A personal injury claim is a lawsuit or insurance claim that aims to seek compensation for an injury caused by negligence or breach of duty of care from a third-party.
Personal injury claims cover a range of cases and vary from minor injuries, to serious, life-changing damage.
They can vary from road-traffic accidents to slips and trips at work to even a fall in a public place, if it can be proved that a third-party was at fault. A claim may also be made if it can be proved that an existing condition has worsened as a result of the injury.
Depending on the severity of the injury, claimants will be awarded compensation for their injuries if the case is successful.
How much can I claim?
Each case is assessed individually and is dependent on supportive medical evidence.
However, we have broken down what you might get in terms of compensation based on the Judicial College Guidelines.
Ankle: Very severe – £50,060 to £69,700
Serious fracture with significant soft tissue damage. May be deformities or in some cases, below-knee amputation.
Elbow: Severe – £39,170 to £54,830
An injury regarded as severely disabling
Hand: Less serious – £14,450 to £29,000
A severe crush injury has caused significantly impaired function
Knee: Moderate – £14,840 to £26,190
This bracket includes injuries that caused a mild future disability or those that accelerate symptoms from a pre-existing condition. It includes dislocation and tears to the cartilage or meniscus
Arm: A simple fracture – £6,610 to £19,200
An uncomplicated fracture of the forearm
Toe: Serious – £9,600 to £13,740
This bracket includes injuries that cause permanent discomfort, pain or sensitive scarring, such as serious injuries to the big toe or multiple fractures or crush injuries to two or more other toes.
Shoulder – Moderate – £7,890 to £12,770
Symptoms include frozen shoulder with limited movement and discomfort which could persist for up to 2 years.
Head: Minor – £2,210 to £12,770
The claimant experienced minimal brain damage, if any. The award considers initial injury severity, recovery time, whether there’s any continuing symptoms and whether they have headaches.
Neck: Minor – £4,350 to £7,890
Full recovery made within 1-2 years. This category also relates to exacerbation or acceleration injuries between 1 and 2 years.
Back: Minor – Up to £2,450
A full recovery made within 3 months
For a more accurate breakdown of how much you could claim for your injury, get in touch with Oakwood Solicitors today.
What type of compensation will I receive?
The claimant may be awarded in general damages and special damages depending on the circumstances:
- General Damages
An award made for pain, suffering, and loss of amenity of life that is evidentially linked to the accident. The pain and suffering element of the award would compensate for all past, present, and future physical and psychiatric symptoms.
Loss of amenity means the inability to complete activities, either temporarily or permanently, after an accident, which could be undertaken before. This is designed to compensate for the actual injuries suffered, and the effect those have had on quality of life.
- Special Damages
Compensation for financial loss or out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a result of the accident. Including but not limited to:
- Loss of earnings
- Medication or prescription charges
- Travel to appointments
- Any cost of care for extra care needed from family or care providers
If you are not able to do things such as gardening, walking the dog, and have to pay somebody for these services as a direct consequence of your accident and subsequent injuries, these can also be claimed for.
However, an injured person has a duty to take reasonable steps to minimise losses/expenses. This is called mitigation of losses, and a court will assess whether or not the loss was reasonably incurred, before making an award.
How to make a claim
For a personal injury claim to be valid in Scotland, it must meet these criteria:
- A relevant third party owed you a duty of care
- The duty of care was breached
- As a result of this, you suffered an injury
Oakwood Scotland Solicitors are on hand to help if you wish to make a personal injury claim. Our legal experts will help to determine who is responsible for the injury and if the claim is valid.
Further reading
What is a Personal Injury claim? – Oakwood Scotland Solicitors
WHAT TO DO NEXT
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