damages for personal injury: non-pecuniary loss - Law Commission

Given that the victim recovered within 18 months, the award would most probably
fall within the upper half of the range, but below the maximum. Taking this into
account, as well as the actual award, we consider the maximum likely award for
Case D to be £3,500.
3.55 We have particularly examined interviewees’ views so far as they relate to the
maximum likely current award, one and a half times that award, and double that
award. This has required us notionally to define those levels of award for each case
description. In so doing, we have chosen numbers which fit conveniently with
interviewees’ responses, bearing in mind that interviewees naturally tended to
suggest round numbers. The following are the definitions which we have adopted:
Notional
maximum current
award
43
TABLE 1
Notional award at
one and a half
times the current
award
Notional award at
double the current
award
Case A £140,000 £210,000 £280,000
Case B £65,000 £95,000 £130,000
Case C £25,000 £35,000 £50,000
Case D £3,500 £5,000 £7,000
3.56 Table 2 shows the percentages of those interviewed who suggested awards up to
the current maxima (as defined in Table 1), over the current maxima, and, for
completeness, those who did not answer the question. Table 3 breaks up the
responses slightly differently, to show the percentage of interviewees who
suggested figures which are at least one and a half times the current maxima (as
defined in Table 1). Finally, Table 4 illustrates the percentage which suggested
figures which are double or more of the current maxima (as defined in Table 1).