What Are Special Damages In Serious Injury Claims?
If you want to know about special damages in serious injury claims, you’ll find this guide helpful and informative. We’ve included sections on whether you’re eligible to make a personal injury claim and the evidence you can use to support your claim if so. As well as discussing special damages for losses and expenditures, we also look at what a serious injury claim could be awarded in general damages.
Special damages in serious injury claims have the potential to exceed the amount you receive for the injuries themselves. This is because a serious injury can impact your life in quite a profound manner. The financial fallout of a serious injury can reach many parts of your life going forward.
A Guide To Special Damages In Serious Injury Claims
Read on to find out more about special damages in serious injury claims. You’ll also find our contact information below. Our advisors are available 24/7 to assist you and answer any questions you may have.
- Use the pop-up chat window in the corner
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Talk to us about your claim online
Select A Section
- What Are Special Damages In Serious Injury Claims?
- When Could You Claim Special Damages In Serious Injury Claims?
- Evidence Needed To Claim For Special Damages
- Examples Of Serious Injury Claim Payouts
- No Win No Fee Serious Injury Claims
What Are Special Damages In Serious Injury Claims?
Special damages are one of the heads of claim you could be eligible to receive as part of a compensation payout following a successful personal injury claim. The figure is calculated to account for specific losses, costs, and expenses that have occurred as a result of your injury. The aim of special damages is to restore you to a financial standing you would have been in had you not been injured.
For example, you may have experienced a loss of earnings if you have had to take time off work to recover. In some cases, it could be that your injury is so severe that you are never able to return to work. In these cases, calculations can be made to account for your lost earnings and makeup part of your special damages compensation.
Examples other than loss of earnings or future loss of income can include:
- Prescription costs (and other medical costs).
- Walking aids.
- Prosthetics.
- Travel to medical appointments.
- Additional care costs at home.
- Adaptions to your home.
It’s important to make sure you have evidence of any losses you experience. Some good examples of ways to support this area of your claim are payslips and receipts.
Get in touch today for more information on special damages in serious injury claims and what can be included.
When Could You Claim Special Damages In Serious Injury Claims?
There are 3 main criteria that a personal injury claim needs to meet in order for it to be valid.
- You need to have been owed a duty of care when you were injured.
- The duty needs to have been breached.
- An injury needs to have been sustained as a result of the breach.
Below we look at areas in which a duty of care is owed and what that duty of care entails.
Special Damages In Road Accident Claims
All road users owe each other a duty of care to use the roads in a way that prevents injury and damage to themselves and others. A driver’s duty of care can be upheld by adhering to the rules, laws, and guidance in the Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act 1988.
If a driver is exceeding the speed limit, then this could be an example of them breaching their duty of care. Speeding could result in the driver not being able to react in time to a pedestrian crossing the road. The car could then hit the pedestrian, causing serious injuries such as broken bones, paralysis, or brain damage in some cases.
Special Damages In Work Accident Claims
In accordance with the Health and Safety at Work etc. 1974, your employer owes you a duty of care at work. They must take all steps considered reasonably practicable to avoid you sustaining an injury.
For instance, your role may involve the use of heavy machinery such as a bench saw or other cutting apparatus. It’s your employer’s responsibility to make sure this machinery is properly maintained. Otherwise, a malfunction could cause a serious injury, such as the loss of a limb. One example of this could be if your clothing gets caught in the mechanism and the emergency stop button doesn’t work.
Special Damages In Public Accident Claims
The duty of care of those responsible for the safety of those in a public space can be found in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. They must take all reasonable steps to avoid injury to those using the space for its intended purpose.
To give an example, there could be broken glass on the floor of a pub or bar due to someone dropping their drink. If this is not cleaned up in a reasonable amount of time, then a customer could trip and fall. When they land, they could suffer lacerations and permanent scarring. If glass were to make its way into their eye, this could impact their sight.
In these instances, the injured party could make a personal injury claim, should their case be successful, they could be awarded compensation for both general and special damages.
