General Damages for Burn Injuries

General damages for burn injuries sit toward the upper end of the scale because a serious burn combines acute pain, prolonged treatment and permanent scarring in one injury. Courts in Atlantic Canada assess the burn across its whole course, from the emergency room through grafting and rehabilitation to the scarred skin that remains afterward.

Depth and Coverage Set the Starting Point

Medicine grades burns by depth and by the percentage of body surface involved, and the courts follow the same frame. A partial thickness burn that heals without grafting is assessed mainly on its pain and its scar. A full thickness burn needing skin grafts adds the donor sites, which are wounds of their own, and the risk of contractures that limit how a joint moves. The greater the surface area, the longer the treatment and the larger the award.

The Aftermath Weighs as Much as the Injury

Burn treatment is widely described in the medical literature as among the most painful there is, and dressing changes continue that pain for weeks. Afterward come the permanent effects: grafted skin that no longer sweats or stretches normally, sensitivity to heat and sun, itching that disrupts sleep, and the visible scarring assessed in the scarring chapter. Psychological injury is common after burns, and where it is diagnosed it is compensated under the principles in the post-traumatic stress.

How General Damages for Burn Injuries Are Proved

The hospital record does much of the work, because burn units chart depth, coverage and every procedure. What the record misses is the daily experience, so contemporaneous notes, photographs through healing, and evidence from family members carry real weight. The firm gathers that day-by-day record early on its burn files, including motorcycle accident claims where exhaust and road burns are common.

Where the Awards Land

Reported awards for serious burns run well into six figures in the decided cases, and the worst burns approach the cap on non-pecuniary damages described in the paralysis chapter. The decisions are published on CanLII, and the guide’s opening chapter states how to read ranges like these.