If you’ve been injured in an accident, it’s likely you were unwell and needed assistance from a loved one whilst you recovered. Thankfully, the law in Scotland allows relatives to claim compensation for the time they spent assisting you.
Read as we explain how it all works, and how we can help you factor this into your personal injury claim.
What does the law say?
The concept of claiming damages for help from loved ones may seem strange. But if it weren’t for them, we would likely have to hire carers to look after us during our recovery. It’s on this basis that the law provides a way to compensate our loved ones for their assistance.
It’s important to know that this type of compensation cannot be made on its own. It can only be made as part of a personal injury claim by you, the injured person.
A key part of the law
The specific law is called the Administration of Justice (Scotland) Act 1982, making it now over 40 years old. As it was written some time ago, the wording of the law specifies that only help from relatives of the injured person can be claimed for.
This unfortunately means only spouses, civil partners, children, and other family members are included. So, if you received help from a flatmate, neighbour, friend, or someone else unrelated to you, you would be unable to make a services claim.
However, the law is constantly evolving, and in December 2024, recommendations were made to reflect our more modern society and expand the definition to include non-relatives. Hopefully, we’ll see the scope of the law increase in the near future.
What are the two types of services claims?
The law gives us the option to make a claim for two different types of services.
1. Help you received from others
This type of claim is for the care and assistance your loved ones gave you, typically from the day of the accident until you were recovered.
It’s important to know that you can only claim for help given due to your injuries. For example, if you’d broken your leg in an accident and needed assistance getting dressed or doing housework – we could make a claim for this.
But, if you wanted to claim for help with making meals, but your partner is the person who usually cooks in your house – we would not be able to make a claim for this, since it wasn’t impacted by your accident.
Still unsure? Your solicitor will be able to advise what you can and cannot claim for. It’s always best to discuss any queries you have regarding your case with them.
2. Help you would have given to others
This part of the law allows you to claim for the value of services you were providing to a relative but are now unable to due to your accident. This could be for things like gardening, DIY, and home decorating. For example, if you were helping your daughter redecorate a bedroom, we would be able to make a claim for this.
It’s important to know that a services claim only relates to the ‘labour’ part, i.e., the time you would have spent helping out. We cannot make a claim for anything else, e.g., materials.
What are some examples of things included in service claims?
It’s useful to have an idea of what could be included in a services claim. For example:
Domestic and household chores, such as:
- Cooking
- Cleaning, e.g. doing laundry, washing the dishes, etc
- Grocery shopping
Personal care, such as:
- Bathing and showering
- Getting in and out of bed
- Help dressing and undressing
- Washing drying, and styling your hair
- Intimate hygiene needs, such as using the toilet
Other services, such as:
- Childminding
- Looking after pets
- Gardening
- DIY and home maintenance
- Driving. This includes mileage and parking. Again, this would only be for anything related to your injuries. For example, if you needed picked up or dropped off at doctors/hospital appointments.
How is a personal injury services claim worked out?
Services can be one of the more challenging aspects of a claim to determine. After all, how do you place a value on help from your loved ones? The law aims to simplify this in a number of ways.
Generally, most clients recover from their injuries in a few weeks and continue on with their life as normal. In these cases, sometimes the Court will take a “broad brush” approach, meaning services are given a ‘reasonable figure’ and added to the rest of your claim.
Another way services are calculated are at an hourly rate. This is because if it weren’t for your loved ones, you would’ve had to hire a carer to help. A discount rate is applied, since the wage of a hired carer includes factors like National Insurance, etc. For example, if a carer is paid £12 per hour, the discounted rate in a services claim could be approximately £9 per hour.
A major factor in calculating services is how long you needed help for. We would normally expect the amount of care provided to decrease over time as you recover from your injuries. So, when valuing your claim, your solicitor might ask how many hours per week you had help. An example of this could be:
Four week injury:
- Week one: Needed help every day going to the toilet, getting dressed, bathing, going to appointments, and chores: 25 hours
- Week two: Needed help bathing, going to appointments, and chores: 20 hours
- Week three: Needed help going to appointments and chores: 10 hours
- Week four: Needed help going to appointments: 2 hours
Total: 57 hours at £9 per hour, making £513 in total.
This is an example purely for the purpose of this article. Not every case will be as straightforward as the above.
Severe injuries
When injuries are more severe, this can be even more complex to put a value on. For example, if you need an operation, or if you’re unable to have the same quality of life after the accident. Your injuries might mean you need specialist care from the outset, and you may also have long-term ongoing care needs which could increase or decrease over time.
The law provides a way to factor services into the claim alongside specialist help, which your solicitor will discuss with you.
How is a claim for services proved?
Regardless of how minor or severe your injury, your solicitor must back up your claim with evidence. So, we may ask you for medical evidence such as GP or hospital records, or we may get a professional medico-legal expert to meet with you. We may also ask for a witness statement from the person who looked after you. This all proves the severity of your injuries, how long you needed to recover, and how long you needed help for.
When making a claim for help you would have given to others, we may ask for evidence such as bank statements or receipts to prove you were going to carry out the activity. It’s also useful to provide as evidence the ‘going rate’ of labour for whichever activity you were planning to do. For example, if you were going to redecorate your daughter’s house, we may ask for quotes from tradesmen, painter and decorators, cleaning services, etc.
Top tips for claiming compensation for care
There are a number of steps you can take to help your solicitor accurately assess and establish your claim for care.
- Try to keep an accurate record of who is providing care, how long they are providing it for, and what sort of tasks they are doing. We don’t need a full spreadsheet, but any evidence goes a long way when valuing your claim.
- Make sure your solicitor has contact details for all of the people who provided care to you, so they can take formal witness statements from them as evidence.
- Keep a record of any spending whilst you were being looked after and keep receipts/bank statements as evidence. You may find that you have to get in tradesmen to deal with ordinary DIY, gardening, or cleaning tasks, or purchase items to help with your injuries or assist you in getting around the house or getting things done.
- Keep a record of what you find difficult, or impossible, to do and what you require assistance with – no matter how small. A claim for care can be anything from 24-hour private nursing to assistance getting in and out of bed or putting on your socks, and all points in between. If your solicitors have a proper record, and proper evidence to support it, it will be much easier to make sure you get the compensation to which you are entitled.
Conclusion
Claiming compensation for the care and assistance provided by your loved ones following an injury is an essential part of the personal injury process in Scotland.
The Administration of Justice (Scotland) Act 1982 allows for claims related to both the help you received and the help you would have given others, but it’s important to remember that these claims can only be made as part of a wider personal injury case.
The process may be complex, especially when calculating the value of services, but with proper evidence and guidance from a solicitor, you can ensure that all aspects of your recovery are fairly accounted for.
Remember, keeping detailed records of care provided, expenses incurred, and tasks that were impacted by your injury can make a significant difference in securing the compensation you deserve.
Gildeas Solicitors have extensive experience in services claims. If you would like help in connection with a possible personal injury claim, get in touch with us for a chat.
Gildeas Solicitors is a recognised law firm specialising in personal injury claims, supporting you throughout Scotland from our offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh. We’re passionate about what we do, whilst putting our clients’ interests first. That’s why we make personal injury personal.
Considering our services? Call our dedicated team today on 0141 331 6070.