Compensation Explained

Compensation is also called ‘damages’ and there are two heads of damages for which you can claim – these are general damages and special damages, both of which I will go on to explain below.

General Damages

General damages is compensation which you can claim for the injuries you sustained as a result of your accident. In essence, you are claiming for:

Pain and suffering: Both physical and psychological suffering is considered in this category.
Loss of amenity: Loss of amenity covers all the effects your injury has had on your life. These can be effects on your social life, domestic life and professional life.

Special Damages

Special damages aims to reimburse you for the quantifiable financial losses suffered as a result of your accident. These losses are collated in a document known as a Schedule of Loss in order to disclose them to the other side. I have listed some of the more common types of special damages below:

Care and assistance
Loss of earnings
Treatment costs
Other – Travel costs and prescription costs

How are your general damages valued?

A solicitor would use a number of tools to value your claim for compensation. I have set out these below:

Judicial Studies Board Guidelines bands injuries for the purposes of valuation. The JSB Guidelines for neck injuries are as follows:

Minor Whiplash Injuries – £875 to £5,150
Moderate Whiplash Injuries – £5,150 to £16,400
Severe Whiplash Injuries – up to £97,000

The average claim is worth approximately £2500.

Medical Report – a medical report will not just assess your injuries but will go on to discuss the various effects the injury has had on your life in order to assess both your claim for pain and suffering as well as your claim for loss of amenity. The medical report forms an essential foundation from which your claim can be valued.
Case Law – your solicitor may look to cases similar to your own which have settled previously in order to value your own case.
The skill experience and knowledge of your solicitor – your solicitor will use all of the tools at it his disposal to value your claim, this includes his own expertise.