Decided 14 March 2002
The solicitors in this tragic fatal accident case acted on behalf of a girl of 7 years, who suffered from cerebral palsy, with a life expectancy of 25 years. The court found that the future cost of care would be incurred over a period of almost 17.5 years. A discount rate of 3% was applied Table 38, which produced a multiplier of 13.61 which produced an award of £466.500.
The hospital appealed against the award stating that the trial judge should not have simply calculated the life loss by the number of years she was expected to live but by a cohort of individuals with her age and condition. Had the hospital won the appeal, which they did not, this would have reduced the multiplier to 10.5, substantially reducing the compensation.
