What Are Special Damages In A Personal Injury Case?

If you have been injured in an accident which was not your fault you may be able to claim compensation. Your compensation settlement may be made up of general and special damages. General damages compensate you for pain and suffering, whereas special damages recover compensation for the financial losses caused by your injuries.

In this guide, we will discuss what special damages are and when you could be awarded them as part of a personal injury claim settlement. As a result of your injury you may have lost income or had to meet a variety of expenses. Here we look at what you could be compensated for. We also look at how to prove the financial impact of an accident, when you could be awarded an interim payment and how long you have to begin a claim. To bring our guide to a conclusion, we look at the benefits of having a No Win No Fee solicitor to help with your personal injury compensation claim.

For more information on the types of damages you could be eligible to claim, please contact our team. A team member can also advise you on what items you could be reimbursed for.

A note saying personal injury claim.

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What Are Special Damages?

Your first question may be, what are special damages? These are a way to compensate those injured in accidents which were not their fault for the financial impact this has had on them. They compensate for out-of-pocket expenses as well as lost income. The purpose of them is to restore the person to the same financial position they were prior to their accident occurring. They are awarded as part of a successful personal injury compensation claim.  Examples may include;

  • Loss of earnings or income.
  • Medical or care expenses.
  • The cost of modifying your home.
  • The cost of travelling to medical appointments.
  • Replacing or repairing personal property damaged in an accident.

Special damages could be awarded in a variety of different types of personal injury claims, such as;

Below we look in more detail at the types of costs and losses which you could be compensated for.

Medical Treatment and Rehabilitation Costs

After being injured in an accident you may have had to pay out of pocket for medical care and treatment. You may have had to meet short-term medical expenses or anticipate having to meet long-term medical costs and future medical care. Examples could include

  • Hospital charges, such as those for hospital stays.
  • Doctors consultation fees.
  • Prescription medication charges.
  • The cost of diagnostic tests.
  • Physiotherapy or other rehabilitation care costs.

Loss of Earnings and Future Loss of Earnings

Loss of earnings could constitute a major part of your overall compensation settlement. This could include several different components, such as,

  • Lost salary or wages, including the loss of future earnings.
  • The loss of overtime or bonuses which you would have been entitled to if you had worked.
  • The loss of opportunities for promotion.
  • Loss of workplace benefits including pension contributions, healthcare and other perks of employment.

If you connected to a No Win No Fee solicitor from our expert panel they could help to assess what losses of earnings and workplace benefits you may be able to claim compensation for.

Adjustments To Your Home And Vehicle

As a result of your accident, you may have sustained long-term injuries. In some instances, these may require you to make adaptations or modifications to your home and/or vehicles. Depending on your needs, existing home and vehicle and the adaptations which need to be made, you may be able to claim for the cost of modifying your home.

In such cases your doctor and solicitor may consult with each other and you about the changes which may need to be made. This will then help your solicitor to estimate your needs and to claim compensation for such costs.

Long Term Financial Losses Including Care Costs

A further part of special damages claims could include those for long-term financial losses. As a result of an accident at work or road traffic accident you may require long-term medical care, assistance in the home or have to go into a care facility. Care in the home may be provided by a care professional or by a family member.

If you require professional care, you could claim for the long-term costs of this to ensure you are able to fund your care at home or in a care facility. If a loved one has had to take time off work or has had to leave employment to care for you, you could claim for their lost income and the financial impact on them.

A solicitor will be able to help assess what long-term financial costs you could claim for. They can also advise on what evidence you could submit to prove your costs.

Travel Expenses

You may have to travel in order to get the right medical treatment, care, rehabilitation or physiotherapy. This may mean using public transport, your own vehicle, a loved one transporting you or using other transport services. Doing so may be costly. As part of your personal injury claim, your solicitor could help to assess these costs and recover them from the defendant.

A No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor from our panel could help you to claim compensation. Please contact us to see what special damages you could claim.

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What Evidence Do I Need To Claim For Special Damages?

You will need to prove what expenses and losses you incurred as well as how they were related to the accident you suffered. Details of the cause of the accident, such as an accident report log from a workplace or public place accident or a police report pertaining to a road traffic accident, could help show liability for your injuries. Additionally, witness statements, photographs and CCTV footage can all help to show your eligibility to claim compensation. Evidence such as your medical records can show what injuries you sustained.

