Mental Health Compensation Calculator

By Max Mitrovic. Last Updated 17th June 2022. In this article, we explain how we can offer you an alternative to using an online mental health compensation calculator. We also look at how this can be more accurate when valuing a claim.

When we think of personal injury claims, we may think of people claiming compensation for physical injuries, such as a broken leg or whiplash. However, some accidents or incidents can result in psychological injuries. For example, following a serious car accident, the injured person may develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Have you experienced mental health problems after an accident that was not your fault? Then you may be eligible to claim mental health compensation for your injuries.

mental health compensation calculator

This guide will explain how a distressing accident can lead to psychological damage and how much a psychological claim could be worth. What’s more, we have included a mental health compensation calculator table to help you estimate how much you could claim.

Public Interest Lawyers can provide you with a skilled personal injury solicitor from our panel to manage your claim if you have strong grounds. We can value your claim accurately to ensure that you receive the right amount of compensation.

To begin your claim, please call Public Interest Lawyers on 0800 408 7825. Or contact us in writing via our website.

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What Is A Mental Health Compensation Calculator?

Compensation calculators can be helpful when wondering how much you could claim for injuries caused by someone else’s negligence. They can give you a roundabout, potential figure of compensation for injuries.

However, they often don’t take into account the financial losses you could claim because of the accident. Therefore, we have included a table that you can use as a mental health compensation calculator in this guide. It contains some of the figures that calculators also use.

What’s more, if at any point you’d like a free estimate of what you could claim, you can contact our advisors. They can value claims for free and take into account the nuances of your claim to arrive at a suitable figure.

If you have experienced an accident that was not your fault, you may be eligible to claim compensation for psychiatric injuries if the party that was responsible for it owed you a duty of care. For example, employers, those in control of places accessible to the public and road users owe you a duty of care to protect your safety.

You may wonder how much a psychological claim is worth. You can use the table in this guide to estimate how much mental health compensation you could claim.

Psychiatric damages you could claim compensation for include:

  • Mental anguish caused by the accident
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Trauma
  • Acute stress
  • Emotional distress

Types Of Mental Health Injuries

We will now look at mental health injuries in more depth. The following types of psychiatric injuries can occur following a distressing accident. Our mental health compensation calculator table reflects what you could claim for mental harm.

  • Anxiety is when a person feels worried or fearful about a situation. Unfortunately, some people develop anxiety or anxiety disorders following a traumatic event, which means that their anxiety is difficult to control.
  • Depression is a type of mental disorder that results in the person finding it difficult to take pleasure in everyday life. Unfortunately, a person may develop severe depression, such as clinical depression, which requires medical treatment.
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) occurs after a traumatic event such as a car accident. Consequently, the person may experience flashbacks and nightmares. The person may also suffer from recurring distress and anxiety.
  • Panic attacks are when a person experiences a sudden rush of symptoms to respond to a stressful situation. Symptoms of a panic attack include an increased heart rate, chest pain and trembling.
  • Claimants can also claim compensation for mental anguish caused by accident. For our purposes, mental anguish is defined as a fear of impending death.

How much compensation do you get for mental anguish? We recommend consulting our compensation calculator table to estimate how much compensation you could receive.

Traumatic Brain Injuries And Mental Health Claims

Our mental health compensation calculator will also look at compensation payouts for traumatic brain injuries. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a head injury caused by blunt force trauma from an external source. As a result, the brain is injured or damaged. Traumatic brain injuries can range from minor injuries such as a mild concussion or an injury that causes severe brain damage, which may cause lifelong problems.

Individuals who experience a severe traumatic head injury may suffer from physical and mental symptoms. A traumatic brain injury can result in the following mental symptoms:

  • Alexia, which means a difficulty processing the written word
  • Dysgraphia, which means an impairment of one’s handwriting
  • Memory problems
  • Speech and language problems
  • Depression or anxiety
  • Mood swings and problems regulating one’s moods

If a traumatic brain injury has affected your mental health, you could claim compensation for these symptoms. Moreover, you could claim compensation for any physical symptoms caused by a traumatic brain injury.

Negligent Mental Health Treatment

You can use our mental health compensation calculator table to estimate how much compensation you can receive for injuries caused by medical negligence. Medical negligence is when a medical practitioner provides a patient with substandard care. And as a result, the patient is injured, or their pre-existing medical condition worsens. Medical negligence is often referred to as clinical negligence.

Here are some examples of negligent mental health treatments that can result in psychological injuries:

  • The doctors didn’t diagnose a mental illness despite clear symptoms, leading to a delayed diagnosis. Therefore, the patient’s illness went untreated and worsened over time.
  • A mental health team unreasonably gave a patient the wrong treatment. Consequently, the error harmed the patient, or their medical condition became worse.
  • A patient was discharged from a mental health facility too soon without appropriate reason. So, the patient didn’t receive the correct medical treatment they needed leading to further psychiatric damages.
  • Doctors gave a patient the wrong medication because they didn’t check the patient’s medical record. The wrong medication caused the patient to suffer harmful side effects or psychiatric injuries.

How much compensation can you get for emotional distress and psychological injuries caused by medical negligence in the field of mental health? The amount of mental health compensation you receive may vary according to your injuries. However, it can be calculated as it would be for personal injury cases.

Am I Eligible To Claim For A Psychological Injury?

So, you may be wondering, ‘Can I claim compensation for mental health?’ You would need to prove the following to make a personal injury compensation claim:

  1. Firstly, another party must have owed you a duty of care.
  2. Secondly, the other party must have breached this duty of care, causing an accident or incident.
  3. And finally, you must have experienced psychological injuries as a direct result of the accident.

