Calculating how much a personal injury is worth, needs an in-depth understanding of various types of compensatory damages.
If fault is proved, a personal injury case involves money damages being awarded to the plaintiff or claimant (the injured) by the person or company (the defendant) found legally liable for the accident and resulting injury. A personal injury case does not always make it to the courtroom trials and is often resolved through an out-of-the-court settlement that usually takes the form of negotiations between the involved parties, their representatives and insurance companies. If the case proceeds to the court, a jury or judge gives a damage award. The amount of damage is also set by the court.
The article discusses different types of damages awarded in personal injury cases and how its worth is linked to the claimant’s action or inaction.
Compensatory Damages
Most personal injury damages come under the category of “compensatory”, which implies that these are meant to compensate the plaintiff, who sustained an injury due to someone else’s fault and suffered different types of loss for his or her injury. The purpose of any compensatory damage is to make good for the losses incurred by the plaintiff. It gets down to quantifying the damages in terms of dollars. For some compensatory damages, it is easy to put a dollar figure on the losses (for example, medical bills and reimbursement for property damage). But it is not easy to translate pain and suffering into dollars. In the same vein, you cannot place a dollar figure on the victim’s inability to travel with family or enjoy entertainment due to injury that restricts his or her movement even during the phase of recovery.
Following is a list of compensatory damages, a common outcome of successful personal injury cases.
Medical Expenses: Any personal injury damage award is meant to cover expenses for medical care related to the accident. Medical expenses include the medical bills already incurred as well as estimated future expenses.
Income: An injured is entitled to compensation for the accident’s blow to the person’s salary and wages. The compensation award covers income already lost and future earring prospects. In personal injury cases, a compensation damage based on the plaintiff’s future income is awarded to compensate the accident victim for loss of his or her earning capacity.
Property Damage: If the accident caused harm to any car, clothing or any other inanimate item, the injured has right to reimbursement for repairs at the current market value for the property lost due to the accident.
Pain and Suffering: Pain and suffering that you undergo after your accident and injury are worth compensation.
Emotional Trauma: Often experienced in the aftermath of a more serious injury, emotional distress is compensated through compensatory damage award. Accidents leave a deep psychological impact on the injured, which includes fear, insomnia and anxiety.
Loss of Enjoyment: Injuries leave the victim deprived of exercises, hobbies and enjoyment with family and friends which were the person’s daily pursuits before sustaining the injury.
Loss of Consortium: Loss of consortium, in personal injury cases, is associated with the effects of the injuries on the plaintiff’s relationship with his or her spouse.
Talk to an experienced lawyer from Syracuse law firm, King Law to figure out the value of your Syracuse personal injury case.
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