In the final article of her four part personal injury series, Lauren Martin from the Personal Injury team at Thatcher + Hallam Solicitors, looks at what you can claim for if you are making a personal injury claim and how compensation is calculated.

Last week Lauren discussed the process of making personal injury claims - click here to read. You can read Lauren's earlier article on misconceptions about making personal injury claims here and on the basics of personal injury claims here.

Personal injury compensation is essentially made up of two elements:

1) Compensation for the injuries themselves

2) Compensation for past and future financial losses and expenses. How is compensation for injuries calculated? Injuries themselves are valued (or calculated) using the Judicial College Guidelines and associated reported past injury claims from injury solicitors up and down the country. These sources give a near precise indication of how much the injuries would likely be worth in compensation. We are always very careful and conscientious when it comes to valuing a claim to ensure the best outcome for our clients and to make sure the compensation they receive reflects all post-accident injuries and any continuing symptoms and issues. How are past and future financial losses and expenses calculated? You can claim for a number of financial losses for your assessment. A non-exhaustive list are things such as: - Loss of income

- Travel to and from medical appointments

- Help and care someone else has provided to you whilst injured for things you would usually do yourself

- Medical expenses, such as self-funded physiotherapy

- Miscellaneous expenses, such as prescription charges, medications, ruined clothing, broken personal effects, etc.

- Future expenses (e.g. if the medical expert says you need physiotherapy for the rest of your life, this would be added to future expenses)

We would advise anyone who has had an accident, even if they have not yet decided whether they will make a claim, to keep a record of all of the above so that every expense, no matter how small, can be claimed back. 

Can we help you with a Personal Injury Claim?

Hopefully, this series of articles has helped explain the basics of personal injury claims. But if you have any further queries about the process please get in touch. And if you'd like to discuss making a personal injury claim we would be happy to help you with this.

Remember, we deal with personal injury claims on a 'no win, no fee' basis and there is no cost for you to make an initial enquiry about whether you are able to make a claim.

You can contact us by:

- using our online form to make your initially enquiry

- calling us on 01761 414646 One of our specialist personal injury team members will then get in touch and can guide and support you through the process, which we hope will ultimately result in a successful outcome in terms of rehabilitation and compensation for your personal injury claim.