Acid Attack and Assault Scarring Claims
An acid attack or assault scarring claim can usually be brought in one of two ways, through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) or through a civil claim against the person responsible, and the two routes work quite differently. Most survivors pursue CICA, because it doesn’t depend on the attacker ever being caught or having […]
Contracture Scarring and Loss of Function
A contracture scarring claim is different from an ordinary scarring claim because the harm isn’t just how the scar looks, it’s what it stops the joint underneath from doing. Scar tissue that tightens across a joint can permanently restrict movement, and that loss of function is assessed and valued separately from the scar itself. Contracture […]
When a Surgical Scar Becomes a Negligence Claim
A surgical scar becomes a negligence claim when it can be shown that the scarring came from a breach of the standard of care, not from an accepted risk of the operation, and that this breach is what actually caused or worsened the scar. Most surgical scars, even ones a patient is unhappy with, don’t […]
Facial Scarring and Disfigurement Claims
Compensation for facial scarring sits at the top of the scarring damages scale because visibility and psychological impact, not the size of the mark itself, are what the Judicial College Guidelines actually reward. A facial scar compensation award turns on how the scar reads to other people and on what living with it has done […]
How the Judicial College Guidelines Value Scarring
The Judicial College Guidelines value scarring by placing a case into one of several bands, running from trivial to very severe, set out in two separate chapters: one for facial scarring, one for scarring elsewhere on the body. A solicitor identifies the right chapter, finds the band that best fits the scar’s visibility, permanence and […]
What Is the Vancouver Scar Scale?
The Vancouver Scar Scale gives a scar a single score, from 0 to 13, based on four things a clinician can see and feel: how red or purple it looks, whether it’s lighter or darker than the surrounding skin, how flexible it is, and how raised it is above the surface. It was developed in […]
Keloid Scarring and Compensation
Keloid scarring compensation tends to sit higher than compensation for an ordinary scar of the same size, because keloids are harder to treat, prone to coming back, and often keep growing beyond the original wound. The value of a claim follows the clinical reality, not just how the scar looks on the day it’s assessed. […]
How Are Scarring Claims Valued in the UK?
Scarring claims are valued using the Judicial College Guidelines, the reference courts and solicitors use to put a figure on general damages. Where a scar sits within those guidelines depends on its visibility, its permanence, and the psychological impact it has, not simply its size. Two scars of a similar length can be valued very […]