25 Surprising Facts About Injury Compensation
What Is an Injury Settlement?
A settlement agreement is a contract between the plaintiff and the defendant to settle the dispute outside of court. It can be a fast and efficient way to get compensation.
Non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify in dollars. They include things like suffering and pain.
Medical expenses
Based on the severity of an injury, medical costs can be a substantial portion of a settlement. These expenses can include doctor visits, medications and even surgery. The majority of these costs are not covered by health insurance, and are often very costly. In many cases, there are also ancillary expenses associated with the injury, like home health treatment and adaptive devices, transportation to medical appointments and much more.
Medical bills are usually covered by your private health insurance plan, Medicare, Medicaid or PIP. If you get a settlement with unpaid medical balances, they must be paid from the settlement money. Your attorney can negotiate with billing companies to reduce the balances.
Your attorney can also determine the proper amount to cover any other losses that aren't medically related. These include future income loss, pain and suffering, and other non-economic damages. Your lawyer will have to provide expert testimony and evidence of these other damages to make a proper claim.
Loss of wages
In addition to the compensation for medical expenses, injured people may also be entitled to compensation for lost wages. The amount of damages is in relation to the amount of time the victim missed from work due to injuries. A seasoned personal injury lawyer can assist clients in recovering lost wages as compensation in a personal injury lawsuit.
You could be unable to perform a significant amount of work if you suffer a traumatized brain injury, spinal cord injury or both. This means you'll have to prove that the time you didn't work was directly connected to the accident. In proving the loss of wages, you need to include any and all sources of income. This includes regular wages and overtime, bonuses and commissions. Include any vacation days that are not used or sick leave.
If your doctor has determined that you can return to work under certain work limitations, the employer has to adhere to these limitations. This could mean changing your job or providing you with the necessary equipment.
A knowledgeable personal injury lawyer can help collect all the evidence needed to support a lost wage claim. They can also assist in a case in which the victim is self-employed or earns an undetermined salary. In these instances the insurance company has to look over the person's previous and future earnings and provide an accurate estimate of future lost wages. This is likely to require a full financial statement from the plaintiff's accountant or financial expert.
Non-economic damage
When people think of personal injury-related damages they typically think of the cost of medical expenses and lost wages. There are additional costs that are difficult to quantify in dollars. These are referred to as non-economic damages. They cover the more intangible effects of a person's injuries, like pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.
Pay stubs, bills and other documents can be used to prove economic damages for courts and juries. However non-economic damages are more difficult to calculate and could be dependent on subjective factors like suffering and pain and the emotional distress caused by the injury.
The suffering and pain could be physical, mental or emotional trauma caused by the accident. It could also include a person's inability to participate to their usual social or hobbies. A jury will be able to consider the extent to which the injury has affected the victim's quality life.
Other non-economic damages include disfigurement loss of consortium and loss of enjoyment life. For example one could be affected by disfigurement following an accident that permanently alters their appearance. While this is not an economic loss it is painful to endure marks and other permanent injuries.
Damages to relieve pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering is a type of non-economic damages for the emotional and physical pain you have endured from your accident. These are subjective damages, which are determined by the jury, unlike medical bills or auto repairs. They also do not include lost wages. Each juror has a different opinion on the amount of compensation for the pain and suffering that they suffer is appropriate for your situation.
Documentation can help a juror understand the extent of the injury. Your attorney can obtain documents from your doctor detailing the extent and severity of your injuries. He can also gather videos and photographs. Testimonies from family members and friends can be equally convincing. These testimonies could help create empathy among jurors, and show how your injury affected your hobbies and activities with your family.
The length of your injury could influence the amount of compensation you receive for suffering and pain. injury lawsuit rapid city for pain and suffering is typically higher for severe, disabling injuries than for injuries that heal faster.
Injuries can cause a lot of emotional trauma and stress and a successful claim for injury should reflect that. Your personal injury lawyer will help you create solid evidence and work towards a fair settlement for all your injuries. If you have questions about a possible injury settlement make a call to Adam S. Kutner & Associates for a free consultation.