Loss of pay

If you are absent from work as a result of an accident there, you can recover your wage loss. This is calculated by looking at the take-home pay — gross (pay at the top) with tax and national insurance deducted — you would have expected to receive had you not been absent. Any compensation you receive is tax-free. You can also expect to recover any bonus and overtime pay you might have been entitled to. In order to calculate the amount of compensation due, we look at an average weekly figure based on your pay for the three months before the accident; we then apply that to the period you were off work and deduct from it any sick pay you receive.

Please keep your pay slips as these can be helpful in checking the wages details we receive from your employer.

CRU

All personal injury claims against insurers in the UK are registered with the Government Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU). This is because insurers need to pay back to the Government any DSS benefits relating to accidents under the Compensation Recovery Scheme (CRS). Some of these benefits may be deducted from any compensation awarded, but your solicitor will advise you if this is the case. You should be aware, however, that benefits are never deducted from your solatium (pain and suffering) award, only from wage loss and services awards (see overleaf).

It may be a term of your contract of employment that if you have an accident as the result of somebody’s (not your employer’s) negligence, any sick pay received must be claimed back by you on behalf of your employer. You will need to ask them for such details.

Future pay loss

If your accident means that you cannot go on working in your old job, or you have to get a less well-paid job, then we may be able to claim compensation for the loss of pay you would have earned in the future.

The Court, in considering compensation for loss of future pay, may also take into account what is known as loss of congenial employment. If you are no longer able to work at a particular craft or skill which you enjoyed, an element of compensation may be given for that.