Compensation Guide
The amount of compensation you may be awarded for your personal injury claim will vary between individual cases, as the following factors are all taken into consideration:
- The severity of your injuries
- How much pain, suffering, or stress you have endured
- How long-lasting the effects will be
- Your age
- Your employment
- What your loss of earnings has been, if you were working
- What your loss of earnings is likely to be in the future
- How much you have had to pay for medical treatment so far
- How much you expect to have to pay for medical treatment in the future
- The costs of any modifications that may be required in your home as a result of your injuries
Because there are so many different factors that are taken into account when compensation is being awarded in clinical/medical negligence cases, it is impossible to give hard and fast figures as to the value of each claim.
However, we can provide a rough guide as to the sort of levels of compensation you might expect to be awarded for various kinds of personal injuries and industrial diseases. You could get more than this or you could get less. It all depends on the individual claim.
These figures are based on the ‘Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases: 10th Edition of the Judicial Studies Board’. The guidelines are based on previous court cases; they save the solicitor research time and make disagreement about the value of a personal injury claim less likely.
Ankle
Severe injuries and significant permanent disability: £15,000 - £25,000
Fractures and ligament injuries, resulting in moderate disability: £6,500 - £13,500
Arm
Serious fractures of one or both arms: £9,000 - £29,000
Uncomplicated fractures with complete recovery within a short period: £3,000
Uncomplicated where there is modest or residual disability: up to £9,000
Elbow
Severely disabling injuries: £18,350 - £25,000
Injuries leading to impairment of function: £7,500 - £15,000
Moderate or minor injuries: up to £6,000
Back
Strains, sprains and soft tissue injuries: up to £6,500
Severe back injuries: up to £14,000
Hand
Loss of fingers: £2,000 - £9,000
Severe fractures with partial amputations: up to £18,500
Fractures with impairment of grip: £4,250 to £5,850
Serious injury to ring or middle fingers: £7,000 - £7,750
Loss of thumb: £18,000 - £27,500
Severe dislocation of thumb: £2,000 - £3,500
Wrist
Injuries resulting in significant or permanent disability, but where some useful movement remains: £16,100 - £25,750
Less severe injuries where there is still some permanent disability, i.e. a degree of persisting pain and stiffness: £8,250 - £16,100
An uncomplicated fracture: £4,850
Very minor, undisplaced or minimally displaced fractures and soft tissue injuries requiring the application of a plaster or bandage for a matter of weeks and a full or virtual recovery within a matter of months: £2,300 - £3,125
Head
Minor injuries involving no brain damage: up to £6,000
Minor brain damage with good recovery: up to £21,000
Neck
Recovery within 2 years: £2,850 - £5,150
Severe neck injuries associated with incomplete paraplegia: £97,500
Hip
Minor injuries: up to £6,750
Severe injuries: up to £13,000
Knee
Lacerations, twisting or bruising injuries where recovery is complete: up to £3,250
Ongoing minor symptoms of aching / discomfort / occasional pain: up to £6,500
Leg
Simple fractures: up to £4,250
Severe injuries leading to permanent problems with mobility, the need for crutches for the remainder of life; injuries where multiple fractures have taken years to heal, injuries have led to serious deformity and limitation of movement: £36,000 - £55,500
Shoulder
Dislocation of the shoulder and damage to the lower part of the brachial plexus: £8,400 - £12,600
Moderate Injuries: frozen shoulder with limitation of movement and discomfort, with symptoms persisting for about 2 years: £5,150 - £8,400
Minor Injuries: Soft tissue injury to the shoulder with considerable pain but almost complete recovery in less than two years: £2,850 to £5,150
Within a year: up to £2,850
