During a first meeting or telephone call with a client, solicitors are often asked: 'How much is my bodily injury claim worth?'

The assessment of compensation for such injury claims is difficult. This type of compensation is referred to as 'general damages', which is compensation for pain, suffering, inconvenience, loss of amenity and, if appropriate, cosmetic defect.

In reality, this type of compensation cannot be assessed by a process of calculation, and of course, no two cases are ever precisely the same. However, there must be consistency among compensation awards.

In assessing compensation for bodily injury, solicitors, barristers and judges rely on the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines to assist in the assessment of general damages in personal injury cases.

The guidelines provide a wide bracket of likely awards of compensation for certain types of injury.

For an individual assessment of your claim, it's necessary to obtain formal medical evidence confirming the full extent of the injuries sustained and the effects of those injuries on your home, work and social life.

Solicitors then look at other reported legal cases that have progressed to trial in which a judge has made an award of compensation to an individual who has suffered injuries and symptoms similar to yours. This is known as 'case law'.

Case law provides solicitors with the tool to assess a narrower bracket of the likely level of compensation you'll receive for a physical injury sustained in an accident. 

If you have been involved in an accident and need help assessing the value of your claim, please call us on 03700 868686.

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