Quantum calculator
Care and case management claim calculator
Care and case management claims in England and Wales, valued period by period at the rates you supply, with the gratuitous care discount, the Hunt v Severs gate, and future care capitalisation. Every figure is shown with its full working and cited to authority.
This module encodes judicial conventions rather than dated statutory rates. Read how these calculators work on the quantum methodology page.
Care periods
Period 1
How care claims are valued
Commercial care is paid care, valued period by period. Each period carries hours per week, an hourly rate, and a number of weeks, and its value is the product of the three. Gratuitous care is care provided by family or friends without payment. It is recoverable because the claimant needs the services (Donnelly v Joyce [1974] QB 454; Hunt v Severs [1994] 2 AC 350), and it is valued at the commercial rate first, because the commercial rate is the ceiling (Housecroft v Burnett [1986] 1 All ER 332).
The commercial value of gratuitous care is then reduced by the standard discount of 25 per cent, reflecting that no tax or national insurance is paid and that the services are not actually bought on the open market (A v National Blood Authority (No 1) [2001] 3 All ER 289). The discount is a rebuttable default, not a fixed rule. There is no rigid mathematical formula and the assessment is made as a whole (Evans v Pontypridd Roofing Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 1657). The Civil Justice Council Costs of Care best-practice guidance records that the discount is frequently 25 per cent but may be less, or even nil where particularly high-quality care has been provided, and occasionally higher, up to 33 per cent. This calculator accepts an override within that range, with a mandatory justification.
Where the carer is the tortfeasor there is no recovery for that care at all (Hunt v Severs [1994] 2 AC 350). The calculator excludes any period marked as provided by the tortfeasor and flags it. Future care is the annual multiplicand multiplied by the lifetime multiplier from Ogden Tables 1 or 2; the multiplier is a user input in this calculator because the Ogden multiplier module is not yet integrated.
Hourly rates are user inputs. No commercial rate card is encoded. The usual sources for commercial rates are the NJC pay scales and ASHE 6115, the occupational series for care assistants and home carers. Past care attracts interest, which is computed in the interest on damages calculator, not here, and conversion of the annual multiplicand to a periodical payment order is handled by a separate module.
Primary sources
- Donnelly v Joyce [1974] QB 454, gratuitous care recoverable as the claimant's loss.
- Hunt v Severs [1994] 2 AC 350, no recovery where the carer is the tortfeasor.
- Housecroft v Burnett [1986] 1 All ER 332, the commercial rate as the ceiling.
- A v National Blood Authority (No 1) [2001] 3 All ER 289, the 25 per cent deduction.
- Evans v Pontypridd Roofing Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 1657; [2002] PIQR Q5, no rigid formula for the discount.
- Civil Justice Council, Costs of Care best-practice guidance, published on judiciary.uk. The exact URL of the guidance is to be verified at source before a link is added.
The case authorities above are cited to the law reports. They are not freely available at a primary-source URL, so verify them in the reports cited.
Frequently asked questions
What is gratuitous care and why is it recoverable?
Gratuitous care is care provided by family or friends without payment. It is recoverable as the claimant’s loss, because it is the claimant who needs the services (Donnelly v Joyce [1974] QB 454; Hunt v Severs [1994] 2 AC 350).
Why is gratuitous care discounted by 25 per cent?
The standard discount is 25 per cent off the commercial or net rate, reflecting that no tax or national insurance is paid and that the services are not actually bought on the open market (A v National Blood Authority (No 1) [2001] 3 All ER 289).
Can the discount be higher or lower than 25 per cent?
Yes. There is no rigid mathematical formula and the assessment is made as a whole (Evans v Pontypridd Roofing Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 1657). The Civil Justice Council Costs of Care best-practice guidance records that the discount is frequently 25 per cent but may be less, or even nil where particularly high-quality care has been provided, and occasionally higher, up to 33 per cent. This calculator accepts an override from 0 to 33 per cent with a mandatory justification.
What is the ceiling principle for care claims?
The commercial rate is the ceiling for valuing gratuitous care (Housecroft v Burnett [1986] 1 All ER 332). Where a relative gave up employment to provide the care, the claimant should be enabled to make reasonable recompense.
What happens if the carer caused the injury?
There is no recovery for gratuitous care provided by the tortfeasor (Hunt v Severs [1994] 2 AC 350). The calculator excludes any period marked as provided by the tortfeasor and flags it. This is a hard gate, not a discount.
What does this calculator not do?
It does not supply commercial hourly rates, which are user inputs usually sourced from the NJC pay scales and ASHE 6115 for care assistants and home carers. It does not compute interest on past care, which is handled by the interest on damages calculator. It does not convert the annual multiplicand to a periodical payment order, and it does not compute the Ogden lifetime multiplier, which is a user input read from Ogden Tables 1 or 2.