Sometimes, accidents are not really accidents at all. They could be due to negligence on someone’s part, resulting in an event that caused harm to someone else. Rather than for the victim to suffer in silence, the law empowers us the right to do something about it. This is what we call Claim for Personal Injury.

While Singapore does not allow for outrageous compensations in the form of punitive damages like those in some other countries, we do have laws in place to claim from the negligent party, losses that occur due to this event.

When Is There A Case?

Usually, personal injury cases occur when someone suffers an injury, these could be worksite or work-related injuries. It could also be injuries resulting from an accident. You could be out shopping for example, and you fell into a hole that was not covered by the management – you can seek compensation.

Basically, negligence is the key to the case, so the causation factor is important – negligence has to be proven and not all cases are clear-cut.

Take the case of medical negligence. If you can prove that you have suffered injuries due to a medical procedure that went wrong, you can claim for damages. It’s not always successful of course, and the process can be drawn out and tedious. But it is a form of redress you can seek if you feel there was negligence involved.

Still, even though the law gives us the right to claim against a person or party that caused us injury, sometimes, we must be sure that it is advantageous to pursue the case before we actually proceed. Naturally, if the cost of the treatment is high, and the quality of life is very much affected, you should claim. The same goes for cases involving clear-cut negligence.

However, if the injury is small and the compensation is not a big amount – it would not be cost effective to commence the lawsuit.

Also, if the injury occurs in another country, the defendant being overseas, action has to be commenced there. You may engage local lawyers to instruct foreign lawyers on your claim so that would mean two separate sets of legal costs.

How To Claim?

You should start a claim by first writing a letter to the person or organisation you want to seek relief from. If both parties can reach a settlement, then you will save a lot of hassle. But claims are never so smooth sailing.

So, once there is a disagreement, you will need a lawyer’s help. You can commence an action in court by having a lawyer issue a summons asking for the specific reliefs.

If the defendant does not dispute the summons, then the process is simple. The lawyer will enter interlocutory judgement against the defendant with damages to be assessed or quantified at a separate hearing. This is like an interim judgment as you do not know the quantum of damages awarded yet.

On the other hand, if the other side contest the action, then both parties will go to court for trial. At the end of it, the judge will decide and award damages.

By damages, we are talking about monetary compensation, of which there are two basic types: General and Special.

When you claim for General Damages, you claim for “softer” losses, like loss of future earnings, loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, etc. But claims for medical consultation, transport for medical visits, therapy, etc are classified as Special Damages.

What If The Claim Is Against You?

Depending on whether you are negligent, you can chose to defend yourself, or you either do it with a lawyer or your insurance company can defend in your name. This is common with car accidents.

Basically, the only way to defend yourself is to prove that you are not negligent, and the claimant is at fault. In grey areas, the case could swing either way.

Parting Note

In the US, there are multi-million dollar compensations which seems ludicrous to us. However, this type of damages, called Punitive damages are not awarded here. Punitive damages are awarded to warn others not to go down the same path.

In Singapore, the basis for the claims are compensatory rather than punitive in nature.as the law in Singapore for compensation for personal injury is very conservative.

If someone wants to seek redress for personal injury in Singapore, the idea is purely to restore the claimant to the position he would have been had it not been for the injuries suffered but not to allow a claimant to profit from huge sums of compensation.