Compensation for unpaid care from family and friends after an injury

Nobody counts the hours at first. You help your partner get dressed, drive them to hospital appointments or take over the shopping because they’re struggling after an injury. It’s what families do.

But when that help continues for months or even years, the time involved can be enormous. And if the injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, the value of that unpaid care may form part of a compensation claim.

It’s something many families know very little about. Known as gratuitous care claims, these claims raise some important questions. What can you recover, how much might the care be worth, and what happens if a relative has given up work to look after you?

Gratuitous care is the legal term for unpaid assistance provided by relatives, friends or others because of an injury.

It might be a few hours each week during recovery, or round-the-clock support following a serious brain injury, spinal cord injury or amputation.

Someone responsible for causing an injury shouldn’t escape paying compensation for the resulting care needs simply because family or friends have stepped in without charging.

The injured person includes the value of that care in their claim. Any compensation recovered for unpaid care is generally held on trust for those who provided it. In other words, the money is intended for the carers, rather than being an additional payment for the injured person to keep.

Compensation for unpaid care provided by family and friends is a well-established part of personal injury claims. However, where the person providing the care is also the defendant responsible for the injury, the value of that care generally cannot be recovered.

Care isn’t limited to nursing or medical care. Help with washing, dressing, preparing meals, shopping, cleaning, mobility and attending appointments can all be included.

Sometimes, the less obvious needs are just as important.

Someone with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) may struggle with everyday activities because of severe pain. Following a brain injury, a person might be physically capable of preparing a meal but unable to do so safely without supervision. They may need reminding to take medication or help organising their day.

Families often overlook this kind of support because it doesn’t involve physically helping someone. But the need for supervision can be just as important when assessing compensation.

There are limits. The assistance must be reasonably needed because of the injury, rather than simply being part of normal family life.

Take cooking, for instance. If you’ve always prepared the family meals, you wouldn’t normally claim for doing what you’ve always done. But if your partner’s injury means you’re now spending much longer in the kitchen, preparing separate meals or helping them eat, that extra time may be included in the claim.

Ordinary companionship and routine hospital visits don’t generally qualify, although emotional support or supervision addressing a genuine injury-related need may be recoverable.

There’s no fixed hourly rate or standard maximum.

One approach is to consider what it would reasonably cost to employ someone to provide equivalent care. A deduction is often made where commercial care rates are used as the starting point, reflecting costs and other factors that don’t apply in the same way to unpaid family care.

A deduction of around 25% is common, although it isn’t a fixed legal rule. The court will consider the circumstances of each case, with the aim of arriving at a fair value for the care actually provided.

Let’s say your partner spends an extra 20 hours a week looking after you for a year. At a commercial care rate of £20 an hour, reduced by 25% to reflect the unpaid nature of the care, the amount claimed would be £15,600.

20 hours × 52 weeks × £15 = £15,600

That’s an illustration, not a standard tariff. Specialist assistance, overnight care and supervision may need to be valued differently.

What if the person caring for you happens to be a nurse or another healthcare professional? Their expertise may justify a higher rate if they’re providing specialist care. However, being professionally qualified doesn’t automatically increase the value of everyday assistance.

In cases involving years of unpaid care, the compensation can be substantial.

Sometimes, lost earnings can be used to assess the value of unpaid care. However, they aren’t automatically recoverable as a separate claim by the carer.

Imagine your wife gives up a £35,000-a-year job to look after you following a serious accident. Can that £35,000 simply be added to your compensation claim?

Not necessarily. The question is what represents reasonable compensation for the care she provides.

The Court of Appeal confirmed in Evans v Pontypridd Roofing Ltd that a carer’s lost earnings may be an appropriate way of valuing their services. The court will look at the nature and extent of the care provided, as well as the earnings the relative has sacrificed. Their previous salary isn’t automatically the amount recoverable.

Equally, there’s no rule that unpaid care must always be calculated using a discounted commercial hourly rate.

If someone in your family is thinking about reducing their hours or giving up work to care for you, I’d recommend discussing the implications with your solicitor first.

Yes. Compensation can cover both care already received and assistance reasonably expected to be needed in the future.

A partner may manage the care now, but what happens when they return to work or become older themselves? Parents caring for a child with a serious birth injury cannot necessarily continue providing the same support throughout adulthood.

There’s something else worth thinking about. When one partner becomes the other’s full-time carer, it can change their relationship profoundly. Caring responsibilities can place a lot of pressure on families. Bringing in professional carers, even for part of the day, can allow someone to remain a husband, wife or partner rather than becoming their loved one’s full-time carer.

In substantial claims, independent care experts assess future needs, including professional carers, overnight support and respite care.

Our guide to calculating future financial losses explains how these costs are assessed. Where the legal requirements are met, interim payments may help fund care before the claim settles.

A wife doesn’t usually keep a note every time she helps her husband with something. Neither do parents record every hour spent supervising an injured child. Once care becomes part of everyday life, it’s easy to lose track.

I would encourage families to start keeping a simple daily care diary. Record what help is needed, who provides it, how often and roughly how long it takes. Don’t overlook additional household tasks, supervision or disturbed nights.

Medical records, family statements and independent care assessments can also help establish what’s required. Expert evidence may be particularly important in serious injury claims, as our article on choosing the right medical expert explains.

A claim isn’t automatically lost because nobody kept records at the time, but reliable evidence can make a considerable difference.

Perhaps you were looking after an elderly parent, supporting a disabled relative or caring for your children before you were injured.

If you can no longer provide that support, the reasonable value of replacing it may also be recoverable.

This is a different type of care claim. For a more detailed examination, read Sarah Prager KC’s article on caring responsibilities in personal injury claims, which explores how the courts assess care an injured person can no longer provide to others.

When someone is seriously injured, the effects often fall heavily on those closest to them. Partners reduce their working hours, parents take on new responsibilities and friends give up their weekends to help.

If you’re pursuing a personal injury or medical negligence claim, tell your solicitor about all the additional help you’ve needed, however ordinary it might seem.

What matters isn’t whether anyone has sent you a bill. It’s the care you’ve needed because of your injury, and the time others have devoted to providing it.