Pain, Suffering and Loss of Amenities (PSLA) and caselaw

In Hong Kong, accident victims can instruct lawyers to claim compensation from negligent individuals, entities and their third-party liability insurance companies. One significant component of such claims is Pain, Suffering, and Loss of Amenities (PSLA).

Under common law, PSLA compensation aims to compensate victims for the physical and mental pain and suffering, as well as the loss of amenities they have experienced due to the negligence of the defendant. The amount of compensation varies depending on the severity of the injuries and can range from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars.

Courts in Hong Kong generally consider the following factors when determining the amount of PSLA compensation:

  • Age of the claimant
  • Physical and mental pain suffered by the claimant due to the injuries
  • Severity of the injuries
  • Number and type of surgeries and treatments undergone
  • Disfigurement or facial trauma
  • Precedents from similar cases, among others.

Regarding the classification of PSLA levels, the landmark case in Hong Kong is Lee Ting-Lam v. Leung Kam-Ming [1980] HKCA 240; CACV 11/1980, decided by the Court of Appeal in the 1980s. In this case, the court divided PSLA compensation into four levels based on the severity of the injuries:

  • Serious Injury
  • Substantial Injury
  • Gross Disability
  • Disaster

Interestingly, the injured person in the aforementioned case was represented by Mr. Kemal Bokhary, who later became a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal. It was referred to as the "golden age" of court advocacy by Chief Justice Mr. Geoffrey Ma, who served as the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal.

The compensation amounts for each severity level of PSLA are periodically adjusted by the court, taking into account factors such as inflation and the nature of the injuries involved in each case. In 2017, in the case of David John Slater v Commissioner of Police [2017] HKCFI 1211; [2018] 4 HKC 1; HCPI 646/2012 (7 July 2017), Justice Mohan Bharwaney raised the compensation amount for serious injuries to HK$530,000.

The compensation amounts for each severity level of PSLA are periodically adjusted by the court, taking into account factors such as inflation and the nature of the injuries involved in each case. In 2017, in the case of David John Slater v Commissioner of Police [2017] HKCFI 1211; [2018] 4 HKC 1; HCPI 646/2012 (7 July 2017), Justice Mohan Bharwaney raised the compensation amount for serious injuries to HK$530,000.

It is worth noting that although serious injuries belong to the lowest level of the PSLA classification, the threshold is still relatively high. The injuries need to significantly impact the claimant's daily life and enjoyment, but the claimant still retains reasonable functional capacity. For example, it could involve the need for amputation but successful fitting of a suitable prosthetic limb or severe bone fractures causing intermittent pain. Therefore, in the majority of accident cases, if the claimant does not require amputation or does not have severe bone fractures, the PSLA for pain and suffering may not reach the threshold of serious injury. In such cases, the injured plaintiff can still receive PSLA compensation, but it will be lower than the threshold for serious injuries. The specific amount would depend on similar cases involving comparable injuries. 

CPH Legal's team of lawyers specializes in accident related personal injuries claims. To facilitate better public understanding of how PSLA is calculated by the courts in recent years, we have gathered and classified recent court cases. We have listed them on the following page, which will be periodically updated:

Recent caselaw on PSLA (currently in Chinese only)

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