If you’re asking this question, your solicitor may not have explained the difference between General Damages and Special Damages, or mentioned recoverable losses, or what makes up a claim for compensation.
Don’t worry – our team here at The Injury Lawyers are always on hand to advise you! Here is a guide of all that you need to know:
How is My Compensation Valued?
Let’s start right at the beginning – your claiming for compensation because you have been injured through no fault of your own. Your suffering and loss is the cause of someone else’s careless / negligence. You have the human and legal right to make a claim for compensation. But how on Earth do we find out how much you are entitled to receive?
The claim is split in to two primary parts – General Damages and Special Damages. General Damages relates to the compensation you are entitled to claim for which covers your pain, suffering, loss of amenity, and inconvenience that the accident and injury has caused you. This is valued by medical evidence that we organise through a suitable expert consultant.
Special Damages is designed to cover the literal financial losses you have incurred. The idea of claiming for compensation is to get you a payout reflective of your injuries, and then make sure that you are in the financial position you would have been in had the accident never have occurred. So, this amount of compensation goes on top of what you can claim for when it comes to your injuries alone. It’s an addition designed to make sure you don’t lose out on a single penny of your own hard earned cash.
What is Special Damages Made of?
Special damages is made up of several common items, but is commonly accepted as a bit of a grey area as it can potentially include so many things. The common items that make up a Special Damages claim include the following:
- Lost earnings – from time off work where you have not received full pay.
- Medication costs – from prescription or over the counter meds that have helped you through the injuries
- Treatment costs – such as physiotherapy (although any good lawyer would sort out finding for this right from the start of the claim anyway)
- Travel expenses – to and from appointments, for example
- Care and assistance – from family members or friends assisting with your daily chores and tasks
- Replacement cost of damaged items of clothing
Ultimately, anything that you have financially lost out on that is a direct result of the accident or the injuries you have suffered with could be included in the claim.
If I Don’t Claim for Special Damages, Does this Affect My Claim At All?
Many people get a little worried and think that you have to have a claim for Special Damages to make a claim at all. This isn’t the case; Special Damages is an addition to the compensation you are entitled to receive for your injuries and suffering. If you’ve been lucky enough to not have lost out on anything, don’t worry about it – you will still receive your General Damages payout.
If you have any questions or queries about any aspect of claiming for compensation, please feel free to call us on 0800 634 75 75.
