers we are often able to arrange for physiotherapy, osteopathic, or chiropractic treatment at an early stage of our client’s claim. This treatment is then something which would later be included as a loss for the other side to pay if you are successful, or to be covered by insurance if you are not.
- Travel costs – if you have incurred travel costs as a result of the accident then this may form part of your Schedule of Loss. An example of a travel cost may be to a medical appointment for an injury suffered as a result of your accident.
This list does by no means contain all information regarding loss. At The Injury Lawyers we are able to fully assess your claim and advise on losses relevant to you.
