Brain Injury Claims

What Is a Brain Injury Claim Worth?

Direct Answer: Under the 18th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (published 9 April 2026), the top bracket — very severe brain injury, with little or no meaningful response to the environment and a need for full-time nursing care — currently runs from around £372,570 to £533,720 for pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Less severe cases sit in lower brackets, graded by the degree of cognitive, behavioural and physical impairment.

Brain injury is unusually hard to value compared with a physical injury, because the same initial event can lead to wildly different outcomes depending on the individual, and because the effects that matter most — personality change, memory and concentration problems, loss of independence, reduced capacity to work or maintain relationships — are inherently harder to quantify than a fracture or an amputation. This is why detailed neuropsychological and neurological expert evidence, not just the initial hospital record, is central to properly valuing a claim.

As with every JCG bracket, this figure is general damages only. A serious brain injury claim also includes special damages — past and future lost earnings, lifetime care and case management, rehabilitation, specialist equipment, and home adaptations — which for a severe brain injury typically make up the largest part of the claim's total value by a significant margin.

Mental Capacity and the Court of Protection

Where a brain injury leaves someone unable to manage their own financial affairs, the Court of Protection may need to appoint a deputy to manage their compensation and ongoing decisions on their behalf. This is a separate legal process from the personal injury claim itself, and it's a genuinely common feature of the more serious brain injury cases rather than an unusual complication.