When you have suffered a personal injury, you may be entitled to receive personal injury compensation for your losses. Most personal injury cases are the result of a negligent act of another person. The responsible party must be held accountable for the losses you have incurred due to your injuries.
The 2 Types of Personal Injury Compensation
When you speak with a personal injury attorney, they will talk to you about compensation. There are two types of compensation that are available to injury victims: economic and non-economic damages.
Every personal injury case is unique, and what you qualify for and the value of the claim will depend on the facts of your case. In general, you may be entitled to receive one or more of the following types of compensation:
Economic Compensation
Medical Expenses – Current and Future
All personal injury claims will include the cost of medical bills associated with the injury. Your attorney will also seek compensation for future medical care if it is necessary. For example, if you need full-time or long-term care after your accident, your attorney will include the costs for this under this type of compensation.
Lost Wages and Benefits
If you have had to miss work because of your injuries, you are entitled to receive compensation for your lost wages. This may also include lost employer-paid benefits that you are not receiving because you are not at work.
Future Earning Capacity
If you cannot return to work because of your injuries, or you can only return at a limited capacity, your attorney will seek damages for all of your future lost earnings and benefits.
Injury Related Expenses
If you have had to modify your home or vehicle to accommodate your injuries, the cost may be included as part of your compensation. In addition, other expenses such as toll road fees to medical visits, mileage costs, special purchases for treating your injury required by your care provider, and over-the-counter items will be included. The price for services such as cleaning your home, child care, lawn maintenance can also be included if you cannot complete these tasks because of your injury.
Non-Economic Damages
Pain and Suffering and Mental Anguish
This type of compensation will vary significantly for each case. Your attorney will explain how this type of compensation is calculated and how it will apply to your case. Most personal injury cases will allow some compensation for the pain you have endured from your injury.
Loss of Enjoyment of Life
If your injuries are going to cause dramatic changes to the way that you have lived your life in the past, your lawyer may seek compensation for these losses.
Loss of Companionship
If your injuries have changed the way that you interact with your spouse or your children, your attorney may seek damages for you and on their behalf for this loss.
There may be additional types of compensation available to you that will apply specifically to your case. Your attorney will provide you with detailed information on the types of compensation that you can claim for your injuries.
Why You Need A Personal Injury Lawyer
One of the main reasons you want to have a personal injury attorney manage your compensation claim is that you want to receive all of the compensation you are entitled to for your losses.
Insurance companies are very aggressive about reducing personal injury compensation packages as much as possible. Their goal is not to take care of you or even to be fair – it is to save money on any claim that is presented to them.
Insurance adjusters will lowball compensation claims, delay payments, and even deny treatments in an effort to reduce the amount of money they have to pay for a claim. You do not have to worry about the insurers trying to play these games when you have legal representation. Your attorney will secure the compensation that is complete and fair.
Having a personal injury attorney manage your claim will also protect your rights as an injury victim. The insurance company tried to force someone back to work too soon to reduce the claim in many personal injury cases. Your attorney will ensure that you do not get forced back to work before your doctor approves your release.
The final benefit of having a personal injury attorney manage your claim is peace of mind. Your attorney can handle all of the legal issues and deal with the insurance company. In addition, this gives you the time to focus on your health and make a recovery from your injuries.
If you have been injured in any type of accident that was of no fault of your own, contact a personal injury attorney to find out what rights you have to claim compensation.