What can be claimed by you?

There are two types of damages that are payable if your claim succeeds.

(1) General Damages
General damages are for ‘pain and suffering and loss of amenity’.

Pain describes the physical pain you have experienced due to the accident. Suffering is predominantly the mental aspect you may have experienced after an accident, perhaps more easily understood as the understandable anxiety, fear, stress and embarrassment that can follow from being injured unexpectedly. Amenity is where you may have lost the ability to enjoy something that you took for granted before the accident. A good example would be where you enjoyed regularly attending the gym but after your accident your injury stops you from doing this.

Putting a value on general damages is not an exact science. Put simply, you are an individual and no two people or injuries are the same and thus cannot be treated the same. We will however always be able to give you a broad indication of what you may be awarded based on previous cases and our own experience.

(2) Special Damages
Special damages represent financial loss that has arisen directly due to the accident. Whereas a Court can never truly compensate you for the physical harm and distress that you have suffered, it can make sure that at the end of your case you are not in any way or amount out of pocket. The list of possible financial losses below is not exhaustive but certainly it is not uncommon to see that some of the following may have been sustained:-

Loss of earnings, bonus, pension benefits
Travel expenses
Medical expenses
Hire charges
Loss of insurance excess or no claims bonus
Future medical costs (physiotherapy, private treatment etc)
Nursing care costs
Gardening, DIY expenses
Care and assistance provided by family members