Let me just make this observation, that in the Canadian courts the so-called general damage award is capped at essentially $350,000. That's of course where we're trying to move the lump sum disability award under the charter.
When people talk about $1.5 million in a damage settlement, what they're usually talking about is the combination of those general damages together with a lump sum that is given for future loss of income and a lump sum that's usually given for future care costs. The combination of those will often get you into the millions of dollars ranges. You see those reported in the press, but they're rarely divided or allocated to these various heads of damages.
The Americans are much more aggressive with regard to damage suits. They don't have the caps. In fact, there are a lot of politics around why they don't have caps, but they don't. I think maybe what Mark was talking about is a Canadian court settlement which combined different types of lump sums to get to $1.5 million. What we're proposing of course is let's at least get to the Canadian court level on general damages, which would be about $350,000. I'm as intrigued as you are, though, as to what is happening in the United Kingdom, because for the last six or seven years we have been aware that they have lump sum awards that are close to a million dollars for their most severely disabled.
We have been told over the years, and I have a question on this, that Veterans Affairs takes the position that those are so unique and so catastrophic that they don't have too much general application, but I would suspect it would be useful for this committee to take a look at that.
If the British can see the catastrophic case at closer to $1 million, and we are paying $350,000 in the courts and $300,000 under the disability award of the charter, maybe it's time for us to look at those catastrophic-type cases, because there are some. I won't use the names. I think many of you around the table will know the people I'm talking about. But there are people who are amputees who are part of what we do in the War Amps, who have what I consider catastrophic injuries.
I question whether we are doing enough for those people on the lump sum award. If the British have a better sensitivity for that we should look at it.