Personal injury solicitors for clients throughout England & Wales
England & Wales
In a serious injury claim, the largest part of the compensation is usually about the future rather than the past. Care that will be needed for years, treatment yet to come, equipment and adaptations, and the earnings a person will no longer be able to make. Our solicitors explain how these longer term losses are identified, evidenced and valued, and why they are often worth more than the award for the injury itself.
We act for clients throughout England and Wales. Getting this part of a claim right is detailed work, involving care experts, accountants and sometimes actuaries, but it is the work that makes the difference between a settlement that lasts and one that does not.
It is the part of a compensation claim that looks at the longer term consequences of an injury, rather than what has already happened. It covers care and assistance you will need going forward, treatment, equipment and adaptations, and the money you will lose through not being able to work as you would have done. In a serious injury claim, these future losses often make up the greater part of the total award.
This is where the difference between a modest claim and a substantial one usually lies. The award for the injury itself is important, but it is a single figure. Future losses are not. Care provided several hours a week over thirty years, a career that has ended prematurely, a pension that will never build as it would have done, and a home that has to be changed. Each is a separate loss, and together they can dwarf everything else.
It is also the part of a claim that cannot be rushed. Where an injury is still developing, where further surgery is expected, or where it is not yet clear whether someone can return to work, the future is not yet knowable. Settling on a guess at that stage is how people end up under-compensated for problems that emerged later. Taking the time is not delay for its own sake. It is how the claim is made to last.
These are the main heads of future loss. What is recoverable depends on the injury and the expert evidence, and in a serious case several of them usually apply together.
Future care
The help you will need going forward, whether from professionals or family, calculated in hours per week over the period it will be required.
Future loss of earnings
The difference between what you would have earned and what you are likely to earn now, where the injury affects your ability to work.
Reduced earning capacity
Where you can still work but not at the level you would otherwise have reached, including the promotion or career path that is no longer open.
Pension loss
Where a career has been cut short or moved to lower paid work, the effect on pension contributions and eventual benefits, usually calculated actuarially.
Future treatment
Surgery, therapy and rehabilitation you are likely to need, calculated from the medical prognosis rather than from an estimate.
Accommodation and equipment
Adaptations to your home or the additional cost of a more suitable property, together with equipment, aids and their future replacement.
One point about reduced earning capacity, because it is often missed. You do not have to be out of work to have a future loss. Someone who returns to a less demanding or lower paid role, or who can no longer manage the overtime that used to form part of their income, has still lost something, and that loss is measured over the whole of the rest of their working life. It is not limited to the obvious cases of someone who cannot work at all.
The work starts with the medical prognosis, because everything else follows from it. An expert in the relevant specialty reports on the injury and on how it is likely to develop. That view of the future is what allows the other experts to do their work. If the prognosis is unclear, the future losses cannot be valued properly.
Care is usually the next piece. A care expert assesses what you can and cannot do, and sets out what help is reasonably necessary as a result, expressed in hours per week. Where the need is permanent, the care package is costed over the rest of your life, which may bring in actuarial evidence on life expectancy. Treatment, equipment and accommodation are assessed in a similar way, each by the expert best placed to comment.
The financial losses are then calculated. An accountant examines what you earned, what you would probably have earned, and what you can now expect, taking account of your age, your occupation, your prospects and the state of the market. Where a pension has been affected, actuarial evidence follows. This is detailed work, and it is why the losses in a serious claim are set out one by one rather than lumped together.
Only when that picture is reasonably complete can the claim be valued and presented. Where the other side disputes the evidence, negotiations follow, and where agreement is not possible the case is decided by the court. Many serious claims settle through negotiation well before any hearing. Our page on serious injury solicitors explains how the whole claim is built around this work.
A serious claim can take two to four years or longer to settle. That is a long time to wait for care, treatment or money to live on, and there are mechanisms designed to bridge the gap.
Money paid on account of compensation before the claim is settled. It can fund treatment, rehabilitation, care, equipment or everyday living costs while the claim continues. Interim payments usually require an admission of liability or a court order, and are not available in every case, but where they can be obtained they make a real practical difference.
Where liability is admitted or the insurer accepts responsibility in principle, it is sometimes possible to arrange physiotherapy, occupational therapy or psychological support early, funded by the insurer. We cannot promise privately funded treatment in every case, but where it is achievable it is usually better than waiting for the claim to conclude.
