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Types of Car Accident Compensation

Written by AskTheLawyers.com™

Types of Car Accident Compensation

Written by AskTheLawyers.com™

AskTheLawyers™

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Car accidents can be frightening, traumatic, and costly. Depending on the severity of the accident, related expenses could include the cost of a new car in addition to medical bills. While minor car accidents might be covered between the insurance of the at-fault party and your own health insurance, more serious accidents often carry costs that far outstrip what insurance can pay for. This is why it’s important to look into all of your options after a car wreck. If you or a loved one were seriously injured in a car accident, reach out to an experienced car accident attorney; these attorneys can help you get the most out of your current insurance plan, and can also help you seek additional compensation in the form of a personal injury lawsuit against the negligent party.

The types of suffering a person experiences as the result of another party’s negligence are referred to as damages.

In a successful personal injury claim, these damages can be uniquely accounted for in a settlement offer or verdict. Damages may be economic or non-economic; economic damages are generally easier to calculate, and come with a specific price tag attached, such as the cost of replacing damaged property, medical bills, and lost wages.

Non-economic damages are harder to calculate but are equally worthy of compensation, and may include damages such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and more. Due to the intangible nature of non-economic damages, it takes the help of an expert in the field to figure out what a fair monetary value might be to compensate for the victim’s losses.

Car accident attorneys may even identify damages that you were not previously aware of.

For example, many damages may not occur until the future; continuing medical bills, costs of therapy, and life care expenses are just three areas in which people who accepted a low settlement offer upfront often find themselves lacking in the future. This is why it is particularly important to discuss your case with an experienced attorney before accepting a potential settlement offer. It is important to make sure that a settlement offer or verdict is sufficient to cover not only present damages but future ones as well. Car accident attorneys see these cases on a daily basis, allowing them to predict with accuracy what kind of damages you may experience in the future as a result of the accident.

Damages a car accident attorney may identify claims for include but are not necessarily limited to the following:

  • Medical expenses for past, present, and future injuries resulting from a car accident may include: whiplash, scrapes and cuts, head injuries, broken bones or fractures, internal bleeding, herniated disc, knee trauma, head, neck or back trauma, spinal cord injury, loss of limbs, brain injury, disfigurement, burn injury, paralysis, PTSD, and, in the worst case scenario, wrongful death.
  • Lost wages as a result of hospital stay-time, or, for the loved one of a car accident victim, the necessity to leave work in order to provide care. Additionaly, if the injured party can no longer perform the same job they used to due to their injuries, future lost wages may also apply.
  • Lifecare expenses, such as life support or ongoing medical expenses for chronic injuries.
  • Vocational rehabilitation, in the event that someone must undergo rehabilitative therapy to return to work.
  • Pain and suffering, for both emotional and physical distress.
  • Loss of consortium and loss of care and companionship.
  • Wrongful death, in the event that the car accident caused fatal injuries.
  • Funeral expenses, in the event of wrongful death.

To learn more about your options for physical and financial recovery after a costly car accident, reach out to a car accident attorney.

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