If you have an accident and suffer injury, you’ll likely choose to make a personal injury claim. The claim will be against the person or organisation responsible for the accident. You may ask a personal injury solicitor to take on the compensation claim for you.
Once you have chosen the injury lawyer you want to act for you, you’ll have lots of questions to ask them. One of the first will probably be to find out how much compensation you will get at the end of the claim.
If you are reading this article because you have been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault and you want to know now, how much your personal injury claim is likely to be worth, call us at Mooneerams Solicitors on 029 2048 3615. You will get to speak with one of our experienced personal injury team. They will give you a more detailed estimate of what your injury claim might be worth. The call will be free, and you won’t be committing yourself to anything by making it!
You might not want to speak with a specialist personal injury claims solicitor just yet. In that case, reading this article will help you determine how your injury claim will be valued and how much different types of injury claims are worth. Always bear in mind, though:
“Each personal injury claim is different – no two claims are exactly the same.”
How is my personal injury compensation calculated?
When most people ask: “How much compensation will I get for my personal injury claim?” they want to know what their injuries are worth. They are enquiring about what lawyers call ‘General Damages’. We use this term because most compensation is made up of more than just a sum of money for the injury you suffered.
What are general damages?
Personal injury compensation is one type of general damages. We refer to personal injury compensation as damages for ‘pain, suffering and loss of amenity’, PSLA for short. The meaning of ‘pain and suffering’ is relatively easy to understand, but what is ‘loss of amenity’?
‘Loss of amenity’ refers to the impact your injury has on all aspects of your life – work, leisure time and taking part in family life. Remember we said that no two claims are the same? Well, loss of amenity is just one example of this.
Suppose your hobby is playing amateur league cricket, and you are a left-arm bowler. In that case, if you suffered a broken left arm in the accident, the injury would have a massive effect on your ability to play cricket. It is only fitting that your compensation will take into account that you will miss out on taking part in your hobby.
Generally speaking, your compensation for pain, suffering and loss of amenity will be treated as one sum when it comes to negotiating the settlement of your claim.
Sometimes injuries are severe enough to mean the accident victim must give up their career. If that happens, they are able to claim for ‘loss of congenial employment.’ In other words, compensation for loss of job satisfaction. As a general guideline, awards for this type of compensation are usually in the region of £5000 to £7500.
Other heads (items) of general damage include any of the following appropriate to a particular case:
- Loss of use (of a motor vehicle – often claimed in road traffic accident cases)
- Loss of enjoyment – often of something specific, such as a pre-booked holiday.
- Handicap on the open labour market – where the type or severity of your injures put at risk, your prospects of continuing in your current job and which would cause you difficulty finding another job, were that to happen.
As well as General Damages, most claims will also include at least some types of special damages.
What are special damages?
Think of special damages as pure monetary losses. The most common type of special damages is loss of earnings, where an employer does not pay the salary of an injured employee and instead only pays Statutory Sick Pay.
Other kinds of special damage claims include:
- Medical expenses – may consist of both short- and long-term medical costs
- Travelling expenses – for visits to medical experts
- Costs of repairs or replacement to damaged property
- Costs of adapting property (to accommodate the needs of a catastrophically injured accident victim)
- Care costs ( in cases where the injured victim needs regular or permanent assistance)
- Specialist appliance costs
How much will I get for my injuries?
As personal injury solicitors, we are assisted in our efforts to value a client’s personal injury claim, in three ways:
1. By using as a starting point the guidelines published by the Judicial College.
The personal injury guidelines set out tables of figures relating to all types of injury. These are used by both the courts and accident compensation solicitors to work out how much a client’s claim for injuries is worth. Below we have set out details of the injury guidelines for some of the more common types of injury personal injury solicitors get asked to deal with.
2. By referring back to previously decided court cases.
Every day judges up and down the country are asked to hear personal injury cases and decide how much an injured claimant should receive. Judges, too, are guided by the Judicial College guidelines. However, they also have the benefit of listening to evidence from medical experts. The claimant in person will also tell the court about the effect the injury has had on them. For these reasons, the judgments in previously decided court cases are helpful guides to valuing injury compensation claims.
3. By using the claimant solicitor’s experience and training to help them advise their client on the valuation of their claim.
A solicitor will take into account the Judicial College guidelines and previous case law. However, a solicitor will also draw on their own experience dealing with many injury claims to help them advise their client what their claim is worth.
What is my personal injury claim worth?
To get an idea of what your claim for personal compensation injury might be worth, use our interactive Personal Injury Compensation Calculator
It’s straightforward to use, and it will provide you with a range of possible compensation figures for the different types of injury. Once again, it is worth taking on board that no two personal injury claims are ever the same. Hence the reason there is no set figure for each type of injury compensation.
The exception to this is where the occupants of motor vehicles suffer whiplash injuries in road traffic accidents after May 2021 and decide to bring whiplash claims . You will find our article: “Are Mooneerams still taking on whiplash claims”, an invaluable read to explain the new whiplash rules in motor accident cases.
What is my claim for multiple injuries worth?
Some people suffer multiple injuries in accidents that weren’t their fault. For example, someone who gets injured in the leg may also receive a foot injury. Alternatively, an accident victim who experiences a head injury might also break limbs.
In those circumstances, you can get compensation for all of the injuries you sustain. However, calculating the value of compensation due can be complicated.
If you suffer multiple injuries in an accident where someone else is to blame, call one of our experienced personal injury lawyers at Mooneerams solicitors on 029 2048 3615. They will listen to you and provide their legal advice based upon the specific circumstances of your case.
You can also contact Mooneerams by completing the contact form on this page. We will call you back at a time to suit you.
We handle most personal injury claims on a No Win No Fee basis.
