A common question after being injured in an accident is what damages you are potentially entitled to. It is a question we receive quite frequently and one we thought we would take an opportunity to address.
Obviously, most people would prefer to have never been injured at all as opposed to receiving financial compensation for an injury, however, receiving the appropriate compensation can be helpful when it comes to items such as lost wages, medical bills, and future medical expenses, to name a few.
When attempting to quantify the damages resulting from an accident, there are a few key categories that the responsible party can be legally held liable for, these include:
Medical Expenses
If you have suffered an injury or multiple injuries following an accident you may require medical treatment. Medical expenses can add up quickly and involve many different costs, including:
- Ambulance fees
- Hospital costs
- Doctors
- Diagnostic studies
- Physical Therapy
- Medication
The responsible party may be liable for all of the injured person’s medical expenses. This may include future medical expenses as well, if they are needed.
Lost Wages
Unfortunately, many people who suffer injuries in an accident are unable to work as a result.
The loss of income that results from not being able to work can be an element of your damages. The responsible party may be liable to you for lost wages due to the injuries you sustained in the accident. Lost wages are not always just short term losses, either.
Depending on the severity of the injuries, long-term lost wages may result if you are unable to work for an extended period of time or even permanently.
Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering can be a difficult category to understand and even more difficult to measure. This is due to the fact that pain and suffering is a rather broad category that includes:
- Pain
- Suffering
- Mental Anguish
- Inconvenience
- Diminished Quality of Life
The pain and suffering category includes all of the intangible consequences of the injuries a victim has sustained in an accident. These consequences will differ from victim to victim; two people injured in the same or similar accidents may be affected differently from one another. Pain and suffering are also affected by the duration of the injury, for example, minor injuries may heal more quickly while more severe injuries could take an extended amount of time to heal or could have lifelong effects.
Despite the fact that pain and suffering can differ so greatly from victim to victim it is typically the most significant element in calculating the overall damages recoverable from the responsible party.