Building a Schedule of Damages

This guide walks you through creating a schedule of damages from scratch -- from opening a new calculation to exporting a finished schedule.

Creating a New Schedule

Open your case. From the dashboard, click on the case you want to work on to open the case detail page.

Go to the Damages Calculators tab. Select the Damages Calculators tab on the case detail page. You will see any existing schedules listed here.

Click New Calculation. This creates a fresh, empty schedule. Give it a descriptive name by clicking on the schedule title at the top of the page -- for example, "Schedule A - Best Case" or "Pre-Mediation Assessment".

Adding Heads of Damages

Add your first head. Use the Add Head control to select a head type from the list. For a typical personal injury claim, you might start with General Damages or Non-Economic Loss.

Enter the amount. For simple heads like General Damages, enter the lump sum amount directly. For calculated heads like Past Eco Loss (Earnings), fill in the required inputs -- net weekly loss, the loss period (dates or years), and any vicissitudes deduction.

Continue adding heads. Build out your schedule by adding each component of the claim. A typical schedule might include:

Non-Economic Loss (NSW CLA or MVA, or QLD CLA)
Interest on Past General Damages
Past Eco Loss (Earnings) and Past Lost Superannuation
Pre-Judgment Interest on past economic loss
Future Eco Loss (Earnings) and Future Lost Superannuation
Out of Pockets (past medical, travel, etc.)
Future Out of Pockets (ongoing treatment, medication)
Past Attendant Care (NSW or VIC)
A Total head to show the grand total

Example: Building a Common Law Schedule

Here is a typical order for building a NSW common law personal injury schedule, head by head:

General Damages -- Start with your assessed lump sum (e.g. $400,000).
Interest on Past General Damages -- Set the percentage of past damages (e.g. 50% past), the interest rate (e.g. 4%), the period in years, and enable the midpoint method. The calculator works out the rest.
Aggravated Damages -- Add a lump sum if the claim warrants it.
Past Eco Loss (Earnings) -- Enter the net weekly loss and the loss period. If you have run an analysis in the Economic Loss Analyser, you can take the net weekly loss figure directly from there.
Past Lost Superannuation -- Add this immediately after past eco loss. Set the super rate (e.g. 9% for the relevant period) and the calculator applies it to the past eco loss total.
Pre-Judgment Interest on Past Eco -- Place this below your past economic heads. Choose between the precise RBA variable rate method (period-by-period using historical rates), an average RBA rate, or a manually set flat rate.
Future Eco Loss (Earnings) -- Enter net weekly loss, select the discount factor (e.g. 3%), and set vicissitudes (15% is a common starting point). The calculator pulls the multiplier from standard actuarial tables.
Future Lost Superannuation -- Pulls the future eco loss amount and applies the superannuation rate from lookup tables.
Future Out of Pockets (Ongoing) -- Enter the weekly cost (e.g. $20/week for medication), select the discount factor, and the calculator uses age, sex, and life expectancy tables to determine the multiplier.
Past Attendant Care NSW -- Enter the hours per week and the claim period. The calculator uses ABS AWE data to determine the hourly rate for each period.
Total -- Add a Total head at the bottom. If liability is an issue, apply an attributable discount (e.g. 70%) to see both the full and discounted totals.

💡 Tip

If you regularly build similar schedules, save your set of heads as a template. Next time, load the template and you will have all the heads pre-populated -- just fill in the figures.

Applying Discount Multipliers

Set the discount factor for future heads. When you add a future loss head (like Future Eco Loss or Future Out of Pockets), you will be prompted to select a discount factor -- typically 3% or 5%. The calculator looks up the appropriate multiplier from standard tables based on the period and discount rate you select.

ℹ️ Note

Discount multipliers reduce future lump sum amounts to their present value. This is a standard actuarial calculation required in most Australian jurisdictions. The multiplier is determined by the period (years) and discount rate you select.

Enabling Pre-Judgment Interest

Add a Pre-Judgment Interest head. Place a Pre-Judgment Interest head below your past loss heads. It automatically picks up the sum of past economic loss heads above it. Choose between a simple flat rate or the precise RBA-based variable rate method, which calculates interest period-by-period using historical RBA cash rates plus 4%.

💡 Tip

For Interest on Past General Damages, you can use the midpoint method -- this multiplies the interest calculation by half, which is the standard approach when the loss accrued gradually over the period rather than as a lump sum at the start.

Reviewing and Saving

Check the grand total. Add a Total head at the bottom of your schedule to see the overall claim value. The total updates automatically as you add or modify heads.

Your schedule saves automatically. The "Saved" indicator in the top bar confirms your changes are stored. You can navigate away and return to the schedule at any time from the case detail page.

Next Steps

Working with Heads of Damages -- Learn about each head type in detail.
Exporting and Sharing -- Export your finished schedule as a Word document.