Court of appeal achieves just solution for claimants

Swift v Carpenter and Personal Injuries Bar Association (Intervener) [2020] EWCA Civ 1295

In an interesting and long awaited decision of Court of Appeal in a case which was closely observed by the Personal Injuries Bar Association, the issue was whether the formula in Roberts v Johnstone [1989] QB 878 no longer achieved fair and reasonable compensation for a seriously injured claimant who needed to buy a more expensive home as a result of her continuing disabilities. The Court of Appeal set out clearly a new approach to making such awards in circumstances when the claimant had a long-life expectancy and the discount rate was negative or low.