When you’ve been injured by someone else either intentionally or not, the fallout is rarely just physical. Medical bills pile up fast, you miss work, your household bills and credit cards go unpaid, and daily life changes in ways you never anticipated.
A personal injury lawsuit can help you recover compensation, but many people don’t realize exactly how it works. Compensation covers more than just hospital stays and surgeries, and a good injury attorney will help you claim every dollar you’re legally entitled to receive.
If you’re curious about what types of compensation you can recover in a personal injury lawsuit, here’s a general overview of how it works.
1. Medical expenses
Medical bills are the most obvious expense after an injury, but they’re also complex. Courts don’t just look at your emergency room visit to determine your compensation. They consider all the care you’ve received thus far and what you’ll need long-term. This can include ambulance rides, ER visits, surgeries, and any other care you received in the aftermath.
When it comes to ongoing medical care, this includes follow-up appointments, physical therapy, prescriptions, and long-term treatments. For future medical expenses, courts consider your care needs either months or years into the future. This can involve surgeries, assistive devices, home modifications, and even home care.
Using your medical records, your lawyer will work with medical experts to determine your expected future medical costs.
2. Lost wages and earning capacity
An injury that makes it impossible for you to work either temporarily or permanently can ruin your financial stability. These damages cover lost wages, lost earning capacity if you can no longer perform the job you had or any job, along with lost benefits, promotions, health insurance, retirement contributions, and future raises in some cases.
3. Pain and suffering
Pain and suffering damages are non-economic damages awarded when a court acknowledges that trauma and emotional distress deserve compensation. For example, ongoing pain from injuries like headaches and back problems can be factored into the total compensation, along with anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other emotional effects.
Some emotional damages are harder to win, but are still valid. For example, some people are compensated for the loss of enjoyment of life when they can’t do the things they used to enjoy, like sports and hobbies.
Emotional damages vary by case, but the big six-figure awards come from juries rather than settlements.
4. Property damage
When a personal injury involves a vehicle, motorcycle, bicycle, or other form of personal property, that damage is recoverable. This can include vehicle repairs, maintenance, and sometimes replacement.
If personal belongings were damaged in the accident – like electronics, clothing, or anything else – the value of those items can often be recovered. In the case of a car accident, sometimes car rental fees can be recovered.
5. Punitive damages
Punitive damages are designed to be punishment. The point of punitive damages is to send a message and hold the other party accountable for their actions. These damages are awarded in cases where the defendant’s actions were reckless, malicious, or grossly negligent.
In many cases punitive damages can be equal to or greater than the total of all compensatory damages, which significantly increases the amount of money the injured party receives. However, these damages aren’t available in every case. For instance, a Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report from 2005 showed that punitive damages were only awarded in 5% of civil cases.
6. Loss of companionship and consortium
Injuries that impact a family relationship or marriage are sometimes compensable. For instance, if a spouse can no longer provide the same level of companionship or support due to injury, that loss is legally recognized.
Injuries that prevent a parent from caring for their kids or participating in family life can also justify these claims. These damages are typically awarded in cases regarding wrongful death and catastrophic injuries.
Injured parties deserve full compensation
While some people see personal injury lawsuits as a way to get easy money, it’s not that simple. Lawsuits are about getting justice and being compensated for real – often devastating – losses. Personal injury attorneys work hard to calculate the real value of a case based on physical, emotional, and financial losses, and fight to get their clients a fair settlement.
If you’ve been injured in an accident, don’t settle for less than you deserve. You might be entitled to more than you think.
