5 Kinds Of Damages You Can Claim In A Personal Injury Lawsuit
Posted on: 27 April 2019
No matter who you are, you could just be moments away from an injury that could complicate your life for weeks, months, or even permanently.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, someone dies from an injury every 3 minutes. However, millions of other people suffer from injuries that leave them alive but with physical and emotional scars -- and the kinds of financial problems that go along with any serious injury.
If you were badly injured due to someone's negligence or deliberate act, here are some of the different things for which you may be able to claim compensation:
1. Your medical bills
Keep track of your medical bills after the accident. Everything from the services of the paramedics that tended to you just after your accident to the prescriptions you took for pain is an expense that you didn't need. Even if you have insurance that took care of the bills, your medical expenses are often used as a way to gauge the severity of your injuries and how much your case is worth altogether.
2. Your lost income
You may need your attorney's help to determine what to ask for regarding lost income -- especially if you were out of work for a significant period of time and can't return to your former job. You have the right to claim your actual losses (even days that were covered by sick leave) -- and you can claim future lost wages. Future lost wages include your lost earning capacity if you can no longer perform the same kind of work. It can also include the cost of damage to your career trajectory if the injury caused you to miss out on an important promotion.
3. Your mental distress
Many people confuse mental distress for pain and suffering, but they aren't quite the same thing. Everyone suffers when they're in an accident, but some people go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, panic attacks, anxiety, and other mental problems as a result of the horrific nature of the accident itself, what they saw, or their injuries.
4. Your disfigurement
If you've been left with physical scars as well as emotional ones, that's also something that's worthy of compensation. Generally speaking, the more visible your scars (those on your hands, arms, and face) will be considered the worst in terms of how much compensation you are due.
5. Your pain and suffering
This is a catch-all term that generally describes what you had to physically endure as a result of your injuries. What usually happens is that the insurance company or jury decides your award for pain and suffering relative to your actual medical expenses. The longer you received medical care, the longer you had to endure pain from your accident.
Sometimes, there are other damages that you can claim after an accident due to someone's negligence or willful actions. When that's appropriate, your personal injury attorney will guide you.
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