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Specialist CRPS Solicitor Interim payment
CRPS is a life-changing condition. If you develop it following an accident and pursue a compensation claim, the process takes time.
A long-term medical prognosis is crucial in any personal injury claim. Without an expert opinion of what the future holds, it’s impossible to begin the process of calculating the long-term financial impact of your CRPS. Claims such as future lost earnings, lost pension, ongoing rehabilitation, specialist equipment and home adaptation are all ‘on hold’, awaiting that final piece of the jigsaw. However, it’s routinely two years or more following the accident before medical experts in the claim feel confident enough to provide that long-term prognosis.
In the meantime, you have all the usual bills to pay but, in all likelihood, no income. That’s why interim payments are so crucial. Your solicitor should always have the next interim payment in mind, ensuring that any necessary evidence is available in good time.
What is an interim payment?
In a personal injury claim, an ‘interim payment’ is one made by the other side before your claim settles. Some payments are specific, i.e. made for a particular purpose, such as paying for:
- private medical treatment or rehabilitation;
- specialist equipment and home adaptations; or
- domestic support such as cleaning or at-home nursing care.
Otherwise, payments are general and made on account of the whole claim. Typically, general payments help keep a claimant’s head above water pending final settlement and are set off against the final damages figure.
Broadly speaking, if the other side agrees a particular item of loss or expense and you can prove it, e.g. with a quote or receipt, the payment is specific. Other payments are general. Payments on account of lost earnings are inevitably made on account of the claim generally.
The rehabilitation Code
Where a payment is needed for medical treatment, rehabilitation, care, specialist equipment, or home adaptations, your solicitor should first consider obtaining an ‘immediate needs assessment’ under the Rehabilitation Code. Payments for such ‘rehabilitation’ expenses recommended by a jointly instructed case manager under the Code should be made immediately and without quibble. These payments should also fall outside of the claim. In other words, they are not deducted from the final settlement figure.
How do I get an interim payment?
You should not need to badger your solicitor about interim payments. Instead, a solicitor should proactively seek payments from the other side wherever possible. If obtaining one proves difficult or impossible, your solicitor should explain why.
If the other side denies liability for the accident that triggered your CRPS, they will unlikely volunteer interim payments. But where liability is admitted, it should be possible to obtain voluntary payments. If not, your solicitor should consider an application to the court.
The court rules provide that certain conditions must be satisfied before an interim payment can be ordered. You must produce evidence to the court proving these conditions have been satisfied. Those conditions include:
- proving the other side has admitted liability or, if they haven’t, that the claim is nevertheless likely to succeed and “if the claim went to trial, the claimant would obtain judgment for a substantial amount of money“.
- establishing your need for an interim payment.
- demonstrating that the interim payment you’ve requested is reasonable and less than the likely total damages.
How much can I get as an interim payment?
There’s no maximum amount the court can order by way of interim payment, but it must be no more than a reasonable proportion of the likely final damages.
Do interim payments affect my benefits entitlement?
It’s important to remember that any payments received can affect your entitlement to means-tested benefits. So, before requesting an interim payment, your solicitor will discuss with you whether it’s beneficial to first put in place an arrangement called a personal injury trust. Such an arrangement ensures your interim and final compensation payments don’t affect your benefits, either now or in the future.
It’s also important to remember that the other side will reduce any interim payment by the total amount of benefits you have already received due to your accident. That’s because they must repay those benefits to the Compensation Recovery Unit of the Department for Work and Pensions. Your solicitor will discuss that with you before deciding on the amount to request by way of interim payment.