ekatherine.stamatis@lawrank.com | June 22, 2020 | Personal Injury
How Damages Are Assessed In A Personal Injury Case
Most people who are seriously injured in accidents in Pennsylvania because of the negligence of others have questions about the amount of money that they might recover in a lawsuit. Figuring out the value of your claim is not something that a personal injury lawyer will be able to tell you during your first appointment.
Determining the damages of a personal injury case will take some investigation and time. At DiCindio Law, we can explain how damages are determined and provide you with guidance throughout your case.
Why it Takes Time to Determine the Value of a Personal Injury Claim
The value of your personal injury claim cannot be determined until you have received medical treatment and learn about the extent of your injuries and the likelihood that you will fully recover from them. You might need to receive medical care for several months, making it difficult to determine the precise value of your claim.
Recovering damages in a personal injury lawsuit can take from many months to several years. Whenever you have been injured in an accident that was caused by someone else, you should talk to an experienced injury lawyer at DiCindio Law.
We can work to help you recover the maximum damages to which you should be entitled. Your lawyer can also help you to assess the damages and what you might expect from your case.
Compensatory Damages in Personal Injury Cases
Compensatory damages in personal injury cases are monetary amounts that are meant to compensate victims for the losses that they have suffered because of their accidents.
These damages are designed to make injured victims financially whole. However, placing a value on the compensatory damages can be hard.
While economic losses are fairly straightforward to calculate, non-economic losses can be more difficult to value. Your economic losses include the actual pecuniary losses that you have suffered. Your non-economic losses are damages that are awarded for such things as pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, and other intangible losses.
Some of the common types of damages that you might recover in a personal injury lawsuit include the following:
- Past, current, and future anticipated medical costs
- Past wage losses and future anticipated losses of income
- Property losses
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish/emotional trauma
- Disability
- Disfigurement and scarring
- Loss of the ability to enjoy life
In most cases, your medical expenses will be calculated after your treatment is finished. However, if you require ongoing care, your lawyer might work with a medical expert to calculate the costs of your ongoing treatment for the future.
Your attorney will need your medical records to determine the extent of your injuries and the medical bills that you have received for your treatment.
You must seek medical care as soon as possible after your accident and follow all of the treatment recommendations that you are given. If you wait to get medical treatment or fail to follow through with your doctor’s treatment recommendations, your ability to recover damages might be harmed.
Your attorney will also seek to recover the lost wages that you have suffered because of your accident and injuries. For example, if you were forced to miss weeks or months of work because of your injuries, the wages that you lost are recoverable. If your injuries prevent you from returning to your job at the same capacity or limit your ability to earn an income in the future, your attorney will also try to recover your future anticipated lost wages.
If your vehicle was totaled in a car accident that was the fault of the other driver, you should receive compensation for the value of your vehicle. Victims whose vehicles are totaled are typically offered the blue book values for their cars.
If your injuries are severe, you might recover damages for your physical pain and the suffering that you have experienced because of your injuries. Hiring a lawyer to collect physical pain and suffering damages is important. If you try to seek them on your own, you are unlikely to receive what you should be paid.
A personal injury lawyer will want you to see a doctor and continue receiving treatment before he or she can figure out how much money to ask for from the insurance company. Once your lawyer has calculated the value of your claim, he or she will send a demand letter to the insurance company to ask for a fair amount.
Why It is Important to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer for your Injury Case
Getting help from an experienced personal injury lawyer at DiCindio Law after your accident is important. It can be difficult to determine how much your case is worth without help. The insurance company might send you an early settlement offer that is much lower than the true value of your claim. A lawyer understands the tactics that are used by insurance companies when they attempt to reduce the amounts that they have to pay to accident victims.
Michael DiCindio at DiCindio Law can fully investigate your case and determine the worth of your claim. Contact the DiCindio Law Firm today to schedule a free consultation by calling us at (610) 430-3535.
***This blog article is made available by the law firm publisher for educational purposes and to provide general information, not to provide specific legal advice. By reading, you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and the publisher. The above listed information does not include the entire crimes code, annotations, amendments or any recent changes that may be relevant. The information provided is for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments. These materials are not intended, and should not be taken, as legal advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. Please contact DiCindio Law, LLC for a consultation and to discuss what law is relevant to your case. ***