Personal injury solicitors for clients throughout England & Wales
England & Wales
When people talk about compensation for an injury, the part they usually mean is general damages. This is the award for the injury itself and for the effect it has on your life: the pain you live with, and the things you can no longer do or can no longer do without difficulty. Our personal injury solicitors explain how that part of a claim is assessed, and why it turns on evidence rather than on a table of figures.
We act for clients throughout England and Wales, from straightforward injuries to serious and complex cases, and we take the time to understand how an injury has actually affected your day to day life. That detail is what makes the difference between an award that reflects your situation and one that does not.
Pain, suffering and loss of amenity is the legal name for general damages, the part of a compensation award that covers the injury itself and the effect it has on your life. Pain and suffering reflects the physical pain and any psychological distress the injury has caused. Loss of amenity reflects what you can no longer do, or can no longer do without difficulty. It is called general damages because there are no receipts to add up, so it is assessed rather than calculated.
The distinction between pain and suffering and loss of amenity is worth understanding, because they cover different things. Pain and suffering is about how the injury feels: the discomfort, the aching, the disturbed sleep, and any anxiety or low mood that came with it. Loss of amenity is about what the injury has stopped you doing. Someone whose knee injury causes constant pain has a claim under the first heading. Someone who can no longer run, kneel or play football has a claim under the second. Most claims include elements of both.
This part of a claim is usually the one people care about most, and it is also the part that is hardest to pin down. Financial losses can be proved with paperwork. The effect an injury has had on your life cannot, so it is established through the medical evidence and through a clear account of how things have changed for you.
General damages are not worked out from a formula, and there is no calculator that can tell you what your injury is worth. Instead, they are assessed. The starting point is the medical evidence. An expert examines you, reviews your records and reports on the nature of the injury, its severity and the prognosis, which means their view on how it is likely to develop. That report is then measured against the ranges used for injuries of comparable severity in the Judicial College Guidelines.
The guidelines give a bracket rather than a precise figure, and where you sit within that bracket depends on your own circumstances. The medical expert's view of severity and prognosis carries real weight. So does the practical effect on your life: whether the injury has interrupted your career, whether you need help you did not need before, and whether the activities that mattered to you have been lost or curtailed.
Your age and general circumstances are also relevant. The same injury can carry different consequences at different stages of life, and an injury that affects a young person's career or education may have a longer reach than one sustained later. Where an accident aggravated a condition you already had, the law takes you as you were found, so the fact that you were more vulnerable than the average person does not reduce what you can recover.
There is also the question of how long the effects are expected to last. An injury that resolves within a few months sits in a lower bracket than one with lasting or permanent consequences. That is why the medical evidence often needs to be updated before a claim is valued, and why settling before the picture is clear risks under-compensating you.
Where the accident was partly your fault, the total award, including general damages, is reduced by a percentage to reflect your share of the blame. That is known as contributory negligence, and it reduces the claim rather than defeating it.
Loss of amenity is the part of general damages that people most often underestimate, and often because nobody has told them it counts. It covers the loss of enjoyment and quality of life caused by the injury, not just the clinical diagnosis.
Sport and exercise
Giving up a sport, a gym routine or regular walking, including the effect on fitness and wellbeing rather than only the activity itself.
Driving and travel
Where driving has become painful, difficult or impossible, or where you can no longer use public transport with the confidence you had before.
Household tasks
Cooking, cleaning, gardening, DIY and everyday chores that you can no longer manage, or can only manage with help or in stages.
Family and social life
The effect on caring for children, helping relatives, seeing friends and taking part in the things that made up your normal week.
Sleep and rest
Disturbed sleep, needing to rest during the day, and the knock on effect that pain and fatigue have on everything else.
Confidence and mood
Loss of confidence, anxiety about doing things you used to take for granted, and low mood following the accident and the changes it brought.
Hobbies and interests
The pastimes that gave your week its shape, whether that is gardening, music, crafts, volunteering or time with grandchildren.
Personal care
Where the injury means you need help with washing, dressing or other personal tasks that you previously managed yourself.
Independence
The wider loss of independence, including relying on others for lifts, errands and decisions you would once have handled alone.
This is where a detailed account of your situation really matters. The medical expert can describe the injury, but only you can explain what it has taken away. It helps to write down, while it is fresh, the specific things you can no longer do and the ways your routine has changed. Those details are what allow a solicitor to present the claim in a way that reflects your life rather than a generic description of the diagnosis.
Pain and suffering is the more obvious half of general damages. It covers the physical discomfort the injury has caused, both at the time and for as long as it lasts. Where an injury required surgery, or where recovery involved a period of significant pain, that is part of the claim even if the injury has since improved.
What people sometimes do not realise is that this heading also covers psychological harm. Anxiety, low mood, disturbed sleep and the loss of confidence that can follow an accident are all capable of being compensated, and in some cases post traumatic stress is diagnosed. These effects are easy to overlook because they are not visible, but they are a genuine part of what the accident has cost you.
Where the psychological effects are significant, evidence from a psychologist or psychiatrist is usually needed alongside the orthopaedic or other medical evidence. That might sound like a lot of process, but it is what allows these effects to be valued properly rather than dismissed as part of the general picture.
A personal injury claim has two parts, and pain, suffering and loss of amenity is only one of them. Understanding how they fit together helps you see why a claim is worth what it is, and why the two are never added up in the same way.
