https://pixabay.com/photos/lawyers-personal-injury-accident-1000803/

What Types of Damages Can You Pursue in a Personal Injury Action?

Dealing with the financial ramifications of a serious personal injury can be very challenging. Managing pain and the stress that goes along with it is not easy for anybody, and it can make the economic uncertainty of what personal injury victims have to contend with seem even worse. Pursuing a legal remedy against the person or business entity that is liable for an injury may offer considerable economic relief. If you experienced a serious injury due to negligent or intentional wrongdoing, you may be able to seek one or more of the following types of damages.

Medical Expenses

Typically, medical expenses are one of the most important elements of a demand for damages. The cost of emergency care can be exceptionally high, and ongoing treatment with specialists or physical therapy sessions can add up to thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. In any personal injury action, claimants should seek full restitution for all of the costs of their medical care.

Lost Wages

An injury that prevents you from earning your regular income can be particularly difficult to manage financially. Recovering the compensation that you have lost as the result of your physical condition may be a vital source of support. Calculate your lost wages with as much precision as possible. If your income varies due to seasonal patterns or fluctuating commissions, it may be necessary to do some approximations in order to arrive at a reasonable figure representing your actual loss of income.

Future Lost Wages

Long-term injuries or permanently disabling conditions could entitle personal injury claimants to recover damages from your future lost wages in a judicial award or monetary settlement with an insurance carrier. These damages encompass all of the wages that you will be unable to earn in the future. A settlement preservation trust can enable you to stagger your receipt of these funds so that you will not deplete them too quickly. In some cases, establishing a trust could also help to shield your assets from creditors.

Diminished Earning Capacity

Harm to your ability to generate income that is attributable to an injury could have a long-lasting effect on your overall financial health. Damages for diminished earning capacity may be similar to damages for future lost wages, but they are not necessarily one and the same. Basically, you may be able to continue working and earning income, but it could be less than the income which you would have earned but for the event that injured you. For example, you may not be able to work full-time anymore, or you may have to take a job role that is less physically demanding than a previous position that had a higher rate of pay.

Lastly, the physical ordeal of an injury may be grounds to add compensation for pain and suffering to a demand for damages. If the effect of an injury causes you to feel severe pain or moderate pain that persists for a protracted period of time, then the party at fault may need to give you some form of recompense for the physical toll of what you have endured.  

About Post Author

Follow Us