Personal Injury Compensation Amounts Explained

After an accident, you might be confused about how much compensation you’re entitled to for your injuries. You remember a friend of yours had an accident a few months ago, and suffered similar injuries – so you look to them for advice. You decide to pursue making a claim yourself with a figure in mind of what you’ll receive, only to find that the amount you’re quoted is less. You think to yourself “why did my friend get more than me? Surely that isn’t fair?”.

There are a multitude of reasons why compensation cases may seem very similar, but result in different award amounts. In this post we explain just some of the factors involved which can have an impact.

Compensation For Your Injuries

The award of compensation for your injuries themselves (aka ‘Pain, Suffering and Loss of Amenity’) will be tailored specifically to you, and reflects how you personally have been affected. This could be in relation to anything from your work to your lifestyle, hobbies and other personal interests.

For example, a case could be worth more for someone who’s accident led to them developing psychological conditions like depression and anxiety, or whose pre-existing mental illnesses were made worse. The same goes for any pre-existing physical conditions, arthritis for example, that have been made worse after the accident.

If two people suffer a similar physical injury, there can be other underlying factors which could make one claim worth more than the other.

Compensation For Loss of Earnings

The injuries you sustained after your accident might have left you unable to go to work. The amount you would have made at work during the time you spend recovering will be included in your compensation amount.

So, even if your injuries are the exact same as somebody else’s, their awards for loss of earnings could be different based solely on the rate of pay from their employer, or if they are unemployed they will not receive anything for these damages.

Care and Assistance Costs

If at any point you needed a friend or relative to take care of you after your accident, your compensation will include a sum to cover any unpaid work. For example, a person living alone may receive less care than someone living with a partner that is able to assist them in their recovery and therefore would be awarded a larger sum.

It can also cover any expenses you paid for others to carry out work that you normally could’ve done for yourself, like self-care, being driven to appointments and cleaning.

Future Expenses

If your accident leads to a permanent injury that requires ongoing medical treatment that you need to pay for, or you are left unable to attend work for an extended time period, the value of your case could increase even further.

These awards can vary, again depending on your work and lifestyle. Certain phsycial injuries will be worth less in a claim to people with sedentary lifestyles who work in office settings for example. They will receive a lower sum than someone who is more active working as a landscaper or bartender, as their work is less likely to have been severely affected.

Ruined Life Events

Maybe you had the holiday of a lifetime planned? Or maybe your wedding was coming up and you’ve had to cancel? You might be able to recover a portion of these costs if you were injured just prior to when these plans were due to happen, and if your injuries seriously affected your ability to enjoy yourself.

If you fully recovered before the event took place, you will not be able to recover anything under this head of damages. The amount you can recover also depends on the cost of the event. Take a holiday for example – someone visiting overseas will receive a larger sum than someone who’s trip is within the country, which is usually considerably cheaper.

Knowing what your claim is worth

These are just some of th emost common factors we take into consideration when estimating what a personal compensation claim is worth to you as an individual. To truly get the best and fairest award for you, we will need to gather as much information as we can, to ensure you aren’t losing out.

If you have been involved in an accident and are wondering how much compensation you could be entitled to, give us a call TODAY on 01744 612549 or email enq@imslaw.co.uk and one of our advisors will be happy to help.

Millie McDonagh

Millie is part of the marketing team at IMS Law. She’s here to demystify all of the jargon around the law and your rights, giving you the information you need in simple terms.

Call IMS now on 01744 612549 for a free initial consultation.