Limitation Periods For Your Claim
When making a personal injury claim for general and special damages in serious injury claims, there is a time limit to consider. Personal injury claims generally have a time limit of 3 years. This is the period of time in which you must begin legal proceedings. You can find this limitation period in the Limitation Act 1980.
However, there are exceptions to this time limit. For example, if the injured party is under 18, this time limit functions slightly differently. Get in touch today, and our advisors can tell you more about the claim time limits and their exceptions.
Evidence Needed To Claim For Special Damages
As well as providing evidence of the losses you’ve experienced due to your injuries, you also need evidence to support your claim in general. This proof should show that your injuries occurred as a result of someone breaching their duty of care to you, as well as the nature and severity of the injuries in question.
Here are some examples of evidence you could gather:
- CCTV footage.
- Photographs.
- Your medical records.
- Witness contact information.
- Workplace accident book (in the context of a workplace accident claim).
One of our solicitors could help in the gathering of evidence to support your claim. Get in touch today to find out more.
Examples Of Serious Injury Claim Payouts
Compensation for every personal injury claim is calculated for each specific instance. Therefore, every settlement is unique. If a serious injury claim is successful, it can be awarded up to two heads of loss: general damages accounting for the injury and impact on quality of life and special damages for the financial losses caused by the serious injury.
In this section, we’ve included some figures taken from the latest edition (2022) of a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is used by legal professionals as part of the process of working out how much your general damages figure should be.
Use the amounts shown below only as a rough guide.
Compensation Bracket Guidelines
| Injury | Description | Guideline Figures |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious injuries plus financial losses | When you have sustained more than one injury of a serious nature plus all your financial losses including loss of earnings, care costs, and adaptations to your home and car. | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Very severe brain injuries | (a) The following will be taken in to consideration: (i) the degree of insight, if any; (ii) life expectancy; (iii) the extent of physical limitations; |
£282,010 to £403,990 |
| Hearing and sight | (a) The injured party will be left completely deaf and blind. | In the region of £403,990 |
| Sight | (b) Complete loss of sight. | In the region of £268,720 |
| Hearing | (b) Complete deafness. | £90,750 to £109,650 |
| Kidney | (a) When both of the injured party’s kidneys are permanently damaged, or completely lost. | £169,400 to £210,400 |
| Arm | (a) When the claimant loses both arms. | £240,790 to £300,000 |
| Hand | (a) Both hands will be lost, or effectively lost. | £140,660 to £201,490 |
| Foot | (a) Amputation of both of the claimant’s feet will have taken place. | £169,400 to £201,490 |
| Loss of earnings | In the event that your injuries cause you to miss time at work, affecting your income. | Up to £100,000 and above. |
Remember, there can also be special damages in serious injury claims. Get in touch today for a free valuation.
No Win No Fee Serious Injury Claims
If you claim with one of our solicitors, you do so under a form of No Win No Fee deal known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means you can access the services of your solicitor without paying an upfront fee. If your claim succeeds, they take a success fee from your compensation. The fee takes the form of a legally capped percentage. They don’t take this if your claim fails.
This is just one of the benefits of working with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors. Other advantages include:
- Guidance and advice throughout the process.
- Help with gathering evidence.
- Having your claim valued for you.
Contact Us To Find Out More About Special Damages In Serious Injury Claims
If you have any questions about special damages in a serious injury claim, get in touch today. Our advisors can answer any questions you may have about any part of the personal injury claims process. They’re available 24/7, so reach out today:
- Use the pop-up chat window in the corner
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Talk to us about your claim online
Discover More About Serious Injury Claims
Thank you for reading this article on special damages in serious injury claims. We’ve included some additional links below to resources you may find useful.
Information from other sources:
- Litigation friends – Government information on appointing someone to claim on behalf of someone else.
- Recovering from an amputation – Information from the NHS.
- Pre-action protocol for personal injury claims – More from the government.
More of our guides:
- Serious injury compensation claims – Another of our guides on this topic.
- Serious spine injury claims – Read about making a claim for this kind of injury.
- Claim for serious organ damage – More from us.