This is the award for the injury itself, made up of pain, suffering and loss of amenity. It is assessed on the medical evidence and your circumstances, and it is the part of the claim this page is about. There are no receipts, and no way to prove it with paperwork, which is why the medical report and your own account of the effect on your life carry so much weight.
This is the award for the money the injury has cost you: lost earnings, treatment and rehabilitation, care and assistance, travel, aids and equipment, and future losses where the injury has lasting effects. These are proved with documents. In serious cases this part of the claim often far exceeds the general damages, particularly where care or lost earnings stretch over many years.
Returning to work does not remove a claim for pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Many people go back because they have no choice, and then find they are in pain at the end of the day or lose their weekends to recovery. That is still a loss, and it is still part of the claim. Where the injury has also affected your pay, our page on loss of earnings compensation explains how that separate part of the claim works. For a fuller picture of what the two parts cover overall, see our page on solicitors for personal injury compensation.
There is no receipt for pain, so the evidence works differently from the financial side of a claim. It comes from three directions, and a strong claim usually draws on all of them.
A report from an independent expert on the nature of the injury, its severity and the prognosis. Where the injury is significant or the effects are complex, more than one expert may be needed.
The records from the days and weeks after the accident, which document what was reported and treated at a time when nobody could have been building a claim.
A clear explanation of what you can no longer do and how your routine has changed, supported where helpful by family members who have seen the difference.
One practical point is worth making. Insurers assess these claims carefully, and a vague description of ongoing pain invites a low offer in a way that a precise one does not. Saying that your back hurts is very different from explaining that you can no longer lift your child, that you sleep sitting up, or that you have had to give up the walking group you went to every week. Those specifics are what a solicitor uses to build the case, and it is worth writing them down as they happen rather than trying to recall them months later.
It is the legal name for general damages, the part of a compensation award that reflects the injury itself and the effect it has on your life. Pain and suffering covers the physical pain and any psychological distress the injury has caused. Loss of amenity covers what you can no longer do, or can no longer do without difficulty, whether that is work, driving, sport, housework, hobbies or simply sleeping properly. It is called general damages because there are no receipts to add up, so it is assessed rather than calculated.
There is no fixed figure for an injury by name. Awards for pain, suffering and loss of amenity are measured against the ranges in the Judicial College Guidelines, which is the reference used for injuries of comparable severity, and then adjusted for your age, how the injury has affected your life and your medical prognosis. Two people with the same diagnosis can receive very different awards. Any reliable indication has to come from the medical evidence in your individual claim.
Loss of amenity looks at the effect the injury has had on your day to day life rather than only the medical diagnosis. A medical expert reports on the injury and its ongoing effects, and evidence about what you can no longer do is gathered from you and, where relevant, from family members. The court and the insurer want to understand the practical consequences: the activities you have given up, the help you now need, and the things you can only manage with difficulty or pain.
Yes. Loss of amenity is part of general damages and compensates for the effect on your quality of life. Loss of earnings is special damages and compensates for the money the injury has cost you in lost pay. They are claimed separately and both can form part of the same claim. The fact that you have returned to work does not remove a claim for loss of amenity, because you may still be living with pain or be unable to do things you used to manage.
Often yes. Where an accident is partly your responsibility, compensation is usually reduced to reflect your share of the blame rather than refused, which is known as contributory negligence. A common example is not wearing a seatbelt. The reduction is applied as a percentage to the total value of the claim, including the award for pain, suffering and loss of amenity.
You can still claim. Where an accident aggravates or accelerates a condition you already had, the law deals with the injury on the basis that the claimant is taken as found. In other words, the fact that you were more vulnerable than the average person does not reduce your entitlement, and compensation reflects the worsening of your condition rather than the underlying condition itself. The medical evidence needs to explain clearly what has changed.
It can. General damages can reflect psychological as well as physical harm, including anxiety, low mood, sleep disturbance and, in some cases, post traumatic stress. Where the psychological effects are significant, evidence from a psychologist or psychiatrist is usually needed. These effects are sometimes overlooked, so it is worth telling your solicitor about them rather than assuming they are not part of the claim.
A straightforward claim where responsibility is admitted and the injury resolves may settle within six to twelve months. Where symptoms persist or the prognosis is uncertain, it takes longer, because the award for pain, suffering and loss of amenity cannot be judged properly until the medical picture is clear. Settling early to speed things up risks accepting compensation for a position that later turns out to be worse than it appeared.
Suitable claims may be accepted under a Conditional Fee Agreement, commonly called No Win No Fee. Acceptance depends on an assessment of liability, the evidence, the prospects of success, proportionality and the likely compensation. 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 exact terms are explained before you decide whether to proceed.
Yes. Injury Law Specialists provides access to solicitors and lawyers who act for clients throughout England and Wales. Much of the work is done by telephone, video call and email, and clients can be seen at a convenient location where a meeting is needed. Distance from a city centre does not prevent a claim for pain, suffering and loss of amenity from being properly handled.
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.
Injury Law Specialists is a marketing and advertising platform and is not a law firm or a provider of regulated legal services. All personal injury legal advice, legal services, casework, representation, legal support, and any free initial assessment or consultation promoted or arranged through Injury Law Specialists are provided by MB Solicitors, a trading name of MB Legal Solicitors Ltd.
MB Legal Solicitors Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales under Company Number 12281731. The firm is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) under SRA ID 8000764 and is a member of The Law Society. Injury Law Specialists does not itself provide legal advice or carry out reserved legal activities. Any solicitor-client relationship arising from an enquiry will be directly between the client and MB Legal Solicitors Ltd.
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