If you’ve been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, you may be wondering what you could be entitled to by way of compensation, if the person, company or organisation that you are suing agrees that they are at fault.
Compensation for injuries
Firstly, you are entitled to compensation for your injuries, and for the fact that your injuries may have impacted on your life in many ways, such as your ability to work, your ability to carry out your hobbies and leisure activities. You may not be able to drive for a period of time, or to do your housework or exercise. Your sleep might be impacted, and you may have to cancel holidays or social plans. This element of your compensation is known as “Pain, Suffering and Loss of Amenity” in the legal world.
Your solicitor will arrange for you to be examined by a specialist medical expert who will produce evidence detailing what your injuries are and how they have affected all aspects of your life. This report will be the evidence upon which your lawyer can start to value your claim. It may be if you have suffered multiple injuries, both physical and psychological, that you will need to be seen by more than one medical expert and all of this evidence will be used by your lawyer to assess the value of your injuries.
Loss of earnings
If you have been unable to work because of your injuries, then you may be entitled to claim for loss of earnings if have not been paid during your time off work or if you have only received partial payment. If your employer has paid you in full, then they may be entitled to reclaim from your opponent the company sick pay that you received. If your injuries mean that you have to work reduced hours going forwards or to alter your job, then you may be entitled to future loss of earnings.
Disadvantage on the open labour market
This means that if, due to your injuries, you are no longer able to do the job that you did at the time of the accident and have to retrain or find another role, then you may be entitled to a lump sum award. This could cover a period when you are retraining, or if you are likely to earn less in a future role than you did at the time that you were injured, this could also be taken into account.
Care and assistance
If you needed help with doing housework, or usual tasks around the home such as cooking, shopping, doing the laundry, or even looking after pets, then you may be entitled to claim for any help that you received, even if this was provided by your family members. Your lawyer can advise you on the level of care that you can claim, which would usually be dependent upon your injuries and how they affected your ability to do things.
Travel costs
If you have needed hospital treatment or to visit your GP, or indeed any other professional such as a physiotherapist or counsellor as a result of your accident-related injuries, then any costs involved in travelling to and from those appointments can be included in your claim. Your lawyer will ask you to keep receipts for any taxi fares or public transport expenses, and even if you travelled by car you can add the mileage/fuels costs to your claim.
Medication costs
Being injured often means that you will need to pay for prescribed medicines or over the counter medications. You can re-claim these costs back from your opponent, and if you have paid for any private treatment, such as physiotherapy, scan costs, counselling sessions or private dental treatment, then you can also add these costs to your claim, provided that the treatment is justifiable and has been recommended. If you need future treatment to recover, such as future psychological therapy, or surgery costs, then your lawyer can also advise you on whether these can be added to your claim.
Miscellaneous costs
There is a broad spectrum of potential losses that come under this heading. For example, you may have had a pre-booked holiday that you were unable to go on as a result of your accident related injuries. You may be able to reclaim this, if your holiday company or insurer does not fully reimburse you. If you went on holiday, but were severely restricted in what you could do, i.e. you could not swim, or walk around, then you may be able to claim for a loss of enjoyment of the holiday. Other things, such as not being able to go to pre-booked events or use a gym membership, can also be included in this head of loss.
The one key thing to remember is that if you do intend to claim losses from your opponent, in addition to compensation for your injuries, then it is absolutely vital that you keep evidence of anything that you have paid for such as bank statements, receipts or invoices. You can contact Stephensons today on 0161 696 6235 to speak with our specialist personal injury solicitors.
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