20 Myths About Injury Compensation: Dispelled

What Is an Injury Settlement?

An injury settlement is an agreement between the plaintiff and defendant to settle a dispute outside of court. It can be a successful way to receive an amount of money quickly.

Contrary to special damages that can be easily calculated, non-economic damages are harder to determine in a precise dollar amount. This includes things like suffering and pain.

Medical expenses

Depending on the severity of an injury, medical expenses can constitute a substantial part of the settlement. This could include doctor's visits as well as medications, surgery and injury settlement other procedures. These expenses are not usually covered by insurance and can be expensive. In addition, in many instances there are additional costs that come along with the injuries such as home healthcare, adaptive devices, transportation to medical appointments, and so on.

Medical bills are typically covered by a private health insurance provider, the government's Medicare or Medicaid, or your PIP coverage. If you receive a settlement that contains unpaid medical balances, these must be paid from the settlement money. Your attorney can negotiate with the billing companies to reduce the amounts.

Your lawyer can also decide the appropriate amount for any other losses that are not medically related. These include the loss of future income along with pain and suffering and other non-economic damages. In order to claim these damages, your attorney will need to submit documentation and an expert opinion on these other damages.

Lost wages

In addition to the compensation for medical expenses, injured victims may also be entitled to lost wages. These damages are calculated according to the time that the injured person was unable to work as a result of their injuries. A personal injury lawyer can help their client collect lost wages compensation in a personal injuries claim.

A brain injury that is traumatic or spinal cord injury, for instance, could force you to be absent for a considerable amount of work. This means you will need to prove that the time you missed was directly linked to the accident. When proving that you lost wages, it is essential to include all sources of income. This includes regular wages bonus, overtime, injury settlement and commissions. Include any unused vacation days or sick leave.

If your doctor has decided that you can return back to work with certain restrictions then your employer must adhere to these restrictions. This might involve changing certain aspects of your work or providing beneficial equipment.

A seasoned personal injury lawyer can assist you to collect all the data necessary to prove a lost wage claim. They can also help in cases where the person who is injured is self-employed or has a salary that fluctuates. In these cases, the insurance company will have to analyze the person's past and future earnings and provide a reasonable estimate of future lost wages. This will require a detailed statement from the plaintiff’s accountant or financial expert.

Non-economic damage

When people think of personal injury the first thing that comes to mind is the money lost through medical expenses and lost wages. However, there are additional costs associated with injury which are more difficult to quantify in terms of dollar amounts. These are referred to as non-economic damages. These damages are based on the intangible effects of injury, such as suffering, pain and enjoyment of life.

Economic damages are easy for courts and juries to calculate since they are documented in pay stubs and bills. However, non-economic damages are much more difficult to determine and can be determined by subjective factors, such as suffering and pain, as well as the emotional distress caused by the injury litigation.

The term "pain and suffering" refers to any physical, mental or emotional distress that is a result of the accident. It could also be the person's inability to engage with their hobbies or social activities. A jury will consider the extent to which the injury affected the victim's quality of life.

Other non-economic damages are disfigurement, loss of consortium, and loss in enjoyment of life. People may experience disfigurement after an accident that permanently alters their appearance. While this is not an expense however, it can be extremely painful to live with the scars and other permanent injuries.

Compensations for pain and suffering

Pain and suffering are non-economic damages that cover the physical and emotional trauma caused by your accident. Contrary to medical bills and car repair costs and lost wages they are more subjective damages that must be determined by jurors. Each juror will have different opinion on how much pain and suffering compensation is appropriate to your case.

Documentation is one way to help jurors understand the severity of an injury. Your lawyer can collect documents from your doctor that provide details of your injuries, with photographs and video footage. Testimonies from relatives and friends can also be persuasive. These testimonies can help to create sympathy with the jury and also show how your accident can have a negative impact on your life, such as hobbies and family activities.

The severity of your injury may affect the amount of compensation you receive for suffering and pain. Acute, disabling injuries typically warrant higher pain and suffering settlements than injuries that heal more quickly.

Injuries claims should reflect the emotional and psychological trauma that can be caused by an injury case. Your personal injury attorney can assist you in building a strong case, and help you get reasonable amount of compensation for your injuries. If you have questions about a possible settlement for your injuries you can call Adam S. Kutner & Associates for a free consultation.