Interim payments are when you get part of your personal injury compensation before your claim has finished. These payments can help you pay for medical care or cover lost earnings while your claim continues.
Our personal injury solicitors always fight to get people interim payments when they need them as they recover from their illnesses and injuries. We’ve seen first-hand how important they are for getting people’s lives back on track after a serious accident.
To find out more about how we can help you make a personal injury claim, contact us online or call 0800 056 4110.
What is an interim payment?
Personal injury interim payments help you cover your costs while your compensation claim progresses. They’re payments that you get before we agree a final compensation settlement.
You can use interim payments to:
- Make up for lost earnings if you can’t work due to your injury
- Pay for private medical care or rehabilitation
- Pay for in-home care or nursing
- Cover the cost of travelling to medical appointments
- Adapt your home or buy adaptive equipment, such as an accessible vehicle.
Depending on your situation, you may need a single interim payment or multiple payments over months or years as your claim continues. Serious injury and brain injury claims can take a long time and involve a number of interim payments.
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How do I get an interim payment?
When you make a personal injury claim, we’ll discuss your medical and rehabilitation needs, and any earnings that you’ve lost. We’ll help you estimate what your costs are going to be, both now and in the future.
If we agree that interim payments are suitable, we’ll request them for you.
To begin with, you can only request interim payments if the people you’re claiming against admit that they were responsible for your injuries. However, we can also ask the court to order an interim payment if:
- The people you’re claiming against admit liability once the case has started
- A trial is likely to go your way
- You have a good reason to request an interim payment, such as an urgent medical bill
- Your interim payment request is for a reasonable amount that’s less than your total compensation.
If you need multiple interim payments, the court will need to agree to each one.
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How much can I get as an interim payment?
The amount you can get as an interim payment depends on your situation and the seriousness of your injuries.
Interim payments amounts are decided based on your overall compensation – they must be a ‘reasonable proportion’ of the overall amount. The amount you can request takes into account things like:
- Medical costs, including rehabilitation and physiotherapy
- Loss of income
- Aids, equipment and home adaptations to help with your injuries – for example, a leg brace, an accessible car, or changes to make your bathroom easier to use
- Cost of transport to and from medical appointments.
The same rule applies if you request multiple interim payments.
Our solicitors will help you work out your costs and request reasonable interim payments to make sure you get the best medical care possible. We’ll also argue your case as strongly as possible to help you get the interim payments you need.
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Do interim payments affect the final compensation I receive?
Your final compensation payment will take into account any interim payments that you’ve already had. This means that your final payment will be lower, but you won’t get any less money overall.
Many people prefer to get interim payments rather than one big lump sum, and many people depend on the help that interim payments can give.
Interim payments help you spread your compensation out and mean that you cover costs as and when they come up. With interim payments, you don’t have to put off medical procedures or equipment purchases until your claim is over.
If you make a compensation claim with us, we’ll discuss whether interim payments are suitable for you. Contact us today to learn more.
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Do interim payments affect my benefit entitlement?
Interim payments may affect your eligibility for means-tested benefits. However, we may be able to arrange your payments in a way that doesn’t affect your existing benefits. A personal injury trust is one way that may let you continue claiming benefits.
If you’ve claimed benefits due to your injury – for example, unemployment benefit because you’re out of work – this could also impact your interim payments. Your interim payment will be reduced by the amount of benefits that you have claimed. We’ll take this into account when we request interim payments for you.
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Will I have to pay tax on my interim payments?
You don’t have to pay tax on personal injury interim payments. All personal injury compensation is tax-free, whether you get it in one lump sum or in parts.
It doesn’t matter how big your interim payments are, or how many you get – you won’t pay tax on them.
If you’d like to know more about interim payments or any other aspect of personal injury claims, contact us online or call us on 0800 056 4110.
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