Expenses

A birth injury claim may include compensation for some of the additional expenses parents have incurred because of their child’s disability, over and above what they would normally have spent on an uninjured child. This can include equipment, therapy, specialist clothing, communication aids, travel, mileage and parking for appointments, and many other additional costs.

At some point you will be asked to compile a list of these expenses. I would advise starting this list and keeping all receipts, invoices and other evidence of what you have spent as early as possible.  Don’t throw away old receipts just because you don’t think an item could possibly be relevant.

If you didn’t remember to do this, a good way to start is to look through old emails, as there will often be order confirmations or invoices there. If your email app only goes back so far, logging into your email through a browser on a PC is often more complete and may allow you to find and print older records.

I’d say certain headings would be helpful, but it depends very much on how severely your child is affected and what their particular needs are. We have a severely affected child, so our list is extensive. I’ve not listed all the prices, but obviously you would include these where you have them.

You will also have mileage and parking costs for hospitals and other appointments. Your legal representative will have your child’s medical records, which should show many of the appointments. They can usually help you work through these and calculate the mileage.

Not every expense will necessarily be recoverable. Your solicitor will advise you whether an individual item can properly be included in the claim, and may need evidence that the expense was caused by your child’s injury and was reasonable.

Expenses relating to care and the time and effort involved in providing care are dealt with separately from simple receipts and purchases. You will usually need to keep a care diary, and your legal team will assess these costs as part of the claim. For now, however, simple expenses are relatively easy to compile once you have a checklist.