Mental Health Compensation Calculator

By Cat Mulligan. Last Updated 29th September 2023. 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.

Select A Section

  1. What Is A Mental Health Compensation Calculator?
  2. Traumatic Brain Injuries And Mental Health Claims
  3. Negligent Mental Health Treatment
  4. Who Is Eligible To Make A Mental Health Claim?
  5. How Is A Mental Health Compensation Payout Calculated?
  6. Claim For A Psychological Injury With No Win No Fee Solicitors
  7. Learn More About Claiming Mental Health Compensation

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 in this guide for those seeking a type of compensation calculator, such as an anxiety compensation calculator. 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

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.

Who Is Eligible To Make A Mental Health Claim?

You could be eligible to make a mental health claim if you can prove that:

  • You were owed a duty of care by the defendant
  • The defendant failed their duty of care
  • This failure caused you to suffer harm

You could be owed a duty of care in various situations. For example:

  • All road users have a duty of care to behave in a way that reduces the risk of harm whilst on the roads under the Road Traffic Act 1988.
  • Occupiers of a public place have a duty of care to ensure their premises are reasonably safe for any visitors, as outlined in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957
  • In medical settings, medical professionals have a duty to provide care that is reasonably expected. Mental health medical negligence could occur if this is not provided.

If you have evidence that you have suffered a mental health injury as a result of a duty of care being breached, you may have grounds for a valid personal injury claim.

If you have questions about your eligibility to claim compensation for emotional distress in the UK, our advisors will be happy to help if you get in touch.

Compensation For Stress And Other Mental Injuries – The Time Limit For Claims

Under the Limitation Act 1980, you have three years to start your personal injury claim, starting on the date of your injury. However, if your claim falls outside this time limit, you may still be able to make a mental health claim. This is because the legislation also outlines the exceptions to this rule.

For example, those under the age of eighteen cannot make a claim for themselves until they turn eighteen. The time limit then reinstates and runs until they turn twenty-one. At any time while the time limit is suspended, a litigation friend can start a claim on their behalf.

Similarly, a litigation friend can start a claim at any time for those who lack the capacity to claim for themselves. The time limit is indefinitely suspended in these cases and only reinstates if the claimant regains the needed capacity. 

To find out if you are within the time limit to claim compensation for mental health injuries, contact our team of friendly advisors today. Or, read on to find out more about the psychological damage claims process.

How To Prove A Mental Health Compensation Claim 

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, or if you’re seeking an anxiety compensation calculator, please contact us for free legal advice using the above details.

How Is A Mental Health Compensation Payout Calculated?

If you make a successful claim for a mental health injury, your compensation payout could consist of two parts. These are general and special damages. 

General damages compensate for the mental suffering and loss of amenity (the impact that the injuries have on your lifestyle) caused by your emotional injury. Additionally, if you suffered a physical injury in the same incident that caused your mental health damage, you could be compensated for it under this head. 

When assigning value to personal injury claims, legal professionals may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them. This document provides guideline compensation brackets for various types of injuries, including those to your mental health. 

In our table below, we look at a few figures given for mental health and brain damage from the JCG 16th edition. As every claim is different, we’ve only provided it for guidance. 

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Mental Health Injury Level Of Injury Impact Of The Injury Payout
Psychiatric Damage Severe The 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 Damage Moderately Severe Whilst 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 Damage Moderate Those 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 Disorder Severe Symptoms 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 Disorder Moderately Severe Post 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 Disorder Moderate Those 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 Damage Less Severe The 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 can speak to one of our advisors if you would like to know more about how much compensation for psychological damage in the UK could be awarded. In addition to answering your questions, they can give you an individualised claim valuation for free.

Special Damages And Mental Health Compensation Payouts

Additionally, you might also be awarded special damages as part of your mental health compensation payout. This second head of claim seeks to reimburse you for the financial losses that have been caused by your mental injury.

Here are a few examples of losses you might be able to claim under special damages:

  • Therapy costs.
  • Prescription costs.
  • Travel expenses.
  • Loss of earnings for time spent off work to recover.

You should submit proof of your expenses, such as receipts, invoices, and payslips.

If you would like a free valuation of your potential mental health compensation, please get in touch with an advisor. They can also discuss what evidence you might need to submit to claim under special damages and other matters such as using an anxiety compensation calculator.

Claim For A Psychological Injury With No Win No Fee Solicitors

If you’re eligible to make a claim for a psychological injury, you might be interested in working with No Win No Fee solicitors. A No Win No Fee solicitor could potentially offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Solicitors who process claims on this basis don’t require upfront or ongoing fees.

A No Win No Fee solicitor can help you claim emotional distress compensation in the UK, no matter your current financial situation. Further benefits of working with solicitors under this type of arrangement include:

  • No hidden costs as you’ll agree to any fees with your solicitor before claiming
  • Only paying a success fee to your solicitor if they help you claim compensation
  • The fee you pay is capped at 25% under the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013
  • No success fee to pay to your solicitor if your claim is unsuccessful

If you think you would benefit from working with a specialist solicitor from our panel, you can get in touch with our advisors at any time to check your eligibility. We offer free consultations with no obligation to claim with us afterwards.

  • 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.

Learn More About Claiming Mental Health Compensation

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.