Accidents can be sudden, unexpected, and catastrophic. In an instant, someone’s life can change drastically as they find themselves suddenly faced with physical pain, economic obstacles and the inability to live their life like they did before. If you are considering the prospect of bringing a personal injury lawsuit against the party responsible for your injuries, you may be curious about the types of compensation that you might be able to obtain if successful.
Reimbursement for your costs
Suffering a serious injury comes with all sorts of unexpected costs. It is only fair that, if you win your lawsuit, the responsible party reimburse you for the money that you had to spend as a result of their negligence.
For example, you can recover the costs of your medical expenses, including any medications or physical therapy that you need in order to recover completely. You may also be able to recover other economic damages, such as the cost of repairing damage to your vehicle or other property.
In some circumstances, if you are unable to earn money to support your family like you used to due to a disability caused by the accident, you may even be able to recover for the loss of earning capacity or lost wages resulting from your injury.
Compensation for non-economic injuries
Not all harm can be measured in specific dollar amounts. Just because an injury is intangible does not mean that you should not be able to seek compensation for it.
For example, you can seek compensation for the physical pain and suffering that you endured after the accident, as well as the emotional trauma that came with it. You might also be able to recover for the loss of your ability to enjoy time with your family due to the ways that you have had to adapt your life to your new circumstances.
However, by law, there are certain circumstances that could disqualify you from being able to recover for these non-economic damages.
Personal injury lawsuits are not about punishing the responsible party. Rather, their purpose is to create an opportunity for the victim of an accident to receive everything that they need in order to make their life whole again, and to overcome the effects of the accident as much as possible.