Managing my expectations in claim for damages

[claimant]

Does anyone here have any specialist knowledge which they can apply here to give me a generalised answer?

I'm part of a class action claiming damages against a large company (a claimant, not a legal eagle). I've submitted lots of info but I presume at some point I'm going to be asked about the extent of my financial losses.

I was off work for two periods of time for the claimed injuries so unable to earn and as I was self-employed I only got minimal SSP (which was then basically taxed back down to near zero when I got back to work!). So how is this likely to be assessed? Will it be by comparison with previous and subsequent years' earnings?

The other thing is that the whole episode led me to reassess things. I decided to take my pension early so that at least I had regular income if I was unable to work again in the future, and then went part time and eventually into early retirement. This was choice, not medical retirement, and I don't regret it. But it was a choice I don't think I'd have made had I'd not gone through the previous episodes. If I'd stayed well, I could have earned a lot more for longer and of course ended up with a much bigger pension firstly by having paid in more, for longer, and secondly by having less of an actuarial reduction. Is this taken into account?

I realise that this class action might not win! Also that there are no guarantees and no-one can promise anything, so I don't expect certainties! But I'm just wondering how the law works in these situations.

I can’t help with the loss of earnings part, but on the question of you then deciding to retire early etc I doubt you will have any claim - damages are only awarded if the loss is not too “remote” to have been caused by the negligence (or whatever).

Your subsequent decisions about your finances are almost certainly too remote from whatever the original wrong was to have been said to cause it.

OK, thank you.

A method that is often used for self-employed people is to calculate their average earnings over the past three years using tax returns, invoices and bank statements. However, if you have evidence that your actual earnings would have been higher than the average for the last three years, you can use that. You will be required to provide evidence to prove your loss. You may need help from an accountant to arrive at the right figure and ensure it is supported by appropriate evidence.

@claimant I agree with @prh47bridge.

I would break it down on a spreadsheet or table before paying professional help. I am not saying this is what you can claim but helps you to quantify the loss

• base salary
• employer pension contributions you missed out on
• NI contributions - check if the affected years are full years for state pension. If not cost to make them full years.
• pension - you already understand the impact but work out the cost of each element.

Thanks everyone. You are pretty much confirming what I thought.

Thankfully, with being self employed, I was used to keeping legible accounts and running them through an accountant each year - and I've still got all the paperwork!

I always kept up to date with NICs so my state pension is fine; my work-related pension is reduced by dint of having several months of not earning therefore no contributions, and it's not too difficult to assess the loss there.

The only problem with this that I can see is that I only went fully self employed about 20 months before the first episode of being unable to work, so to there's only one tax year of full historic records to compare with. Prior to that I'd had about 2/3 - 1/3 split of income between being employed (on PAYE) and being self employed. After the two separate episodes that kept me off work I then only had a year or so before I decided to take my pension early and to cut back on work. (A life-threatening situation can do that to your thinking!) So I suppose I never really established myself on what could have been my full self-earning potential.

It is what it is. The main thing is that I'm still here! But with a bit of time in my hands this week, I've found myself wondering what I might expect from this class action if it rules in favour of the claimants.

It depends whether it’s a Group Litigation Order (in which damages can be calculated per claimant individually according to their circumstances) or a Representative Order (in which damages are not individualised). “Class action” is an American term.

If the claim is backed by a litigation funder their costs will come out of the pot for distribution first - and typically this results in a massive reduction of the amount available to distribute to claimants.

Oh gosh, I don't know what the official term is. A lot of people are involved and it's a multinational company.

I know that if the claim is successful, the solicitors take 25% of any payout, which is OK by me.