Personal injury law is complex. It is a maze that one cannot get through without handholding. After an injury, trying to traverse this maze alone can be pretty laborious. What’s worse is that the rules of one state may not apply to another. This makes a personal injury lawyer absolutely essential in your case.
The expertise of the law aside, it is a smart move to seek help from a personal injury lawyer. They will also help in calculating the different types of damages that are applicable to your case. One such type of damage is economic damage.
What are Economic Damages?
Economic damages refer to the financial difficulties a victim is going through and will probably go through for a while. Economic damages are comparatively easy to calculate as each expense has a fixed numeric value.
When talking about economic damages in personal injury law, the following damages are usually compensated.
- Medical Bills
- Lost Wages
- Lost Earning Capacity
- Property Damage
- Home Modifications
- Professional Assistive Services
We’ll discuss each of the damages in detail.
Medical Bills
Most accidents have a high probability of causing injuries. These injuries may be minor or major, depending on the severity of the accident. The extent of the injuries determines how much will be added as compensation for medical bills in your personal injury claim. The commonly included expenses are:
- Hospitalization
- Surgery
- Medication
- Physical Therapy
- Diagnosis
Lost Wages
Recovering from accident injuries doesn’t happen overnight. Victims are often forced to stay at home or in the hospital for extended periods to fully recover from their injuries. This makes them miss work.
Missing work can cause serious financial distress for a victim. Lost wages in personal injury law help victims get back the income they missed during the recovery period. To prove lost wages, the victim must submit
- Proof of employment
- Pay stubs/salary slips/other documents to prove their income
- Proof of absence from work
- Medical records that show your injuries and justify the time spent on recovery
Lost Earning Capacity
Some injuries may have a lasting impact on the victim’s life. This may affect the victim’s ability to perform job-related tasks like they used to before the accident. There’s also a chance that the victim may have used up their sick and vacation leaves due to the injury. Loss of earning capacity helps compensate for these kinds of losses.
Property Damage
In addition to physical injuries, victims can also suffer property damage. The property referred to here can be anything, from cars (common in car accidents) to your smartphone. Damages to property will be calculated in this category.
Providing relevant documents will get you the sum required to repair or replace the damaged property.
Home Modifications
Severe injuries can cause temporary or permanent disabilities for victims. This makes even simple tasks like moving around the house extremely difficult. They have to make the necessary modifications to their home, like wheelchair ramps, wider doorways, grab bars, lower switches and outlets, and more. The costs incurred to make these changes will also be compensated under this category.
Professional Assistive Services
This is related to the previous category of damages. Even after a full recovery, victims may need help getting back to their old lives. They may require the assistance of another person to perform everyday tasks. The costs incurred to hire individuals who offer assistive services or to attend rehabilitation can be compensated under this category.
Conclusion
This article discussed the different types of economic damages one can expect after filing a personal injury case.
What you read might sound simple on paper, but there are lots of complications involved in proving economic damages. Even if you prove the damages, you will have a hard time calculating them.
This is one of the major reasons why you need a lawyer. They will handle everything related to your personal injury case, from determining liability to proving negligence, calculating damages, and negotiating for a better settlement.
Source: Stewart J Guss, Personal Injury Attorney, Houston TX
