CASE REPORT
C5/6 tetraplegia
Cost of adapting mother’s home (with whom the Claimant did not live)
Two further moves of home later in life
Female aged 22 at accident and 26 at settlement.
Life expectancy reduced to age 76.5.
The claim was settled at a round table consultation in 2003 (silks on either
side, without mediation) for a total of £3.8 million. The figures below were
not agreed by the defence, but may represent a realistic assessment of a likely
award, although they might be slightly cautious.
PAIN, SUFFERING AND LOSS OF AMENITY
Motor and sensory incomplete tetraplegia at C5 and C6
175,000
PAST LOSS
Earnings
The claimant was just starting out on a design career and, as always with young people, there was an issue as to how much she would have achieved.
70,000
Care and case management
100,000
Accommodation - including the cost of adapting her mother’s home (£31,000) - cost of bungalow £302,000 - adaptations £174,000 - miscellaneous
230,000
FUTURE LOSS
Earnings
This was calculated on the basis that the claimant probably would have remained in salaried employment to about the end of 2004, following which she would have started her own freelance and consultancy business. We argued for an average of £64,000 gross, £43,000 net, for her business earnings throughout her working life. Hardly any residual earning capacity was conceded. However, a substantial discount was made for uncertainties, leaving a figure of:
600,000
Care and case management
£43,000 a year, plus extra when the claimant has children, and in the last 10 years of her life
1,500,000
Accommodation
Running costs - two further moves to accommodate children and old age (the first move into a bungalow costing £450,000, with similar adaptation and miscellaneous costs)
300,000
Equipment
150,000
Technology
50,000
Transport
200,000
Medical review
100,000
Physiotherapy
75,000
Holidays
150,000
*****