The Qld Court of Appeal handed down their decision this week in the appeal of Peebles v WorkCover Queensland.
As a result, the judgment of the Supreme Court was increased by over $200,000 for Mr Peebles, with the Court of Appeal reviewing and giving helpful analysis of principles to be applied in the exercise of discounting economic loss claims.
At trial in the Supreme Court, in 2020 it was not in question that the serious spinal
injury suffered by Mr Peebles was caused by the negligence of the employer. Mr Peebles had been required to drive a truck with a defective driver’s seat. Liability had been admitted by the employer’s insurer, leaving only the issue of the quantum of the claim.
An issue at trial and then on appeal, was the percentage discounting to be applied to Mr Peebles’ claim for past loss of income and his future claim for lost earning capacity.
The Supreme Court had discounted both claims (past and future) by 50% and the question for the Court of Appeal was whether this was so unreasonable that it should infer that an error had been made.
Percentage discounting to be applied will always be determined with reference to the specialist medical expert evidence a particular case. In this instance, the fact and extent of the injuries caused by the negligence was not disputed. The disputed issue was the possibility that his pre-existing degenerative condition would have prevented
him from working at some time in the future, in any event.
The Court of Appeal decided that for future economic loss, the discounting of 50% was within the range of discounts available and therefore was not set aside.
However, for past economic loss, the Court made it clear that different principles apply because firstly, Mr Peebles’ health and circumstances are known for that period, and secondly, it is a period of only 5 years compared with the 29 years (for future loss). It was found that the trial judge erred in applying the same discount rate for past as for future loss, as it should be ‘much lower’. The claim for past economic loss was reassessed with only a 10% discount.
