Recovering from a severe injury can be costly. Medical expenses, missed pay, and damaged property can be partly covered by compensation. You can make an insurance claim, file a lawsuit, and negotiate for a just settlement with the aid of a personal injury attorney. Here are a few things to remember as you recover.
Medical Expenses
Medical expenses are a crucial part of most personal injury claims. They can include past and future expenses, physical therapy, assistive aids, medication, home modification costs, travel costs to receive treatment, and more. You may need ongoing medical treatment or lifelong care if you suffer a severe injury. This could cost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. Insurance companies will use these costs against you to lower your settlement.
A lawyer can help calculate all your medical bills and ensure your case includes future costs. If you do not have the money to pay your bills, your attorney can negotiate with your doctors and insurance company to cover your medical expenses.
Lost Wages
Lost wages, or compensation for reduced earning capacity, is the money a person could have earned from their job but missed due to their injury. This includes regular pay, commissions, overtime pay, bonuses, personal or vacation leave, and other work-related perks, such as free meals or a company car allowance. You should provide paystubs and other wage documents to prove a claim for lost wages. If your doctor clears you to return to work with restrictions, you should also provide a statement explaining those limitations. Other evidence may include profit and loss statements, receipts, bank statements, or tax returns. A forensic occupational or economic expert might be needed to calculate expected future lost income in more complex cases. This can be more challenging than calculating base lost wages.
Long-Term Care
Depending on the nature of your injury, you may need long-term care services to help you manage your daily activities. This can include everything from medical care to non-medical support. This type of care can be very expensive. When you receive compensation for a permanent injury, it can cover all your current and anticipated expenses. It can also provide funds for a life care plan, a detailed projection of your needs. Sustaining a serious injury can take a toll on you physically and emotionally. It can also cause you to stay caught up on your bills. Personal injury Tampa FL attorneys understand that you should not struggle financially because of an accident that wasn’t your fault. They can fight to get you the money you need to rebuild your life.
Pain and Suffering
It’s not as simple as calculating medical bills and lost wages regarding non-economic damages like pain and suffering. These include loss of enjoyment of life, depression, anxiety, fear, humiliation, and others. In a personal injury case, a jury determines how much to award you for these damages. While judges can modify a jury’s decision, they are reluctant to alter the amount awarded for pain and suffering. To build your case for pain and suffering, it’s important to document all aspects of how your injuries have affected your life. Journaling daily about your emotions, frustrations, and pain levels can be helpful. Testimony from doctors, physical therapists, and other professionals is also valuable. If there is a police or incident report, that can also be used to support your claim for non-economic damages.
Damages for Property Damage
Damages for property are a major component of most personal injury claims. If an accident caused damage to your car, electronics, clothing, or other belongings, you may be entitled to compensation for those losses. In addition to covering direct expenses, a personal injury settlement can cover indirect costs like pain and suffering. Documenting the impact of your injuries on your daily life, including activities you can no longer do and the effect on your relationships with loved ones, may improve your chances of winning maximum damages. Since non-economic injuries are more challenging to quantify, your lawyer should be as specific as possible when outlining these expenses. A few of them are loss of enjoyment of life, mental suffering, and loss of companionship. Punitive damages may be payable if the defendant was found guilty of malice, gross negligence, fraud, oppression, or willful wrongdoing.