What Damages Can a Personal Injury Victim Claim?

Filing a personal injury claim means you are seeking compensation for the harm you have suffered. Harm that led to significant pain and suffering. Injury victims are often able to recover compensation through a settlement.

There are several types of damages that can be awarded in a personal injury case. Understanding the types of damages helps victims know what they can claim to support their recovery and livelihood. Here’s an overview of each.

Economic Damages

Economic damages can be defined as the money you lose because of an accident or injury. These are easy to calculate because you have bills and receipts to prove them. Economic damages may include medical bills for surgeries and medicines. If you had missed work because of your injury, you can get money for that too. It also covers costs like fixing or replacing damaged property.

Types of Economic Damages

Medical Expenses

Medical expenses cover all costs related to treating your injuries. It may include hospital bills for surgeries. Medical expenses also cover diagnostic tests like X-rays and MRIs. Rehabilitation costs like physical therapy are also included. Additionally, costs for buying medical equipment like crutches and wheelchairs can also be claimed.

Lost Wages

Lost wages mean the money you didn’t earn because of your accident. After an accident, you can ask the at-fault party to pay for the money you lost. This includes your regular pay, overtime pay, and any benefits like paid vacation.

It is important to keep proof, like paychecks or a letter from your employer stating how much money you have missed. Lost wages can also include the money you might lose in the future.

Loss of Earning Capacities

It is also similar to lost wages, but the difference is that it only covers the money you missed while you were recovering. Loss of earning capacity looks at the long-term effect on how much you can earn in the future.

It is calculated by comparing how much you could have earned before your injury to how much you can realistically earn after. This helps you get compensation for the income you will lose because of your injury.

Out-of-Pocket Expenses

These are the extra costs you pay on your own. This includes things like buying medicines or medical supplies that are not covered by the insurance. Sometimes, out-of-pocket expenses include the money you paid to someone who helped you with everyday chores. It is important to keep receipts and records because you can try to get this money back in a personal injury claim.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are the money that you get paid for the pain and suffering you experienced. This may include physical pain, emotional stress, or sadness caused by the injury. These damages are different from economic damages because they don’t rely directly on bills and wages. Lawyers and courts use different methods to calculate these damages.

Types of Non-Economic Damages

Pain and Suffering

“Pain and suffering” refer to the physical and emotional pain you go through because of an injury. Physical pain may include the pain you went through right after the accident or even the pain you might face in the future. On the other hand, emotional pain may include feelings like sadness, fear, or anger that resulted from the injury.

Emotional Distress

Emotional distress indicates feeling upset or worried because of any horrible incidents, like an accident. These emotions make it hard to enjoy your day-to-day life. Emotional distress includes feelings like stress and sadness that affect your mind and body. These are not visible like a broken bone.

Loss of Enjoyment of Life

This means not being able to do things that really make you happy. For example, you might have enjoyed activities like playing sports, going on trips, etc. But these things may become hard to do after the injury.

Mental Distress

Mental distress is feeling very deep emotional pain or suffering because of an accident. It is something you can get money for in a personal injury claim. This kind of emotional pain can make it hard to live a normal daily life.

Key Takeaways

• After a personal injury accident, one can claim compensation for several damages they have suffered.
• Damages are generally classified into two types: economic and non-economic damages.
• Economic damages are the money you lose because of the accident.
• Non-economic damages are the money that you get paid for the pain and suffering you experienced.
• Types of economic damages may include medical expenses, lost wages, etc.