People who have been injured in a motor vehicle accident often wonder what a personal injury claim would be worth if they were to pursue one. This is a good question, and one that requires careful consideration if you want to find accountability and recover for the full extent of harm that has been caused to you. So, what, exactly, can you recover from your claim?
Economic damages
First, if you succeed in imposing liability, then you’ll be able to recover your economic damages. These losses include incurred medical expenses and rehabilitation costs as well as those expenses that are expected to be incurred in the future. Your lost wages and lost earnings capacity can be recoverable, too.
Non-economic damages
Non-economic damages are also recoverable if you prove that another driver’s negligence caused your accident and your injuries. These losses are more challenging to calculate, as they involve harm like pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life. These damages are often hotly contested because they can be very subjective in nature.
How do you assess and prove your damages?
So, how do you go about determining how much your claim is worth? To start, you’ll want to gather any bills that you’ve incurred as a direct result of your accident. This means getting together your medical records and bills. When it comes to your lost wages, you’ll want to gather your employment records and pay stubs that show your rate of pay and the time that you took off from work due to your accident.
But what about forward-looking damages and noneconomic damages? Here you’ll need to be more detailed and persuasive, oftentimes supporting your position with expert testimony. Therefore, you may want to consider doing each of the following to build your claims for these damages:
- Talk to witnesses who can attest to how your accident injuries have affected your ability to live a normal life and how your injuries have affected your ability to enjoy life.
- Keep a journal that specifies in detail how your injuries have negatively impacted your ability to live and enjoy life.
- Reach out to your medical professional to discuss your prognosis and your need for ongoing treatment.
- Speak to an employment professional who can attest to the impact that your injuries will have on your ability to work, earn a wage, and build your career.
- Assess similar cases to see how damages were awarded there.
- Think about how you can portray the severity of your injuries.
You may think of other ways to demonstrate your damages, so take the time needed to be comprehensive and creative in building your legal claim.
How do you calculate noneconomic damages?
There are various ways that noneconomic damages can be calculated. One way is to use a daily rate, where you determine how much your pain and suffering is worth on a daily basis and simply multiply that number by the number of days spent in recovery. Another method is to multiply your economic damages by a certain factor. This factor can be affected by any of the characteristics mentioned above, such as the extent and severity of your accident. To learn more about the best way to calculate your damages, consider reaching out to an attorney who is experienced handling these types of cases.
Build a persuasive argument for your damages
Proving liability doesn’t do you much good if you can’t prove your damages. That’s why you need a comprehensive legal approach that positions you for recovering the compensation that you need and deserve. If you’d like to learn more about how to do that, then please consider speaking with an aggressive legal advocate.