Employers, parties in control of a place that’s accessible to the public and road users owe duties of care to the relevant parties. For example, employers owe employees a duty of care at work. Road users should use the roads with standard care and skill, so if a driver’s substandard skill causes a road traffic accident, a person who is injured as a consequence could claim.

Those who control places that are accessible to the public (such as supermarkets or councils), should ensure the place is safe for visitors.

Medical professionals owe you a duty of care. The Bolam test would be carried out in a medical negligence claim. During this test, similar medical professionals would assess whether the defendant provided the appropriate standard of care.

If you have suffered psychologically due to the negligence of these parties, you could claim compensation for mental health damages in the UK.

Tips on Claiming Compensation for Stress and Anxiety in the UK

When seeking compensation for emotional distress, as with any personal injury claim, you need evidence to show that your injury was caused by third-party negligence. One of the experienced and specialised solicitors from our panel could help build your case so you can potentially receive compensation.

Evidence you may need to receive a mental health compensation payout includes:

  • Medical reports – A doctor or another medical professional’s reports could help illustrate the extent of your injury. If you’re seeing a therapist because of anxiety due to pressure at work, for instance, a note from your therapist could help.
  • Witness statements – Witnesses of the cause of your stress and anxiety could prove very valuable to your claim. You could ask for their contact details. Your solicitor would then contact them during the claim to take a statement.
  • A list of treatment/prescriptions – If you’re having to take medication, such as anti-depressants, evidence of this could prove how the negligence has negatively impacted you.
  • Footage of the abuse – If footage of the abuse can be located, this could help your case. CCTV footage can be requested. However, it isn’t always possible to find such footage in these types of cases.

Please remember, in relation to the UK, that if you’re claiming in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the process for seeking compensation could differ from the one in England and Wales. To learn more about your eligibility to claim, please contact us for free legal advice using the above details.

Mental Health Compensation Calculator

If you have been psychologically injured due to an accident caused by third-party negligence, you may be able to make a successful mental health claim. You may want to use a stress compensation calculator to give you an impression of what you could receive. However, you can also use the information below.

The Judicial College Guidelines can provide you with a clearer idea of what potential mental health compensation payout you could receive. After analysing previous general damages payouts for England and Wales, they have created compensation brackets, such as the ones seen below. These figures have been taken from the latest guidelines, published in 2022.

General damages relate to the suffering caused by injuries (whether physical or psychological) that were the result of another person’s negligence. Please remember that these figures are not guarantees for what mental distress compensation you could receive. Every claim is different, and your potential compensation can be based on many different factors.

Mental Health InjuryLevel Of InjuryImpact Of The InjuryPayout
Psychiatric DamageSevereThe person will have received a poor prognosis for future recovery. The psychiatric injury will have had an impact on their relationships, ability to work and their life. £54,830 to £115,730
Psychiatric DamageModerately SevereWhilst this person will have been affected in similar ways to those above. They will have received a prognosis which is more optimistic for recovery.£19,070 to £54,830
Psychiatric DamageModerateThose injured would already have started to recover to some degree. They will have a much better outlook or prognosis for recovery.£5,860 to £19,070
Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderSevereSymptoms and effects of post-traumatic stress disorder could permanently affect the claimant. It is not likely that this person will return to work or be able to function to the same degree they did before the traumatic event.£59,860 to £100,670
Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderModerately SeverePost traumatic stress disorder will impact many parts of the person's life to a significant degree. However, they could also see some degree of recovery. £23,150 to £59,860
Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderModerateThose affected at this level of severity could largely recover from any symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder over time.£8,180 to £23,150
Brain DamageLess SevereThe award level would be affected by how severe the initial injury is;
the extent of any consequential disability;
the extent of any personality change;
depression.
£15,320 to £43,060

You could also claim for special damages as part of the same claim. These damages relate to the losses caused financially because of the injury. Losses you could potentially claim for include:

  • Medical costs, such as prescriptions
  • Loss of earnings, if you’re unable to work due to the injury
  • Travel expenses if, for example, you need to use public transport because of the injury
  • Care costs, such as for an at-home nurse

Furthermore, you would need financial evidence, such as receipts and bank statements, to prove the value of the losses. To learn more about your potential mental health compensation payout, please contact us for free using the details above.

Talk To A No Win No Fee Solicitor

After reading this mental health compensation calculator guide, we hope you feel confident to begin your claim. Please get in touch with Public Interest Lawyers today to see if you can start your compensation claim.

We can assign a knowledgeable personal injury solicitor from our panel to handle your claim. And importantly, your solicitor can handle your claim on a No Win No Fee basis, therefore reducing the financial risk involved in claiming with the services of a solicitor.

Essentially, under a No Win No Fee agreement, you’d not pay your solicitor’s fee at all if the claim loses. However, if the claim wins, you’d pay a success fee to the solicitor, but this is capped by law and comes out of the compensation amount after it comes through.

What’s more, you wouldn’t need to pay any upfront or ongoing solicitor fees.

To see if you can begin your No Win No Fee claim for emotional distress or psychological injuries, please get in touch with us today.

  • Call Public Interest Lawyers today on 0800 408 7825
  • Use our Live Support widget to communicate with us
  • Or please get in touch with us via our website

Please be aware: we understand that claims concerning mental health can be sensitive. Our advisors and panel of solicitors are trained professionals and treat claimants with respect.

Mental And Psychological Claims

We hope this guide to making a mental health claim has been helpful. You may also wish to consult the following information:

Thank you for reading our online mental health compensation calculator guide.

Article by AH

Publisher UI