Damages: How Much is a Personal Injury Case Worth?

If you have to identify what exactly defines a personal injury case, we have all you need to know in this article. Any personal injury case includes one of the following: a car accident, motorcycle accident, bicycle accident, pedestrian accident or slip and fall accident. If you also are curious to find out how much one of these personal injury cases are worth, we have you covered.

The answer to this question lies in an assessment of damages in personal injury cases. Both your personal injury attorney and you have to review in detail what your injuries have cost you physically, mentally and include monetary losses as well.

Below, you can find explanations for general damages in personal injury cases and how your actions or inaction can impact a personal injury damages award.

Compensatory damages

After a personal injury accident, you have the right to receive a compensation for what you loss due to the accident.

Here is the outline of the most common types of damages in personal injury cases. These damages include medical care, income, property loss, pain and suffering, emotional hardship, loss of enjoyment, loss of consortium, punitive damages, plaintiff’s actions or inaction, comparative negligence and contributory negligence.

Medical care

A personal injury damage award includes the reimbursement for the treatment you’ve already received. However, while you await your settlement, it might be difficult to be financially stable because medical expenses are piling up. In that case you may opt for pre-settlement funding to help you pay your medical bills.

Income

An injured person should be entitled for compensation for lost wages.

Property loss

If a vehicle, article of clothing, or any other property was damaged in the accident, then the plaintiff has the right to get reimbursed.

Pain and suffering

Pain and suffering that was caused by the accident can lead to you receiving compensation.

Emotional hardship

More severe accidents can lead to emotional hardships. An individual who suffered psychological distress due to an accident is entitled for compensation. Psychological impact of an accident may cause fear, sleep loss, anxiety, depression or any other serious mental issue.

Loss of enjoyment

If the accident affected your day-to-day activities such as recreational activities, you may receive ‘loss of enjoyment’ damage.

Loss of consortium

Loss of consortium refers to a claim for damages that a spouse or other family member can file because their family member has been injured.

Punitive damages

Proving that the defendant was careless and didn’t act as a reasonably prudent person can lead to the plaintiff receiving punitive damages apart from any compensatory damages. The goal of punitive damages or exemplary damages is to punish the defendant for being negligent.

Plaintiff’s actions or inaction

It’s not enough just to be injured to win the personal injury case. Also, your actions in the accident and inactions after being injured may tremendously reduce the amount of damages.

Comparative negligence

If you were, even partially, at fault for the accident, it can affect your overall settlement because many states comply with a comparative negligence standard. It links damages to degree of fault in a personal injury case.

Contributory negligence

If you were partially at fault for the accident, you don’t get any type of compensation. However, only a small number of states follow this standard.

After the accident

If an injured person doesn’t do anything to minimize the financial impact of an accident which is expected of him/her then the damages awarded will be undoubtedly reduced. For example, this may occur if a plaintiff fails to get the necessary medical treatment, thus making the injuries even worse.

For more information and for calculating of damages in personal injury cases, please call the The Law Office of Dan Zohar at (800) 963-3311 and get a free consultation. We’re available 24/7.