After being injured in an accident through no fault of your own, your life might have been turned upside down. You may be in constant pain, trying to fit many different medical appointments in your day, and feeling financial pressure since you have been unable to return to work.
In the middle of this chaos, you may realize that the best way to move forward is to work with a personal injury lawyer who can help you fight for the compensation you deserve to cover your losses but you might be at a loss as to what exactly a personal injury settlement might cover. Read on to find out more on the subject before you file a claim.
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How Can Your Lawyer Help You?
In personal injury claims it is up to the plaintiff to provide enough evidence against the defendant to prove that they are more likely than not responsible for the accident and the injuries. Knowing how to go about gathering the evidence and building a strong case for your defense is what your lawyer is there for.
Yet, even with the strongest case, you may discover that very few personal injury claims end up in court and the vast majority of them reach a settlement without the need to go to trial. What your lawyer will help you with is determining the fair value of your claim by including all the items that the law allows in these cases.
Source: epsteinlawyers.com
Items Covered in Personal Injury Settlements
There are several categories of items covered in a personal injury claim. In some cases, the value of the claim may include not only the expenses you have had to deal with so far but also expenses you know you will incur in the future. Here is how these items, known as compensatory damages, are classified.
Economic Damages
Economic damages refer to items that are easy to quantify because they are backed up with receipts, bills, pay stubs, or other means. They include:
Medical Expenses
Probably the main reason why you are filing a claim after being injured is to get financial help to cover the medical treatment needed to recover your health. This not only covers doctor’s visits, hospitalizations and surgeries, physical therapies, medication, and more but may also include any future medical bills you will have to pay should your medical treatment not be finished at the time a settlement is reached.
Keep a detailed log and file of all your expenses and take pictures of your injuries from the moment you are injured and as they progress in their healing.
Source: fvflawfirm.com
Lost Wages
Being unable to go to work when you need to take care of your health is very stressful. On one hand you are seeing the medical bills pile up and on the other, you are seeing your savings dwindling. Past and future lost wages are also included in the economic damages and they can be added by using your pay stubs, employee records, or tax returns. As with medical expenses, you may claim future wages if you know you will still be unable to return to work for a certain period until your medical treatment is finished.
Personal Property
If you were injured in a car accident, your vehicle might have been damaged, and you should include the cost to repair it in your claim. You can also include the cost of alternative transportation while your car is in the shop.
You may also have lost other personal property in the accident such as your cell phone, computer, or other valuable items.
Other Expenses
These may include your legal fees as well as any other out-of-pocket costs.
Source: promisesbehavioralhealth
Non-Economic Damages
While economic damages are easy to quantify and add, non-economic damages are intangible and much harder to attach a price tag to. They refer to the pain and suffering you might be experiencing since the accident. This may include emotional distress, anxiety, depression, anguish, emotional distress, PTSD, loss of enjoyment of life, and more. The fact that it is not easy to attach a price to what you are feeling does not make your feelings any less real.
Your lawyer will know how to put a fair value to your non-economic damages which will then be added to the economic damages listed above.
Punitive Damages
If your injuries are particularly extensive and severe or if the judge considers the actions of the defendant to be particularly horrific, you may also be awarded punitive damages. This refers to an amount that the judge considers will serve to deter the defendant and others from acting this way in the future. These types of damages are only awarded sometimes and you should not count on them when calculating the value of your claim.
Source: resminilawoffices.com
Understanding the Value of Your Claim
It is common for people who have been injured in accidents to believe that they will receive large settlement amounts, probably based on some movie they have seen or book they have read. In reality, the value of a personal injury settlement is directly related to how severe and extensive your injuries are and many other factors also play a role in determining the final amount.
Before getting your hopes up too high, consult with a personal injury attorney who is experienced in cases like yours. Your lawyer will listen to your story, gather all available evidence to strengthen your case, and add all the tangible expenses related to the accident. Any future foreseeable items will also be added based on your projected recovery time. Intangible expenses are harder to calculate but your lawyer has the required knowledge to place a fair value on them as well.
Ultimately, a judge or jury will have the last word as to the value of your case but you can expect that a victim who is dealing with long-term disability or disfigurement will have a case that is worth much more than one for a victim who sustained only a minor injury.
