In the first 2024 issue of Journal of Personal Injury Law (JPIL), Head of Aviation and International Injury Julian Chamberlayne undertakes an international comparative review of compensation for future losses.
In most jurisdictions, future losses are the biggest single element of the compensation in claims involving life-changing injuries. As Julian says in the article: “Calculating these future losses involves the instructed lawyers combining their skills in analysing the law and the evidence. At times it feels like we are mystics attempting to read a crystal ball to reveal what the future holds for our client. Key variables include medical, mortality and economics risks.”
This in-depth article considers themes including:
- Debates over full compensation vs. what society (or insurers say they) can afford
- The key challenges and risks to providing full compensation
- Methods for compensating future loss
- Pros and cons of differing forms of award
- The debate around over and under compensation
- Investment returns (and inflation) vs. the discount rate
In 2023 Julian conducted a survey of the national delegates of the Pan-European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers (PEOPIL). This survey revealed a wide range of differing approaches to compensating future loss across Europe and consequently very differing levels and forms of compensation for claimants with serious injuries causing life-time losses. The JPIL article reviews the findings and looks beyond Europe with insights from lawyers in other jurisdictions.
We would still welcome submissions from injury lawyers practicing in jurisdictions not covered in the 2023 survey, please contact us.
Presentations
At the APIL International Injuries Conference 2023, Julian gave a talk on these themes including the differing international approaches to discount rates. This included an assessment of selecting the rate in claims in which the claimant lives in a different country.
Julian will also address the theme of compensation for future losses from a European perspective at the PEOPIL Annual Conference 2024 in Prague on 20 September 2024.
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