Your personal injury solicitor’s aim is to make sure that you receive the highest possible level of compensation for your head injuries.
The award of compensation is the only solution available to the court. The court can compensate you not only for your head injuries but also for the stress and inconvenience of being involved in the claims process.
The element of the compensation which can not be specifically calculated, for example the pain and suffering which you have sustained and any future loss you may suffer as a result of your injury are referred to as “general damages”. Your solicitor will use guideline figures and figures from previous court decided cases similar to yours to estimate the value of your general damages. Read “
How Much is My claim Worth?” for the full guideline figures relating to head injuries.
The compensation which can be specifically calculated such as your actual financial losses are referred to as “special damages”.
Special damages are the items of loss that can be calculated. They will represent your financial loss from the date of the accident until the date your claim goes before a judge in court.
The main items of special damages are:
1. Loss of earnings to the date of trial;
2. Medical expenses incurred before trial;
3. Expenses relating to the cost of living with disabilities before trial;
4. Cost of services, for example care costs incurred before trial
5. Extra heating costs as you may be forced to stay at home more
6. If you had a car or motor cycle accident, cost of repair of your vehicle;
7. Hire car charges if you hire a car;
8. Bus fares;
9. Damage to your clothing;
10. Taxi fares;
11. Prescription charges;
12. Recovery or storage charges relating to your car;
13. Damaged items in your car;
14. Pre-accident value of the car or motor cycle (less salvage if your car was written off);
15. Loss of petrol if your car or motor cycle was written off.
It is for you to prove the items of loss. You will need to provide receipts to prove each item of loss. Insurance companies often deny payment for items that can not be supported by genuine receipts.