Quittance has updated its Personal Injury Compensation Calculator to reflect the latest changes to general damages awards.
Judicial College Guidelines – 15th Edition
The fifteenth edition of the Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases was published by the Judicial College in December 2019.
Compensation awards have been increased in line with the increase in RPI of 7% since the Fourteenth Edition was published in May 2017.
The Judicial College has also sought to simplify injury categories in the latest edition to be more comprehensible to litigants in person.
Personal Injury Calculator 3.0
While updating its Personal Injury Compensation Calculator to reflect the new general damages award structure, Quittance has also upgraded the calculator’s core functionality.
“Claimants want an accurate projection of a probable award, as well as more transparency about the real cost of making a no-win, no fee claim.
However, the guidelines are written to be interpreted by legal professionals and are not yet ‘claimant-friendly’.
To address this, Quittance’s calculator makes it as easy as possible for a claimant to confidently identify their injuries,” said Chris Salmon, Operations Director of Quittance Legal Services.
The latest injury calculator offers enhanced functionality in a number of ways:
Claim eligibility
In addition to calculating an award, users can also check if they are theoretically eligible to make a claim. The eligibility check considers basic eligibility criteria but also explores more nuanced areas. These areas include split liability and vicarious liability factors.
Transparency
The calculator offers valuable insights into possible compensation deductions, such as success fees, for claimants looking for transparency around the real cost of making a no win, no fee claim.
Special damages calculations
Special damages are addressed by aggregating lost earnings, unpaid care and other losses and expenses incurred by the claimant. Prompts and insights are offered to help injured claimants understand what they can claim for and how each of these areas of special damages is calculated.
Multiple injuries
Claimants can also use the calculator to estimate a multiple injuries award. The difficulty in calculating multiple injuries is addressed by the calculator and a caveated estimate is produced.
Claimant insights
The calculator also offers conditional insights into the level of award, the factors that can affect awards and what a claimant needs to be aware of.
“Assessing quantum of damages is a complex, bespoke process. Our calculator gives claimants a fuller picture of how damages are calculated,” Chris Salmon added.
“We’re continuing to develop and enhance the calculator to provide more insights to claimants, helping them to make more informed decisions about their claim.”
For more information visit the Quittance Legal Services.
Chris Salmon is a co-founder and operations Director of Quittance Legal Services. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-salmon-6336616/
