Both the injured plaintiff’s earning capacity and his expectation of life had been diminished and in assessing damages for the diminution of his earning capacity his Lordship had regard to the plaintiff’s pre-accident expectation of life.
Streatfeild J said: ‘In my view the proper approach to this question of loss of earning capacity is to compensate the plaintiff, who is alive now, for what he has in fact lost. What he has lost is the prospect of earning whatever it was he did earn from his business over the period of time that he might otherwise, apart from the accident, have reasonably expected to earn it.’
Streatfeild J
[1961] 1 QB 222
England and Wales
Citing:
Not Followed – Harris v Brights Asphalt Contractors Ltd QBD 1953
The plaintiff was not to be prevented from recovering the costs of private medical treatment.
It was argued and decided that (a) damages for the loss of earnings for the ‘lost years’ is nil, and (b) ‘the only relevance of earnings which would . .
Cited by:
Cited – Pickett v British Rail Engineering HL 2-Nov-1978
Lost Earnings claim Continues after Death
The claimant, suffering from mesothelioma, had claimed against his employers and won, but his claim for loss of earnings consequent upon his anticipated premature death was not allowed. He began an appeal, but then died. His personal representatives . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Damages, Personal Injury
Updated: 06 December 2021; Ref: scu.654045