What Is An Interim Payment In Personal Injury Claims?

By Stephen Anderson. Last updated 1st September 2023. When you file a personal injury claim that takes longer to settle, you could get an interim payment to reduce financial hardship. The payment will form part of your eventual compensation payout. However, this type of early advance on a settlement is only available on claims that are likely to be successful.

Interim payment in personal injury claims guide

Legal representatives can ask a court for an interim payment to alleviate any sort of financial burden a claimant may face. This is especially the case when the claimant has suffered severe injuries, or where serious work-related health conditions are suffered. They are particularly beneficial if you are recovering from a spinal cord injury, an amputation, or when you need ongoing treatments and therapies not covered by the NHS.

If you would like to discuss a case and the possibility of receiving an advance on a compensation payout, please call an adviser on 0800 408 7825. You could also complete the online contact form and a member of our team will get back to you. Alternatively, to find out more about interim payments, please continue reading our guide.

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What Is An Interim Payment?
How Do You Request An Interim Payment?
How to Get Interim Payments in a Compensation Claim
Why Claim An Interim Payment?
How Long Does It Take To Get An Interim Payment?
See An Interim Payment Example
Personal Injury Claim Calculator
Get Help From A No Win No Fee Solicitor
Resources

What Is An Interim Payment?

Interim payments are a kind of advance for compensation payouts in personal injury claims and medical negligence claims. This can only be awarded if compensation is guaranteed and liability has been established.

Generally, a claimant may receive an interim payment if they are in need of financial assistance or are facing financial burdens related to their claim. For example, money that is needed for urgent medical costs.

How Much Could I Receive?

If negligence has already been established, then it’s sometimes possible for you to request an interim payment – meaning that you could be awarded with a portion of your settlement ahead of the final value being calculated.

So, what does an interim payment mean and when could you receive one? To give an example, you may require emergency surgery at a private healthcare facility. You can make an official request to receive an interim payment to the value of the cost of this surgery. This means you would receive this part of your compensation ahead of schedule.

However, once you are awarded the compensation proper, the amount that you receive in interim payments will be deducted from the total before you receive it. The value of an interim payment will depend on factors such as what you need it for.

Get in touch with us today if you have any questions.

What Types Of Claims Do Interim Payments Apply To?

During the process of making a personal injury claim or medical negligence claim you could ask for what is called an interim payment. This means the defendant can agree to pay some of your compensation early if liability has been admitted or the claim has a good chance of being successful. Interim payments can be requested if you need financial support such as damages to cover your loss of earnings while the claim is in the pre-litigation stages.

Call our advisors to find out whether you could be eligible to apply for an interim payment and whether it is relevant to your specific case. They can also assess whether you have a valid claim and if it’s found that you do, you could be put in touch with one of the No Win No Fee lawyers from our panel.

How Do You Request An Interim Payment?

As previously mentioned, your personal injury solicitor, if you have chosen to use one, can make a request to the court for an interim payment because you are facing financial difficulties and the case looks like it may take a while to settle. The personal injury lawyer who is acting on your behalf will help you to gather evidence to show why immediate funds are needed. Once they determine you have good cause to request an advance on your compensation payout, the solicitor will then make the request.

To speak to one of our friendly advisers, please call the freephone number found at the top of the page. We provide free advice and can connect you to a personal injury lawyer from our panel.

How to Get Interim Payments in a Compensation Claim

Now you know more about what an interim payment is, you may be wanting to understand what circumstances could make you eligible to receive one. Interim payments are taken from the compensation that you have not yet received from the claim. They can provide financial support while your compensation claim is still ongoing.

Due to this, you would only be able to receive them if the faulting party has accepted liability for your injury. However, the settlement doesn’t necessarily have to be agreed upon. This could be in cases where your injury is still healing and it may take time to understand the full extent of how it will impact your quality of life. As such, it may be difficult to accurately calculate how much compensation is owed.

Furthermore, there would have to be a good reason for you to request an interim payment. This can include needing to pay for medical bills or home adaptations because of your injury. To learn more about whether you’re eligible for interim payments or to see if you can claim, please contact us for free legal advice using the details above.

Why Claim An Interim Payment?

An advance on a compensation payout is extremely helpful to claimants who suffer serious injuries or who develop severe work-related health issues. Interim payments can be used immediately to pay for essential medical care, rehabilitation, and necessary equipment/medical aids.

When it comes to medical negligence claims or personal injury claims, an interim payment can help if you have lost income because your injuries are preventing you from being able to work. In addition, the advance on your compensation payout can also go towards setting up an all-important care schedule.

To discuss a personal injury or medical negligence claim and to find out more about an interim payment, please call a member of our team today on the number at the top of the page.

How Long Does It Take To Get An Interim Payment?

A personal injury lawyer will apply to a court for an interim payment as early as possible when they know your case is going to take longer to settle. In short, the application will be made as soon as possible during the claims process. If the court agrees to an interim payment, the advance will be available for immediate use to help alleviate any financial burdens you are facing.

