Can my family be paid for caring for me?

After an injury, it is usually family who step in: driving you to appointments, helping you wash and dress, doing the shopping, sitting up with you at night. Most people assume that help is just what families do, and that it has no place in a claim.

In Scotland it does. The law treats that care as a real loss caused by the accident, and the person responsible has to pay for it.

This guide covers Scots law as it stands in October 2026.

The short answer

If a relative has given you necessary services because of your injuries, the person responsible must pay you a reasonable sum for those services, plus reasonable expenses the relative ran up in providing them — petrol, for example. That comes from section 8 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982.

It covers care already given and care you are likely to need in future.

There is one exception: if the relative expressly agreed that they did not want to be paid, knowing that a claim had been raised or was being considered, that care is not recoverable. A relative simply not asking for money is not the same thing.

The money comes to you, then goes to them

Your relative cannot raise their own claim for the care they gave. The law makes it part of your claim.

The award is paid to you, and section 8 then puts you under a legal obligation to account to the relative for it. In plain terms: it is their money, collected through your claim.

That is worth knowing early, because it means your claim should record the care properly from the start — not as an afterthought at settlement.

Jobs you can no longer do for your family

Section 9 covers the other side of the same coin.

If you used to do things for your family for free — and they are the kind of jobs people would normally have to pay someone else to do — you can claim a reasonable sum for no longer being able to do them. Think of the work around a home and family that someone else now has to take on.

Three conditions apply. The services must be ones you were doing, or could have been expected to do, before the accident; they must be the sort that would ordinarily be paid for if a non-relative did them; and you must have been expected to do them for a relative, without payment.

If your injuries are expected to shorten your life, the court assesses this part of the claim as though you would live as long as you would have done without the injury.

Who counts as a relative

The 1982 Act uses a wide definition. It includes:

• your husband, wife or civil partner, including a former one
• a partner you were living with as if married or in a civil partnership, at the time of the accident
• parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren
• brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts, and their children
• anyone you have accepted as a child of your family

In-laws count as if they were blood relatives, half-brothers and half-sisters count as full ones, and a stepchild counts as a child.

Help from a friend or neighbour who is not a relative does not fall under section 8. If you have had substantial help from someone outside the family, mention it to your solicitor anyway — whether anything can be claimed for it is a question for them.

How to show the care was given

Unpaid care leaves no receipts, which is exactly why it gets missed or underestimated. The single most useful thing you can do is keep a simple diary, ideally started as soon as you can:

• What was done — personal care, meals, housework, lifts, supervision, help at night
• Who did it
• Roughly how long it took, day by day
• Any costs — fuel, parking, time off work

A rough note made at the time is far more persuasive than a careful estimate pieced together a year later. Your medical records then show why the help was needed. See evidence for a personal injury claim for the rest of what is worth keeping.

How much is reasonable for the care is assessed case by case. This guide does not put a figure on it, and you should be wary of anyone who does before they have looked at your circumstances.

If the person has died

Where the injured person has died, family claims are brought under the Damages (Scotland) Act 2011. Section 6 of that Act lets a close relative include a reasonable sum for the loss of the personal services the person who died would have provided — using the same meaning of "personal services" as section 9 above. See who can claim after a death.

Frequently asked questions

Does my relative need to have given up work to be paid?

No. The Act does not require it. The test is whether the services were necessary because of your injuries. If they did lose earnings, tell your solicitor, as it is relevant.

My partner said they would never take money for looking after me. Does that stop the claim?

Not by itself. The exception is narrow: the relative must have expressly agreed that no payment should be made, knowing a claim had been raised or was being considered. If that has happened, mention it to your solicitor.

Is care from a relative treated the same as paid carers?

They are separate. If you have paid for professional care, that is claimed as an expense in the ordinary way. Section 8 is for unpaid help from family. Both can appear in the same claim — see what compensation can include.

Can I claim for care I will need in future?

Yes. Section 8 covers services a relative is likely to give after the claim is settled. In serious cases this can be a large part of the claim, which is why periodical payments and interim payments are often discussed alongside it.

Does it cost anything to ask whether care can be included?

No. A first conversation is free and carries no obligation, and claims are handled on a No Win No Fee basis.

Sources

Checked on legislation.gov.uk on 15 October 2026. Scotland only.

• Administration of Justice Act 1982, s.8 — services given to the injured person by a relative
• Administration of Justice Act 1982, s.9 — services the injured person can no longer give to a relative
• Administration of Justice Act 1982, s.13 — who counts as a relative
• Damages (Scotland) Act 2011, s.6 — a relative's loss of personal services after a death

This is general information about Scots law, not advice on any individual case. Whether care can be claimed, and how much, depends on the circumstances — a solicitor can tell you where you stand at no cost.

Last reviewed: 15 October 2026 by the Personal Injury Claims Scotland editorial team