Special damages

Special damages are reimbursement for costs you have already paid because of the accident, such as medical bills, transport and lost pay before trial.

Unlike general damages, which the court estimates, special damages must be specifically pleaded and proved with receipts, invoices, medical bills and payslips. A cost you cannot document is a cost you are unlikely to recover, so keeping every receipt from the day of the accident matters.

This head covers only losses up to the point of settlement or trial. Ongoing or future costs, like future treatment, are claimed under a different head.

How compensation is worked out explains where special damages fit alongside the other heads of loss.