MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE COMPENSATION

Valuation of Damages

If you or a relative including children have been injured in a medical accident or if you are a dependent of someone who has died whether or not you are directly related to them you may be able to make a claim for medical negligence compensation for personal injury which has been caused as a result of a clinical error. Whilst it is not possible to adequately compensate injured victims in financial terms or to realistically value the pain and suffering resulting from personal injury there has become established over many years a system for awarding compensation which depends in the main on consideration of awards of damages made in previously decided cases. Judges who decide the amount to be awarded in the County Court and in the High Court are guided by reports published of previously decided legal cases after representations have been made to them by lawyers acting for the claimant and for the defendant and by written guidelines published by The Judicial Studies Board tempered by their own experience of previous cases where they have been either a judge or an advocate.

General Damages & Special Damages

For the sake of expediency lawyers divide medical negligence compensation that may be awarded in personal injury cases into two main categories being one category for losses where the value can be easily calculated with a degree of accuracy and another category where the damages are not able to be calculated accurately and must in the main be assessed by a judge, usually following representations by the parties lawyers and often after hearing expert witnesses.

General Damages.
This category represents compensation for items that cannot be calculated accurately and includes past pain and suffering and ongoing pain and discomfort if there is a continuing disability.

Special Damages.
This category represents compensation for items that can be calculated accurately and includes wages losses, both past and future, and all other reasonable expenses incurred by the claimant as a result of the injury.

Interest

In addition to compensation for personal injury there is often an element of interest that can be claimed which is based on the amount and type of the basic award. Awards can also me made in the form of a weekly, monthly or annual payment known as a structured settlement however this type of award is usually only made in high value cases with specific parameters that may make payment of a lump sum unfair.

Expert Clinical Negligence Solicitors

It is anticipated and expected that in the next financial year the cost of medical negligence compensation claims to health authorities and medical insurers will substantially exceed £500,000,00 and that one in twenty people will suffer in this way at some time in their lives. We represent a network of clinical negligence solicitors operating throughout the United Kingdom. If you would like to talk to an expert lawyer just complete the contact form and a specialist solicitor will phone you to give free advice without any further obligation whatsoever.