How Much Your Personal Injury Case is Worth
How Much Your Personal Injury Case is Worth
Many different factors go into determining how much your personal injury case is worth. The easiest way to get an estimate of how much your personal injury case is worth is to call an experienced personal injury attorney. However, if you are curious, the following will be of some assistance.
Compensatory Damages in Personal Injury Cases
“Compensatory,” damages are intended to compensate the injured plaintiff for their injuries and property damages. To determine the compensation amount, you must quantify your damages by assigning a dollar figure to your injuries. This includes physical injury, ongoing medical treatment, property damage and loss of income among others.
Here’s a rundown of the different types of compensatory damages that are common in many personal injury cases.
Medical treatment. A personal injury damages usually include the cost of all medical care that you required as a result of the accident as wells as an amount estimated for your future medical expenses.
Income. If you could not work or operate your business as a result of your injuries, you may be compensated for lost wages and other earnings. If you are no longer able to work at all, you may be compensated for loss of earning potential or loss of future earnings.
Property loss. Any property that is damaged or destroyed as a result of an accident, you may be entitled to compensation. This includes your car, contents of your car, clothing and anything else of value that you can show was damaged or destroyed in an accident.
Pain and suffering. Pain and suffering is a magical number that is sometimes difficult to determine but generally, the amount of pain and suffering compensation is approximately three times that of your medical damages.
Emotional distress. Emotional distress awards in personal injury cases are less common than other types of awards but they may occur in certain types of extreme cases where a plaintiff is left with lingering fear, anxiety or other emotional problems as a result of an accident.
Loss of enjoyment. If an injury as a result of an accident keeps you from enjoying day-to-day pursuits like hobbies, exercise, and other recreational activities, you may be entitled to receive “loss of enjoyment” damages.
Loss of consortium. “Loss of consortium” typically refers to the impact the injuries have on the plaintiff’s relationship with their spouse. If after an accident you are no longer capable of carrying on normal companionship or sexual relations with your spouse, you may be entitled to an additional award.
As you can see from the foregoing, you there are many factors that must be considered to determine how much your personal injury case is worth. You should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer to help you determine how much your personal injury case is worth in realistic terms. It is generally a free consultation so you should make your call to an experienced personal injury attorney today.