The tables below provide ranges for compensation for commonly encountered physical and mental injuries. The ranges are consistent with the sums recoverable in civil claims (these are updated from time to time which is why they are not expressed as round figures). Where within the range a particular case will fall will depend upon the seriousness of injury within the relevant category and the effects of the injury on the victim. The ranges must be used in conjunction with the general guidance on compensation.
Where a single victim has suffered more than one injury, the court should apply the principle of totality to arrive at a fair figure for the overall injuries suffered.
Physical injury
| Type of injury | Description | Suggested range |
| Minor eye injuries | Such as being struck in the eye, exposure to fumes including smoke, or being splashed by liquids, causing initial pain and some temporary interference with vision. | £4,820 to £10,660 |
| Transient eye injuries | In these cases the injured person will have recovered completely within a few weeks. | £2,690 to £4,820 |
| Nose | Displaced fracture where recovery is complete but only after surgery. | £4,820 to £6,230 |
| Nose | Displaced fracture requiring no more than manipulation | £3,080 to £3,850 |
| Nose | Simple undisplaced fracture with full recovery | £2,080 to £3,080 |
| Fracture of cheekbones | Simple fracture of cheekbones for which some reconstructive surgery is necessary but from which there is a complete recovery with no or only minimal cosmetic effects. | £5,310 to £7,880 |
| Fracture of cheekbones | Simple fracture of cheekbone for which no surgery is required and where a complete recovery is effected | £2,830 to £3,650 |
| Damage to teeth | Loss of or serious damage to several front teeth. | £10,660 to £13,930 |
| Damage to teeth | Loss of or serious damage to two front teeth. The loss of two front teeth will attract an award in the middle to upper end of this bracket and damage to two front teeth or loss of two milk teeth will attract an award at the lower end | £5,310 to £9,310 |
| Damage to teeth | Loss of or serious damage to one front tooth | £2,690 to £4,820 |
| Damage to teeth | Loss of or damage to back teeth: per tooth | £1,330 to £2,080 |
| Facial scarring | One scar or, a number of very small scars, where the overall effect is to mar but not markedly affect the appearance and the reaction is no more than that of an ordinarily sensitive person. Cases involving one single scar (not hyperpigmented or keloid) that can be hidden or camouflaged and do not represent any significant cosmetic blemish are likely to attract an award at the lowest end of the bracket. | £4,820 to £16,770 |
| Facial scarring | Trivial scarring where the effect is minor | £2,080 to £4,310 |
| Shoulder | Soft tissue injury to shoulder with considerable pain but almost complete recovery within a year | £2,990 to £5,310 |
| Shoulder | Soft tissue injury to shoulder with considerable pain but almost complete recovery within three months | Up to £2,990 |
| Shoulder | Fracture of clavicle depending on the extent of fracture, level of disability, residual symptoms, whether temporary or permanent, and whether union is anatomically displaced | £6,280 to £14,940 |
| Arm | Simple fractures of the forearm | £8,060 to £23,430 |
| Elbow | Simple fractures, tennis elbow syndrome, and lacerations; i.e. those injuries which cause no permanent damage and do not result in any permanent impairment of function resolving in one to two years | £4,310 to £7,930 |
| Wrist | An uncomplicated Colles fracture | £9,070 |
| Wrist | Very minor undisplaced or minimally displaced fractures and soft tissue injuries necessitating application of plaster or bandage for a matter of weeks and a full or virtual recovery within one year | £4,310 to £5,790 |
| Minor hand, finger, and thumb injuries | Including fractures which generally have recovered in six months. Also injuries such as scarring, tenderness, and reaction to the cold where there is full recovery | Up to £5,800 |
| Hips and pelvis | Minor soft tissue injuries with complete recovery | Up to £4,820 |
| Leg | Simple fractures to tibia or fibula with complete recovery | £8,640 to £11,050 |
| Leg | Soft tissue injuries, muscle tears, lacerations, cuts, bruising, or contusions with substantial recovery within a few months | Up to £2,990 |
| Knee | Injuries involving dislocation, torn cartilage or meniscus where recovery has been complete or almost complete | Up to £7,370 |
| Knee | A soft tissue strain-type injury that does not significantly impact on daily activities and gradually resolves within six to seven months | £2,750 |
| Ankle | Minor or undisplaced fractures, sprains, and ligamentous injuries – complete recovery in one year | Up to £6,710 |
| Other injuries not referred to above where there is a complete recovery within seven days. | Examples may include grazing, bruising, small cuts where there is no scar | £200 to £840 |
| Other injuries not referred to above where there is a complete recovery within 28 days. | Examples may include black eye, bruising, cuts where there is no permanent scar | £840 to £1,680 |
| Other injuries not referred to above where there is a complete recovery within three months. | Examples may include bruising, cuts where there is no permanent scar | £1,680 to £2,990 |
Mental injury
| Description | Suggested range |
| Temporary mental anxiety (including terror, shock, distress) not medically verified | £200 to £840 |
| Disabling mental anxiety, lasting up to 6 weeks, medically verified* | £840 to £1,880 |
| Disabling mental illness, lasting up to 28 weeks, confirmed by psychiatric diagnosis* | £1,880 to £7,150 |
* mental injury is disabling if it has a substantial adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities for the time specified (e.g. impaired work or school performance or effects on social relationships or sexual dysfunction).
Physical and sexual abuse
It will be rare for cases involving this type of harm to be dealt with in a magistrates’ court and it will be important for magistrates to consult their legal adviser for guidance in these situations.
Compensation will include damages for the sexual and/or physical abuse itself as well as any psychiatric injury caused to the injured person. Where the abuse is a lower level of seriousness and short-lived and the psychological effects are mild or resolved quickly, or the prognosis for resolution with treatment is very good, compensation will be in the range of £11,870 to £25,100