How is Scarring Valued in a Personal Injury Claim?

As a result of an accident, you may have suffered from scarring on the body or the face.

When assessing the value of scarring in a Personal Injury Claim, we refer to the Judicial College Guidelines, Case Law, Medical Evidence and various other factors.

What do we need from you?

Firstly we would obtain clear colour photographs of the Client’s scarring, ranging from when the accident first occurred to a most recent photograph.

We would need the name of the Client’s GP and the hospital they attended, in order to obtain a copy of their medical records. We would review these records to see what their GP and other medical professionals have commented about their scarring and treatment.

We would ask the Client to provide us with an account of how the scarring has affected them and their day to day lives.

We would also ask the Client whether they use any creams or oils to treat the scarring and whether they use any make – up to try and cover up the scarring.

What do we do with this information?

We would then instruct a medico-legal expert. For scarring, we would usually instruct a Consultant Plastic Surgeon. They would examine the Client and then provide us with a medico-legal report.

The expert would usually comment on the following in their report:

• How permanent the scarring is likely to be;
• Any recommendations for further treatment required to treat the scarring and the costs of this treatment;
• Whether a further re-examination in future is necessary, i.e. if the Client had surgery and the expert wants to comment on how their scarring has improved after the procedure.

How do we value the claim?

Judicial College Guidelines

In order to assess the value of your claim, we would firstly refer to The Judicial College Guidelines. These are a set of guidelines which help Personal Injury solicitors assess the financial value of a Personal Injury Claim.

Case Law

As well as looking at the Judicial College Guidelines, it is also beneficial for Personal Injury solicitors to also look at previous Case Law in order to help assess the value of the claim. This would involve looking at previous cases where the facts, injuries and awards are similar in nature to the case that we are assessing.

Various factors

The value of scarring very much depends on where it is on the body or face.

We also take into account the impact of the injuries on the Client, both physically and psychologically. In a lot of cases, the impact of scarring could affect their self-confidence; it can affect their work life and their ability to carry out their normal day to day duties; and it can have an influence on their social life and their relationships with their family and friends.

If you want further advice on this topic, or you have been involved in an accident that has resulted in scarring, then please contact our leading personal injury solicitors on 0808 115 4387 or request a call back online.