Most people know they can look to win a financial settlement if they are injured in an accident that wasn’t their fault, but a lot of claimants don’t seem to know about claiming for their special damages.
Special damages cover financial loss
Special damages form part of the final value of a claimant’s settlement. It is the term used to describe the element of a claim that arises from the costs that an injured claimant has incurred. Such costs could be minor things such as bus or taxi fares to and from hospital, or petrol and parking expenses. However, they can also become large elements of a claim such as lost income or lost future income. Claimants can claim for items or clothing broken in an accident, such as spectacles, or private medical treatment if it can be proven that it is necessary to enable a quicker recovery.
One of the best reasons to use a company like ourselves is that our specialist solicitors will ensure that the value of a client’s final settlement is maximised in favour of the claimant. Whereas an inexperienced claimant, dealing directly with an insurer, will have no idea what is a fair settlement and for what they are entitled to claim. As well as making sure the full extent of a client’s injury is understood and the implications of the injury properly diagnosed and stated by a specialist doctor, your solicitor will ask you for details of expenses that you may have incurred. These and other costs will then form your special damages claim.
Keep receipts and quotes
To enable yourself to avoid being out of pocket, it is important that you make a point of claiming back any reasonable expenses that the injuries have lead you to incur. It is really important that you are able to prove these expenses. Therefore, if you are injured in an accident and wish to pursue a claim for personal injury compensation, make sure you keep receipts for taxi fares, car parking at hospital, petrol costs, massage therapies, prescription costs or physiotherapy treatment. Without receipts to prove your expenses, it is much harder to successfully claim them back.
You can also claim any lost income. For PAYE employees that don’t receive full sickness pay during sick leave, they will receive statutory sickness benefit. They can claim back the difference between the sum of money received for statutory sickness benefit and their usual average salary. Providing pay slips for a period of 3 months prior to the accident will enable your solicitor to claim this back.
For self-employed claimants, they will have to prove their income by way of providing accounts for the 2 previous years of their working life.
4 questions have been answered on this subject - ask us your question