What is the ISV scale?

In a personal injury claim, there are a number of what we term “heads of damage” which a person can claim compensation for, and these comprise:

• General Damages – this refers to the pain and suffering and loss of amenities of life suffered as a consequence of accident injuries

• Past and future medical expenses – or out of pocket expenses relating to your injuries

• Past and future loss – of income resulting from your injuries

• Past and future care – and assistance required due to your injuries

• Loss of superannuation – benefits on past and future lost income

• Interest – on past medical expenses, past care, past pain and suffering or past income

A Schedule outlining the ISV for each type of injury forms part of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (CLA) and the Workers’ Compensation & Rehabilitation Act 2003 (WCRA).

When calculating the amount that should be compensated to an injured person in a personal injury claim, the Court awards an amount it feels appropriate for each of these heads of damage.

Having regard to the injuries sustained and the impact same have had upon the claimant and their pre-injury lifestyle, and employment as well as what their reasonable needs are given those injuries.

These amounts are then added up to provide the total amount of compensation that should be awarded for the claim, or what we call the “Quantum” of the claim.

You can get a rough idea of compensation calculation in our Compensation Calculator.

The ISV Scale is used to ascertain what award should be made for General Damages when calculating compensation to be awarded to an injured claimant.

The CLA Regulations at Schedule 4, applies generally to all personal injury claims apart from work injury claims in Queensland. The WCRA at Schedule 9, applies specifically to all work injury claims in Queensland.

Each of these Schedules include a table which sets out a vast range of injuries that can be suffered by a claimant, with varying types of injuries to varying parts of the body.

Yes, each injury has an ISV range accorded to it, for example, a moderate whiplash injury may have an ISV range of 5 to 10.

What the ISV’s do is regulate the award of the first “head of damage” above, General Damages, in personal injury claims in Queensland.

The idea of the Injury Scale Values is to rate the seriousness of the injury between 0 and 100.

The most minor injuries (e.g. a minor laceration to a finger), are at 0 on the scale, and the more serious injuries (e.g. quadriplegia with extremely limited function) being up to 100.

Once the ISV is ascertained, then that ISV number accords to a monetary amount on the ISV Scale.

For instance, for a moderate cervical spine injury, you may feel your injury is at the higher end of the scale having regard to the extent of your injury and given the criteria stipulated in the CLA table of injuries, and therefore you have an ISV rating for your injury of 10.

This then correlates on the ISV Scale to a monetary amount of $11,000 to $15,750. This is the amount you hopefully should then be awarded for General Damages when the Quantum of your claim is being calculated.

The idea of the scale is to rate the seriousness of the injury between 0 and 100, with the most minor injury (e.g. a minor laceration to a finger), being at 1 on the scale and the more serious injuries (e.g. tetraplegic with extremely limited function) being at 100, and then according a monetary value to that rating.

Once My ISV Rating Is Calculated, What Does The Court Do? Once the dominant injury ISV rating is calculated, the Court will then consider all of the other injuries sustained in the accident and it will increase the ISV rating for the dominant injury by a percentage to take the other injuries into account.

The percentage increase used is dependent on the extent of the other injuries, their severity and how they impact on the claimant’s pre-injury lifestyle and employment etc.

Similar considerations are taken into account as when you are calculating the ISV rating for the dominant injury.

So if the other injuries are only minor and have resolved since the accident, but may have caused some pain and discomfort for a period following the accident, then the increase percentage will only be small, say 0 to 25%.

However, if the other injuries will continue to be a problem for the claimant and might require further treatment in the future, then the percentage will be higher, say 25 to 50%.

Therefore the more injuries there are, the higher the percentage increase.

For example, if the dominant injury is a moderate whiplash injury at an ISV rating of 10, and if there are other lesser injuries involved, and those other injuries are likely to have ongoing problems for the claimant:

• This will require further treatment in the future and continuing to interfere with his enjoyment of life (e.g. whiplash injury to his lower back), then the ISV rating of 10 might be increased by 25% to a rounded up ISV rating of 13.
• This will then accord to a range for General Damages at $17,900 to $21,780, depending on when the injury occurred.
• So if it occurred on 20 June 2016, the General Damages award for all of the injuries suffered in the accident, if assessed at an ISV rating of 13, would be $21,780.
• The ISV rating must always be a whole number. So if, after increasing the ISV rating of your dominant injury by a percentage it does not come to a whole number, it is taken to the nearest whole number (e.g. if calculates to 12.4, it is taken to the whole number 12, but if it calculates to 12.5 then it is taken up to 13).