Compensation Tables For Personal Injury Claims
By Danielle Jordan . Last Updated 15th July 2024. Welcome to our guide. We’ll be providing guidance on how to use compensation tables for personal injury claims. The tables can be useful in giving you an idea of the types of injuries you could sustain in different accidents and how much each injury could be worth.
However, you should be aware that there are many factors that can affect the compensation settlement you receive. We’ll look into the various factors further throughout our guide.
A personal injury claim can be made if you’ve suffered harm in an accident resulting from someone breaching the duty of care they owed you. If you’re unsure whether someone acted negligently, you can speak to a member of our personal injury claims team.
An expert advisor can assess your claim to see if it has favourable grounds. If it has, they can provide further information on the steps you could take to seek compensation. This can include the evidence you may need to obtain and the options you have regarding legal representation. They can also connect you with our solicitors.
For more information, use the following details to get in touch:
- Telephone us on 0800 073 8804.
- Send your enquiry to an advisor and they can get back to you at a more convenient time.
- Get instant advice using the live chat feature at the bottom of the page.
You can also watch our video which explains Compensation Tables For Personal Injury Claims in detail:
Select A Section
- When Could You Claim Personal Injury Compensation?
- Does Evidence Impact My Compensation Payout?
- What Factors Influence Compensation Payouts?
- How To Use Compensation Tables For Personal Injury Claims
- Car Accident Claim Calculator
- Brain And Head Injury Compensation Tables
- Soft Tissue: Compensation Tables For Personal Injury
- Tables For Back Injury Compensation Payouts
- Get Help Claiming Personal Injury Compensation From Our No Win No Fee Solicitors
- Injury Claim Guides
When Could You Claim Personal Injury Compensation?
Negligence occurs when you suffer an injury due to a relevant third party breaching their duty of care. Being able to prove negligence is a crucial element in a personal injury claim. Payouts could be denied for injured parties who cannot prove this.
At work, your employer owes you a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). Per this duty of care, employers must take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees whilst there are working. For example, if you trip over a wire at work due to your employer not tidying them away or securing them down, you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim.
Road users’ duty of care is set by the Road Traffic Act 1988. They need to navigate the roads in a way that prevents injury and damage to themselves and others. Additionally, they are expected to adhere to the rules and regulations in the Highway Code. For example, if another driver fails to follow the traffic signals and you suffer injuries in a collision, you could be entitled to compensation.
In public spaces, the controller of a space owes you a duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. They must take steps to ensure your reasonable safety while you are using that space. For example, if you trip over uneven pavement that the local council was aware of and failed to fix within a timely manner, you might be able to claim.
Please get in touch with our advisors to discuss injury compensation amounts and to see if you could be eligible to make a claim.
What Is The Time Limit For Claiming Personal Injury Compensation?
Generally, you have 3 years from the date you were injured to begin your personal injury claim. This is stated in the Limitation Act 1980. However, there can be certain exceptions to this time limit.
For instance, if the claimant is under 18 or lacks the mental capacity to claim, then the time limit is suspended.
The time limit for minors who were under 18 when the incident occurred begins on their 18th birthday. They can make their own claim from this date. For those who lack the mental capacity to claim, the time limit would be begin from the date of their recovery but is suspended indefinitely until this point.
In the time before a party can make their own claim, a litigation friend could be appointed by the courts to claim on their behalf.
Does Evidence Impact My Compensation Payout?
Evidence is crucial to successfully receiving payouts for personal injuries. As such, when seeking personal injury compensation, it’s useful to keep records of your injury and treatment plan. Other top tips for proving personal injury claims include gathering other evidence such as:
- CCTV footage of the incident. If this footage is available, you can request this in certain instances. If you’re involved in a car accident, dashcam footage can also be useful.
- Medical reports of your injury. When seeking personal injury compensation, a solicitor will arrange for you to have your injuries assessed by a medical professional. This can highlight the extent of your injuries. Our solicitors can organise for this to be arranged as close to you as possible.
- Statements from witnesses. If you ask for the contact details of any witnesses after an accident, your solicitor can contact them as part of the claims process.
- Photographic evidence of your injury and the accident site.
If you would like to know more about the claims process or potential payouts for personal injuries, contact our team for free legal advice. We can tell you if you’re eligible to claim and provide you with a compensation estimate. To learn more about this, please refer to the compensation tables for personal injury claims below.
What Factors Influence Compensation Payouts?
There are no typical payouts for personal injury claims because every case is unique. For example, when you claim compensation for physical pain and mental suffering under what is known as the general damages head of loss, your payout will depend on the likes of:
- Injury nature and severity.
- Prognosis and predicted complications.
