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Schedule Of Loss Personal Injury

A Schedule of Loss in personal injury claims plays a crucial role in assessing the quantum aspect of a case. It sets out the losses sustained by the Claimant as a result of their accident and is the basis upon which the Judge will award damages if the claim succeeds. Defendants usually produce a Counter Schedule of Loss through which they put forward a different, lower valuation of the Claimant’s losses, seeking to persuade the Judge to prefer their calculations over those of the Claimant. Schedules of Loss for personal injury and Counter Schedules are highly specialised, complex documents, often involving vast amounts of data. As a result, many personal injury Claimants and Defendants seek assistance from forensic accountants in preparing them.

Personal injury work is at the heart of our forensic accountancy practice. We have longstanding relationships with many of the UK’s leading personal injury solicitors’ firms and barristers’ chambers. The reports we produce for our clients are comprehensive, user friendly, and have been noted by one Judge as being ‘the best’ they had seen.

What Is Included In A Schedule Of Loss For Personal Injury?

Successful personal injury Claimants are entitled to two types of damages: General damages and special damages. General damages are intended to compensate personal injury victims for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity their injuries have caused, insofar as a financial award ever can. Special damages are intended to make good any quantifiable losses the Claimant has incurred, or will likely incur, as a result of their injuries.

In terms of special damages, a Schedule of Loss for personal injury should include both past and future losses. Examples of the most common types of heads of special damages include the following:

• Loss of earnings.

Quantifying a Claimant’s loss of earnings may appear straightforward, but in reality, it is anything but. Calculating a Claimant’s loss of earnings or preparing a counter valuation on behalf of a Defendant is often one of the most challenging aspects of a personal injury claim.

The loss of earnings calculation must include the income or salary the Claimant has already lost and account for any future losses they may incur. If they are unlikely to be in a position to return to work for a considerable time, the calculation must incorporate their future loss of income, potentially until retirement age.

In addition to their wages or salary, a Claimant may miss out on overtime, career advancement opportunities, bonuses, healthcare cover, pension contributions and any number of other benefits, all of which must be particularised in the Schedule of Loss for personal injury. These calculations often require consideration of a significant number of different scenarios, the outcomes of which must be carefully calculated and compared.

For self employed Claimant’s it is a case of examining their net profits and projecting what they would have been absent the accident or negligence.

To assist us in preparing loss of earnings calculations for Schedules of Loss in personal injury, we have developed our own industry leading software, known as the ‘Frenkels Calculator’. The calculator can run infinite calculations swiftly and accurately, and compare unlimited scenarios with ease, taking into account factors such as tax, pensions, and SSP. The software turns hours of work into a matter of minutes, enabling us to provide the information our clients need in unparalleled time and at a highly competitive cost.

• Care and assistance.

The costs of any care and assistance required by the Claimant should be stated in the Schedule of Loss. Crucially, care provided by friends and family can be included, even if no money has changed hands.

• Medication and treatment costs.

If a Claimant needs treatment for their injuries, such as counselling or physiotherapy, they are entitled to recover the cost of that treatment from the Defendant. They are also entitled to claim for any prescription charges and over-the-counter medicines.

• Equipment.

More serious injuries may necessitate the Claimant purchasing specialist equipment or aids, such as a wheelchair, bath rail or walking aid, to assist them in their daily lives. The cost of this equipment should be included in the Schedule of Loss in personal injury claims.

Our Role In Preparing Schedules Of Loss

The calculations required to prepare comprehensive Schedules of Loss or Counter Schedules can be incredibly complicated. The skills and experience of forensic accountants render us ideally placed to work with a Claimant or Defendant’s legal team in preparing the schedules. Our knowledge and expertise, coupled with the specialist tools at our disposal, enable us to extract vast amounts of data from different sources and analyse the information in the context of unlimited potential scenarios. We then present our findings in an accessible, user friendly format, clearly explaining our conclusions, and supporting them with evidence. Our Schedules of Loss and Counter Schedules often play a key role in assisting our clients in achieving a favourable outcome through settlement negotiations or at trial.

To discover more, please call us on 0330 118 8200 or Make An Online Enquiry.

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