Calculating your compensation before a case is settled is never an exact science. We would often give you a bracket once you have made a claim and any offers which fall into that bracket, we would likely advise to accept and any which fall below the bracket, we would probably not advice to accept.
What is going to be discussed is how we at The Injury Lawyers calculate what should be owed to you and what evidence we may need.
Medical Evidence
It is important to obtain medical evidence if you are proceeding with a claim. Not only does this help you on the way to recovery but it is also proof of your injury. A medical report will usually be obtained and approved by you to use as evidence. This can be sent to the third party so that they can assess your injury and then make a valuation of the pain, suffering and loss of amenity which the accident has caused. They will then make their own assessment of the valuation of the claim. They can then use this information to make an offer.
On occasions the medical evidence may not be sufficient or a specialist report may need to be obtained to further investigate your injury. This can be obtained and then sent over to the third party to prove your injury and enables the third party to make a more detailed assessment of your injury.
The JC Guidelines
The JC guidelines give the brackets which general damages fall within for various injuries. This is a huge list, so an example will demonstrate the process.
A client has been the victim of a road traffic accident and has injured their neck as a result. There are various guidelines for the level of the injury which match a figure of money.
The JC guidelines for neck pain range from severe, where there has been damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots, leading to a combination of very serious consequences to the minor, where a recovery is made within a few days, weeks or months. They are set out below:
- Severe – severe neck damage compensation ranges from £32,000 to £106,000
- Moderate – moderate neck damage compensation ranges from £6,500 to £27,500
- Minor – minor neck damage compensation ranges from a few hundred pounds to £5,600
There are three sections within the severe, moderate and minor categories which further pinpoint the likely award which you could receive. This is only for ‘general damages‘. If you have lost earnings and have been off work, ‘special damages‘ can be claimed on top of the compensation which is outlined in the JC guidelines. Special Damages are essentially losses and expenses.
What if the other side does not admit liability?
Even if the other side do not admit that it was their negligence (or the negligence of their insured) which caused the accident, it is still possible to settle the matter out of court. This is because the other side may wish to settle the matter to end the case and not incur further legal costs where there is a risk we can crush their defence. This is not a rule which they always comply with but it is a possibility.
If you want to know how much we think you could obtain for your accident, call The Injury Lawyers today!
