In Hong Kong, the assessment of future loss of earnings is perhaps the most complicated and contentious aspect of personal injury compensation. Conventionally, the Hong Kong Courts follow English authorities in selecting multipliers in personal injury litigation. Most judges select the multiplier by reference to a spread of multipliers in comparable cases from England and Hong Kong. The House of Lords in England deviated from this approach in Wells v Wells [1999] AC 345. It approved actuarial evidence as the primary method of assessing future pecuniary loss. This research paper empirically surveys the recent trends of personal injury compensation in Hong Kong by applying a set of relevant actuarial tables. In addition, the discount rate is essential to the actuarial calculation of the award –
it is the rate of interest the claimant can be expected to achieve on the lump sum before it is used up. This paper also explores the proper discount rate in the context of Hong Kong’s economic conditions and local circumstances. |