Amount of compensation

If you have sustained a personal injury you may be able to claim two types of compensation, general damages and special damages.

General damages are paid as compensation for an injury, for example, a payment for pain and suffering or loss of future earnings. The court will decide on the amount to be paid.

Special damages are paid as compensation for actual financial loss caused by the accident up to the date of the hearing. These can include damage to clothing or other belongings, the costs of care, travel costs to hospital, medical expenses (including the cost of private treatment) and the cost of hiring and/or repairing a car if it has been damaged in the accident.

If a court decides that you were partly to blame for the accident, it may reduce the amount of damages you receive. An example of this would be if you were not wearing a seat belt when you were involved in a traffic accident.

In England and Wales, for more information about claiming compensation for personal injury, see Claiming compensation for personal injury – no win, no fee agreements in Legal fact sheets.