- The impact on your quality of life, as well as loss of amenity, meaning the impact on your enjoyment of life.
Those calculating general damages compensation can look at medical evidence. They may also refer to a series of guideline compensation brackets for different injuries found in a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
A potential second head of loss covers special damages. This relates to anything caused by your injuries that might bring about financial loss. For example:
- A loss of earnings from being unable to work while injured.
- Travel fees.
- Medical bills.
- Home help costs.
Compensation Payout Case Study
In an example scenario, two people have separate mountain bike injury claims where they each suffered head and leg damage.
One claimant suffered a minor head injury that healed within a few months. They also sustained a tibia fracture. Apart from a few trips to the hospital on the bus, they did not have too many costs. The overall payout covering general and special damages came to £7,500.
The other claimant had similar injuries, but as a professional mountain biker, they were no longer able to work. This caused them to suffer depression and seek psychiatric help. After calculating the loss of earnings, costs related to their healthcare and the price of mobility aids on top of their injuries, the second claimant received £300,000.
Continue reading through our personal injury compensation guide to payouts to learn more. For a more detailed assessment of your own case, simply call today, and an advisor will be on hand to support you.
How To Use Compensation Tables For Personal Injury Claims
Settlements for successful claims could consist of two heads of loss, general and special damages, as we discussed above.
Injuries are assigned a value according to the compensation brackets found in the JCG. The table below features a few examples of the compensation brackets from the JCG. However, due to the many factors considered when assigning a value to the general damages portion of your case, the figures in the table are only a guide rather than a guaranteed amount.
| Type of Injury | Severity | Guideline Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Hand Injury | Complete loss of both hands. | £171,680 to £245,900 |
| Hand Injury | Severe finger fractures | Up to £44,840 |
| Injuries Affecting Sight | Loss of sight in one eye with reduced vision in the other (i) | £117,150 to £219,400 |
| Deafness/Tinnitus | Total deafness | £110,750 to£133,810 |
| Wrist Injury (e) | Less Severe | £15,370 to £29,900 |
| Toe Injury | Severe toe injuries | £16,770 to£25,710 |
| Psychiatric damage | Moderate | £7,150 to £23,270 |
Instead of looking at a list of compensation payouts, you may find it beneficial to speak with our advisors who can provide you with a free valuation of your claim. They can also offer guidance on the special damages you could include in your settlement. Call the number above for more information.
Car Accident Claim Calculator
According to the Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: 2019 Annual Report, there were 736 fatalities involving car occupants. Additionally, the Department for Transport recorded 152,686 cars involved in reported accidents in 2019.
The exact cause of each of these accidents is difficult to pin down. However, some common variables of road traffic accidents might include:
- Weather conditions
- Road surface conditions
- Carriageway type
- Junction control
You would only be able to claim compensation if you weren’t at fault for your injuries. For example, if you were injured because a pothole wasn’t fixed (despite the council’s knowledge of it) and you crashed, you could claim. If someone else wasn’t driving with standard care and skill and caused your injuries, you could claim.
Although the nature of injuries caused by car accidents isn’t detailed, we have created a car injury compensation table below. It includes some injuries you could suffer in a car accident. The figures provided come from the JCG.
| Injury | Notes | Guideline Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Neck Injury | Severe: (ii) | £80,240 to £159,770 |
| Neck Injury | Moderate: (i) | £30,500 to £46,970 |
| Severe Leg Injury | Very Serious | £66,920 to £109,290 |
| Severe Leg Injury | Moderate | £33,880 to £47,840 |
| Knee Injury | Severe: (iii) | £31,960 to £53,030 |
| Knee Injury | Moderate: (ii) | Up to £16,770 |
| Shoulder Injury | Serious | £15,580 to £23,430 |
| Arm Injury | Simple forearm fracture. | £8,060 to £23,430 |
It’s important to note that claims for whiplash injuries have changed slightly due to the Whiplash Reform Programme. This means that if your claim is less than £5,000 you need to go through the government’s online portal. For more information on this, see further down in our guide where we go into more detail.
Brain And Head Injury Compensation Tables
A brain or head injury could result in severe long-term consequences that mean someone may require full-time care for the remainder of their life. Different accidents could result in this type of injury, such as:
- An employee falling from a faulty ladder in work
- Someone tripping over an uneven paving stone that the council failed to maintain
The table below looks at the compensation figures for head or brain injuries outlined in the JCG.
In addition to the general damages listed for injuries in the table, special damages could be included in the claim. For instance, for any ongoing care costs for the injured person.
| Injury | Notes | Guideline Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Brain damage | Very Severe | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Brain damage | Moderately Severe | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Brain damage | Moderate: (i) | £183,190 to £267,340 |
| Brain damage | Moderate: (ii) | £110,720 to £183,190 |
| Brain damage | Moderate: (iii) | £52,550 to £110,720 |
| Brain damage | Less Severe | £18,700 to £52,550 |
| Brain damage | Minor | £2,690 to £15,580 |
Soft Tissue Compensation Tables For Personal Injury
A soft tissue injury might refer to sprains and strains. They usually affect the muscles, tendons and ligaments around the bones. Although they are often minor injuries, they can cause symptoms that can severely affect people.
Some accidents that could cause this type of injury might include:
- Car accidents such as a side crash
- An accident at work resulting from heavy lifting without the correct equipment or training
- Public place accidents such as slipping on a wet floor in a shop
The following table outlines example figures of what you could claim under general damages for soft tissue injuries, using the JCG.
| Injury | Notes | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Neck Injury | Severe: (iii) | £55,500 to £68,330 |
| Neck Injury | Moderate: (i) | £30,500 to £46,970 |
| Hand Injury | Moderate (h) | £6,910 to £16,200 |
| Shoulder Injury | Moderate | £9,630 to £15,580 |
| Less Serious Leg Injury | Simple fractures and soft tissue (iii) | Up to £14,450 |
| Wrist Injury | Fractures and soft tissue (d) | £7,420 to £12,630 |
| Injuries to the pelvis and hips | Lesser injuries: (ii) | Up to £4,820 |
| Chest Injury | Soft tissue injuries or rib fractures (g) | Up to £4,820 |
Tables For Back Injury Compensation Payouts
The back is an intricate part of the body and injuries to the area could affect your spine, spinal cord or the muscles around them. In addition, some back injuries often affect the neck and vice versa.
There are many ways these accidents could happen. For instance:
- Slips, trips or falls
- Rear-end car accidents
- Cycling accidents
Not only can the physical effects be devastating, but the psychological impact can be debilitating too. For that reason, the compensation figures in the table below show what you could claim for neck and back injuries as well as any psychological injuries suffered.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Back Injury | Severe: (i) | £111,150 to £196,450 |
| Back Injury | Severe: (ii) | £90,510 to £107,910 |
| Back Injury | Severe: (iii) | £47,320 to £85,100 |
| Back Injury | Moderate: (i) | £33,880 to £47,320 |
| Back Injury | Moderate: (ii) | £15,260 to £33,880 |
| Back Injury | Minor: (i) | £9,630 to £15,260 |
| Back Injury | Minor: (ii) | £5,310 to £9,630 |
| Back Injury | Minor: (iii) | £2,990 to £5,310 |
| Back Injury | Minor: (iv) | Up to £2,990 |
Get Help Claiming Personal Injury Compensation From Our No Win No Fee Solicitors
Those looking at injury compensation charts or tables such as the examples above can see that personal injury compensation can vary greatly for different injuries. This is because payouts for personal injury claims are determined on a case-by-case basis, and there are numerous factors which can influence how a personal injury claim is calculated.
Now that you have more information on the typical payouts for a personal injury and how compensation may be calculated, you may be interested in starting a claim.
Our solicitors can help with a variety of personal injury claims under a kind of No Win No Fee arrangement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When working with a solicitor under this kind of agreement, you won’t be expected to pay any upfront or ongoing fees to your solicitor. Additionally, if your claim doesn’t succeed, then you won’t pay for your solicitor’s services.
You will pay a success fee to your solicitor if your claim succeeds. This success fee is a small percentage deducted from your settlement award, which has a legal cap.
To find out how one of our solicitors could help you make a claim, or to learn more about personal injury claim payouts, get in touch with our team today. Additionally, they could connect you with one of our solicitors if they believe you may have a valid claim. To get started:
- Call on 0800 073 8804
- Use the live chat feature
- Contact us online
Injury Claim Guides
We have lots more guides on personal injury claims which you can browse below:
- A guide to the claims process
- Climbing wall activity accident claims
- Claiming compensation for quad bike injuries
- Activity centre injuries – how to claim compensation
- How does the personal injury claim process work?
- Missing tile accident claims
- Success fees in personal injury cases
- How many claims go to court?
- Special damages in personal injury claims
- CCTV footage in personal injury cases
- Claiming compensation for injuries caused by faulty furniture
- How to claim against your employer
- Try our personal injury claims calculator
- Multi-story car park accident claims
- The Pre-Action Protocols in personal injury
- How much compensation can you get for a personal injury claim?
- Visit the NHS for any medical advice.
- For more information on workplace accidents, see the Health and Safety Executive website.
Thank you for reading our guide on understanding compensation tables for personal injury claims. We hope you’ve found it useful.