You will then need to show proof of your costs. This may include;

  • Receipts for prescription medication.
  • Invoices for medical treatment, care costs or physiotherapy.
  • Estimates, quotations or invoices for works to adapt a home or vehicle.
  • Payslips to show your lost wages and pension contributions.

For further information on how to claim compensation, please contact our specialist team.

Can I Receive Interim Payments For Financial Losses?

If you suffered a serious injury you may require immediate medical treatment, have to meet care costs or start losing income straight away. This may leave you unable to meet these new costs as well as be unable to meet your existing monthly expenses.

In such personal injury cases you may be awarded part of your settlement early as an interim payment. In order to receive an interim payment the defendant will need to have accepted their liability for your injuries, a court will have determined liability or your case will be deemed to have a good chance of being settled.

Your personal injury lawyer will work to collect evidence which shows that you have an immediate need for these funds. They will then request them in advance of your compensation payout.

Any interim payments which are dispersed will be subtracted from your final compensation settlement. Our team can help to assess whether you are eligible to seek an interim payment. For more information on special damages in personal injury claims, please contact us.

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How Long Do I Have To Claim For Special Damages?

In most instances, personal injury claims must be started within three years of an accident causing you injury. There are, however, exceptions to this three year time limit. This is set out in the Limitation Act 1980.

These exceptions include:

  • Minors under the age of eighteen are unable to make a claim before their eighteenth birthday. In such cases time limits are either suspended until the claimant reaches the age of eighteen, thus giving them three years from the date of their 18th birthday to start the claims process.
  • Those without the mental capacity to manage their own claim see the time limit suspended or indefinitely or until they recover their mental capacity. If they go on to recover their mental capacity, they will have three years from the date it was deemed this recovery took place in which to begin the claims process. Accidents which have caused a traumatic brain injury could leave someone unable to make decisions on their own behalf. Alternatively, someone without the mental capacity to manage a court case prior to the accident could sustain injuries as well.

If a claimant is under the age of eighteen or if they do not have the mental capacity to start a court case, a loved one (such as a parent, guardian or spouse) or a solicitor could act as a Litigation friend while the time limit is suspended. A Litigation friend may be appointed by a court.

To find out if you can act as a Litigation friend and claim on behalf of someone else, please contact our team.

How Are General and Special Damages Different?

As highlighted earlier in the guide, compensation awarded in personal injury cases may be awarded for the financial impact of the loss as well as for your pain and suffering. Compensation for pain and suffering is called general damages.

General damages could be awarded for;

  • The pain caused by your injury.
  • Emotional or mental health effects of your injury. A serious or severe injury or a traumatic accident may also cause psychological damage.
  • The impact the injury has had on your quality of life.

To calculate compensation for general damages, your personal injury solicitor or another party responsible for valuing your claim may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines. Because each personal injury claim is unique to that person, compensation payouts differ from person to person, taking account of your injury and special damages.

We should note that you will not receive special damages without firstly being awarded general damages.

Contact Us To See If You Can Make A No Win No Fee Compensation Claim

At Public Interest Lawyers, we work with a panel of expert solicitors who are experienced in handling a wide variety of personal injury claims. Our team of advisors are on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can assess your case and, if they think that you have a valid claim, connect you to a personal injury solicitor from our panel.

If you choose to claim with a solicitor from our panel, they could offer to take you case on through a Conditional Fee Agreement. This allows them to work on a No Win No Fee basis. Under this type of agreement, the solicitor will not charge for their work until you win your claim and are awarded damages. If your claim is not awarded compensation, you won’t need to pay for their work.

If you are awarded compensation your No Win No Fee solicitor will charge a success fee. This is set as a percentage of the compensation awarded to you. How much can be charged (as a percentage) is limited by law.

For more information on how a No Win No Fee solicitor can help with your personal injury compensation claim and for advice on how special damages fit into the personal injury claims process, contact our team.

To contact an advisor;

A claimant and solicitor discuss special damages.

Learn About Making A Personal Injury Compensation Claim

Here we have included some more helpful guides from across our site.

  • In this guide we look at whether there are typical payouts for personal injury claims and how compensation is calculated.
  • As part of the personal injury claims process you may be asked to attend a medical appointment. This guide looks at what you should expect during this appointment.
  • Here we look at whether you should accept a personal injury offer to settle without a solicitor.

Resources:

To see if you can claim for special damages in your personal injury claim, contact us for free using the above details.