Protecting compensation after brain injury in a way that respects a client’s faith

Saeed was only three years old when he was struck by a vehicle on a pedestrian crossing. He suffered a severe brain injury, underwent neurosurgery within 48 hours and remained in a coma for three weeks.

For his parents, life changed in an instant. They had only recently moved to the UK, knew very little about its healthcare and legal systems, and his mother spoke only limited English.

Reaching a specialist children’s rehabilitation centre took considerable persistence. At one stage, simply visiting their son involved a four-hour round trip by bus.

As his rehabilitation journey began, his mother learned the therapeutic exercises that would help his rehabilitation, while his father put his doctoral studies on hold to care for the family and deal with an ever-growing number of medical appointments, therapeutic decisions and legal issues.

They were doing everything they could for their son while trying to understand unfamiliar systems, cope with financial uncertainty and come to terms with the lifelong consequences of his injury.

The injury caused significant physical, visual and cognitive difficulties, and Saeed would never be able to manage a substantial compensation award independently.

The legal claim therefore could not end with obtaining a settlement. It also had to answer a much more personal question: how could the compensation support him throughout his life while respecting his identity, his family and the beliefs by which they lived?

Saeed and his family are Muslims, and their faith shapes their everyday lives, their responsibilities to one another and their approach to money. It could not simply be treated as a secondary consideration once the legal case had settled.

Islamic teaching prohibits riba, generally understood to include paying or receiving interest. Certain conventional investments, insurance arrangements and financial products may also be inconsistent with Shari’ah principles.

Periodical payments, which can provide an injured person with a secure income to fund care and case management for life, required particular consideration because they are often supported by conventional annuity arrangements.

We listened closely to the family and sought guidance from leading Islamic scholars in the UK and Pakistan. Their advice helped shape the presentation of the claim, the decision to secure a lump-sum settlement and the arrangements made to protect and manage the compensation afterwards.

Because Saeed lacked capacity to manage his property and financial affairs, the Court of Protection appointed his father and a professional deputy to make financial decisions on his behalf.

The arrangement brought together two different but equally important forms of knowledge. His father understood his son’s needs, his family and their faith. The professional deputy provided the specialist legal and financial oversight needed to protect a substantial award over many decades.

It also recognised the central role his father had played from the first days after the accident and as litigation friend in the legal proceedings. The family retained a meaningful voice in decisions while Saeed benefited from professional support and governance.

Given the family’s religious beliefs, permission was obtained from the Court of Protection to invest the compensation in a Shari’ah-compliant portfolio. Questions around charitable giving had to be considered alongside the deputies’ legal responsibilities. Longer-term sustainability of funds was explored, as were the practical and jurisdictional difficulties surrounding property decisions involving both the UK and Pakistan.

Ten years after the settlement, Saeed was living with his family and taking part in vocational rehabilitation.

Two neighbouring homes had been purchased, with plans to connect them. The aim was to give Saeed greater independence while keeping him close to the people who knew him best and remained central to his support.

His mother was by then fluent in English, had learned to drive and had taken responsibility for coordinating his therapies. His father had completed the doctorate he had been forced to put aside. Both parents remained closely involved in their son’s life and care alongside the paid support available to him.

Their story shows why compensation protection can never follow a standard template. Managing an award properly requires much more than sound investment decisions. It requires an understanding of the person to whom the money belongs: their abilities, relationships, culture, faith and hopes for the future.

Our Compensation Protection Unit works alongside clients, families, therapists, case managers and financial advisers to create arrangements that are legally sound, financially responsible and genuinely personal.

In many cases, that means becoming a lifelong legal companion to the client and their family, staying alongside them as their needs and circumstances change.

In this case, that meant ensuring that Saeed’s compensation could support him throughout his life without asking his family to set aside the beliefs at the heart of who they are, whilst recognising and giving effect to the rights to respect for family life and freedom of thought, conscience and religion protected by the Human Rights Act.