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5

General 

damages

Special 

damages for 

past losses

Special 

damages for 

future loss

Calculated depending on 

the claimant’s ability to 

work or continue studying. 

This becomes more 

complicated for claimants 

who are in education or 

self-employed as there is 

not a fixed income.

• nursing care or therapies.;

• special equipment such as prosthetic 

limbs which need to be replaced every 

few years;

• injured people may no longer be able to 

perform the same jobs they did before, 

if they can work at all;

• missed career or educational 

opportunities - promotions, new 

projects or other delayed/lost 

advancement.

Calculated using a 

record of expenses 

incurred from the 

moment of the injury 

until the case has been 

settled. 

• travel expenses;

• prescriptions and medical treatment;

• adaptation to property;

• additional care and assistance while 

injured, such as extra childcare. 

The courts often calculate 

using previous cases with 

a similar injury. The length 

of time the claimant is in 

pain and the effect it will 

have on the claimant’s 

personal life are also 

assessed.

• the unnecessary suffering, for days, 

weeks, months, or permanently;

• the residual impact on an individual’s 

life. An injury could mean a keen 

cricketer is unable to play; a mother 

cannot pick up her child; a teenager 

cannot go out with his friends; or a 

father is unable to walk his daughter 

down the aisle on her wedding day. 

Compensation is split into three parts – or ‘heads of damage’.         Each part considers either what the injured person has already                    

 

 

 

lost, what he might lose or need in  the         future, or how much he has suffered. 

Compensation for 

pain, suffering and 

the detrimential 

effect on quality of 

life.

Compensation 

for upfront 

expenses related 

to the injury.

Compensation for the 

loss of earnings in the 

future, or the loss of 

earning potential, and 

future care.

  The composition    of compensation 

Things to consider:

Things to consider:

Things to consider: