Personal Injury Lawyer
After an accident, slip and fall or other incident that led to an injury, you may be thinking about filing a personal injury claim. If you have medical bills and someone else was negligent, then you have every right to file a lawsuit. Most of the time, injured parties want to know how much their case is worth. You may know the initial costs of your medical bills, but you don’t know for sure if that is all your case is worth.
Here is what you need to know about personal injury case value.
Are There Compensatory Damages?
Most of the damages that you can ask for in a personal injury case are going to be compensatory. This simply means that they are there to compensate you for the money that you lost due to an accident. The point is to make you whole after an accident. The types of damages that you can ask for include:
- Medical treatment
- Property loss
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment
- Income loss
- Pain and suffering
As you can tell, certain damages, such as loss of enjoyment, pain and suffering and emotional distress may be difficult to put a value on. While it is important that you have evidence that you suffered damages from these, you can rely on your lawyer to calculate the value of your case. They often have their own formula for how to determine pain and suffering and emotional distress. Insurance companies also have formulas.
Are There Punitive Damages?
Punitive damages are a lot more complex than compensatory damages. Keep in mind that in some states, punitive damages are not allowed. Punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant. While you receive this as an addition to your award, the purpose is not to compensate you but to discourage the other party from ever taking part in the behavior that caused the injury to begin with.
When it comes to calculating the value of your case, it can be difficult to do on your own. There are specific formulas that insurance companies and lawyers use to determine the value of your case. What you need to know is the medical costs, your wages and other damages. If you have evidence and the numbers, then a lawyer, can help you to determine how much money your case is worth. To discover the value, talk with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.