The amount you get in advance on your compensation payout depends on your specific case. However, it will not be more than a ‘reasonable proportion’ of your total compensation payout. That said, there are no restrictions on the number of times you can apply for an interim payment with the proviso that the total must remain within the ‘reasonable proportion’ rule.

For more information on how long it may take to receive an interim payment, why not get in touch with one of our friendly advisers today. They can answer any queries you have and let you know if you have good cause to sue for compensation.

See An Interim Payment Example

As we have explained, interim payments are usually requested in claims wherein:

The defendant has accepted, or is likely to accept, liability
The claimant is in need of financial assistance

To give you an interim payment example, we will look at an example claim and case.

A roofer at a construction firm was asked to work on a new site. The site manager did not carry out a risk assessment on the area they were asking the roofer to work on and did not provide the roofer with a harness before instructing them to begin their work. The area collapsed and the roofer fell, severely injuring their neck and back in the process, along with sustaining minor arm injuries.

The severity of the injury was apparent from the outset, and the roofer’s colleagues were able to provide statements regarding the lack of risk assessments and provision of safety equipment, citing it to be a continual trend. An assessment at the hospital confirmed the broken neck and advised the roofer that they may experience symptoms for around 2 years.

The roofer, lacking finances, and being unable to work, initiated a claim against their employer. However, to help with symptoms, the roofer decided to undertake private physiotherapy sessions, paid for out of pocket. With evidence that could prove the employer’s liability and knowledge of how long the roofer may have been unable to work, the roofer’s solicitor suggested they request an interim payment to help with the roofer’s finances.

The example above is a composite example, using information sourced from different claims. If you have suffered a serious injury and are in need of an interim payment, please reach out to one of our advisers for information about we could help you.

Personal Injury Claim Calculator

You receive a compensation payout that consists of general and special damages when your case is successful. General damages are paid to compensate for injuries, pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Special damages reimburse losses and expenses. That said, every case is unique and therefore the compensation you receive depends on several things. This includes the severity of your injuries and the losses and expenses you incurred.

The table below illustrates bracket figures that have been awarded in cases that were settled in court. The Judicial College puts together these figures so that legal professionals can use them when valuing amounts that could be awarded for injuries and illnesses in personal injury claims. These figures have been taken by the latest edition, the sixteenth, published in April 2022.

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Type of injury	Severity of injury	Potential Compensation Payout (general damages)	Further notes
Kidney injury	Serious	£169,400 to £210,400	Claimant suffers severe damage or total loss to kidneys which causes permanent disability or possible need for ongoing dialysis treatment.
Brain injuries	Moderate (ii)	£90,720 to £150,110	Claimant suffers serious injuries which negatively impacts their future. Their ability to work is reduced to a great degree and they are risk of suffering bouts of epilepsy
Back injury	Severe (ii)	£74,160 to £88,430	Claimant suffers severe injuries to their back which could include damage to nerves. Consequently the claimants mobility could be impaired and they could experience difficulties with bladder and bowel function.
Back injury	Moderate (ii)	£12,510 to £27,760	Claimant suffers back injuries which includes ligament and muscle damage which results in back ache. Soft tissue damages worsen a pre-existing health issue.
Neck injury	Moderate (i)	£24,990 to £38,490	Claimant suffers injuries which dislocations or fractures that result in immediate and severe symptoms. Spinal fusion could be required.
Digestive tract	Traumatic Injury (ii)	£16,790 to £27,760	Complications that arise from serious permanent or long standing injury that could include severe bouts of indigestion.
Shoulder injury	Serious	£12,770 to £19,200	Claimant suffers serious shoulder dislocation together with lower brachial plexus damage which results in severe pain and discomfort.
Eye injury	Minor but permanent (g)	£9,110 to £20,980	Permanent vision impairment to one or both eyes. Consequently there is a degree of loss of vision. Issues of double vision, sensitivity to light are a problem,

For a more accurate estimate on your compensation payout, please reach out to a member of our team today. They can review your case and answer all your questions about personal injury claims and interim payments.

Get Help From A No Win No Fee Solicitor

If you have valid grounds to make a personal injury claim, then we recommend you get support from a solicitor. If you speak to our advisors about your case, they may connect you with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.

A No Win No Fee solicitor can help guide you through all the steps to making a personal injury claim. They can also provide information on interim payments for personal injury claims. They could also support the process of receiving an interim payment for your own claim.

If a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel agrees to support your claim, they could offer to support you under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under such an agreement, you won’t have to pay upfront or ongoing fees for your solicitor’s service. Also, you won’t need to pay your solicitor if your claim proves unsuccessful.

Should your claim prove successful, then your solicitor will receive what’s known as a success fee. This is normally a legally capped percentage taken from the compensation awarded to you.

If you would like to speak to an advisor to ask questions about interim payments, No Win No Fee solicitors or other aspects of personal injury claims, then you can contact our team of advisors for free. To do so, you can: