Guernsey Judgment 31/2010 - Helmot v Simon

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Personal injuries claim - discount rate to be applied to the award - plaintiff's appeal from rate adopted by the Royal Court - the decision of the House of Lords in Wells v Wells (1999) and the position at common law in England prior to the determination by the Lord Chancellor in 2001 under s.1 of the Damages Act 1996 - important legal and factual differences between England and Guernsey in the domain of damages for personal injury - held that the Lord Chancellor's rate has no legal or evidential value in Guernsey in 2010 - the Royal Court should have taken account of the current return on index linked gilts and the difference between earnings inflation and price inflation - finding by the Jurats set aside and discount rate reduced from 1% to minus 1.5% for earnings-related losses and 0.5% for non earnings-related future losses. (see Judgment 4/2010).