Pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA)


Published by a ³ÉÈËÓ°Òô PI & Clinical Negligence expert
Practice notes
In-house

Pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA)


Published by a ³ÉÈËÓ°Òô PI & Clinical Negligence expert

Practice notes
In-house
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Basis for valuing the loss

How should an injury be measured in a sum of money? After all, no formula can calculate the value of the loss of an arm or the sense of smell.

Damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA) are awarded for physical and/or psychiatric injury and encompass suffering from the past, present and future. One overall sum is awarded although the damages may be divided into two elements:

  1. •

    pain and suffering—this is the subjective experience of the injured claimant

  2. •

    loss of amenity—this is the reduction in the ability to perform everyday tasks

A claimant is compensated for the loss suffered as a result of their injury including being unable to lead a full life. The award for PSLA is derived from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) and comparable cases.

Where a claimant has suffered multiple injuries, the court may provide a breakdown of the PSLA award to show what sum was awarded for each injury or to clarify whether any discount was applied

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The annual profits of a company after deduction of tax, dividends to preference shareholders and bondholders. Earnings are usually expressed on a per-share basis (eg 7p), and the earnings per share (EPS) figure is calculated by dividing total earnings by the average number of shares in issue for the relevant accounting period. For example, earnings of £2 million, with 10 million shares in issue would give an EPS of 20p. You may see earnings used in several ways: • reported earnings: the figure in the company’s accounts • underlying earnings: the figure derived from reported earnings by excluding any one-off items (eg profit from the sale of land which is not part of the company’s normal business) • diluted earnings: earnings after adjustment has been made for shares that may be issued in the future if holders of options, warrants and convertibles choose to exercise their rights.

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