For the most serious injuries, a case manager can coordinate treatment, care and support so that the family is not left to organise everything themselves. Where a professional case manager is appropriate, the cost can form part of the claim.
Where someone lacks capacity to manage their own affairs, the court can appoint a deputy. The costs of the deputyship and of managing the award can be substantial over a lifetime, and they are a recoverable head of loss where properly evidenced.
None of these can be guaranteed in advance. Each depends on the attitude of the insurer and the circumstances of the case, and we will explain frankly what is achievable rather than presenting an unrealistic picture.
Future losses form the largest part of the special damages in a serious claim. They sit alongside the losses already incurred, and separately from the award for the injury itself.
The award for the injury itself and the effect on your life, known as pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Our page on pain, suffering and loss of amenity explains how that part is assessed.
The award for money the injury has cost, both past and future. Our pages on loss of earnings, care and assistance, future treatment and equipment and aids each explain one part of this in detail.
For the full picture of what a claim can include, from the injury itself through to the longest term loss, see our page on solicitors for personal injury compensation.
It is the part of a compensation claim that looks at the longer term consequences of an injury, rather than what has already happened. It covers care and assistance you will need going forward, treatment, equipment and adaptations, and the money you will lose through not being able to work as you would have done. In a serious injury claim, these future losses often make up the greater part of the total award.
It starts with a care expert, who assesses what you can and cannot do and what help is reasonably necessary as a result. Their report sets out the care package in hours per week. That is then costed over the period it will be needed, which for a permanent injury means the rest of your life. Where care is expected to continue for decades, the calculation may need actuarial evidence on life expectancy.
Yes, where the injury affects your ability to work in the long term. It covers the difference between what you would have earned had the accident not happened and what you are likely to earn now, whether because you can work fewer hours, cannot do the same role, or cannot work at all. Where a career has been cut short, an accountant usually prepares a report projecting the loss, and pension loss may be claimed separately.
It is the loss that arises where you can still work, but not at the level you would otherwise have reached. Someone who was on a promotion path but can no longer manage the demands, or who has moved from skilled manual work to a lower paid role, has suffered a loss even though they are employed. It is calculated by comparing the earnings you would probably have achieved with those you can now expect.
Yes, where the injury has affected your pension. If a career has ended early, or if you can only work in lower paid employment, the effect on pension contributions and final benefits can be substantial, particularly for a final salary scheme. Pension loss is usually calculated with actuarial evidence, and it can be a significant element of a serious injury claim in its own right.
Where an injury means your home no longer meets your needs, the cost of adapting it, or of moving somewhere more suitable, can be claimed. That might mean ramps, a wet room, a stairlift or a ground floor bedroom. In serious cases it can involve the additional cost of a different property altogether. An accommodation expert usually assesses what is reasonably required.
The medical evidence has to address the prognosis, which means the expert's view on how the injury is likely to develop. Where improvement is possible, that is factored in. Where deterioration is possible, that is addressed too, and in some cases a settlement can be structured to allow for review if the injury develops in a particular way. The claim follows the evidence rather than assuming the worst or the best.
Because the future has to be understood before it can be valued properly. Where an injury is still developing, where further surgery is expected, or where it is not yet clear whether someone can return to work, settling early risks accepting compensation for a position that turns out to be worse than it appeared. It is better to take the time and get the long term picture right than to settle quickly and be left short.
An interim payment is money paid on account of compensation before the claim is finally settled. It can fund treatment, rehabilitation, care, equipment or living costs while the claim continues. Interim payments usually require an admission of liability or a court order, and they are not available in every case. Where they can be obtained, they make an enormous practical difference to a family coping with a serious injury.
Yes. These are simply elements of the compensation, funded in the same way as the rest. Suitable claims may be accepted under a Conditional Fee Agreement, commonly called No Win No Fee, subject to an assessment of liability, the evidence and the prospects of success. If the claim succeeds, a success fee may be payable, and in many personal injury claims the legal cap is 25% of the relevant categories of damages including VAT.
The answers above explain the position generally. Every claim turns on its own facts, and the applicable rules are those in force at the relevant time. For advice on how long you have to bring a claim, see our page on personal injury claim time limits.
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