After a car accident, you are entitled to receive compensation for the damages that you’ve experienced. Automobile accidents are traumatic events that also result in serious damage to property and potentially significant economic losses. Victims of car accidents are owed compensation for their medical bills and property damage and also for the pain and suffering and more intangible effects of the accident.
By taking a closer look at the damages that you can receive after an accident, you’ll see that there are a number of areas for which car accident victims should be compensated.
Economic and non-economic damages
There’s a difference between economic and non-economic damages, even though both involve compensation. Economic damages include expenses that resulted from the accident and the costs that are incurred in order to recover, repair, or replace property and make up for lost wages. Economic damages often have a more set or defined amount as shown by a bill or invoice.
Non-economic damages are considered the non-monetary consequences of your injury following an accident. While harder to prove or clearly define in terms of cost, non-economic damages often relate to the emotional effects of injury.
Economic damages include:
Medical Expenses
Treating injuries requires medical care, which results in medical bills. Medical expenses can come from doctors visits, hospital stays, emergency room care, chiropractic and physical therapy, surgery, medications, and other practices and procedures.
You can receive compensation for medical costs as part of your economic damages awarded. However, it’s important to remember that medical care and therapies can extend into the future. Therefore future medical costs should also be considered when calculating compensation.
Lost income
If you’ve been involved in a serious car crash, it’s unlikely that you will soon be returning to work. If and when you’re able to return, you might have to work less and work fewer hours due to your injuries or the effects of the accident. If an accident causes disability, your loss of earning capacity, as a result of that disability, can also contribute to compensation awarded.
Your compensation can cover the wages that you would have otherwise earned had you been able to work normally. If an injury from the accident affects your future ability to earn an income, you can also be compensated for future losses.
Property damage
Your automobile was likely damaged during the accident. While not related to your injuries experienced, receiving compensation in order to repair or replace your property is an important consideration.
Non-economic damages include:
Pain and suffering
Pain and suffering can be harder to clearly demonstrate and prove as opposed to, for example, the more clearly defined value of a damaged car. When determining pain and suffering, judges and juries often consider the nature of injuries and the length of recovery, along with factors like age and prior condition. Pain and suffering expenses are separate from compensation for medical bills.
Emotional distress
Compensation can be awarded for emotional distress, which, as with pain and suffering, can be difficult to calculate in terms of cost. This type of injury results in psychological damage, and the effects on day-to-day life, such as resulting nightmares, anxiety, panic attacks, and similar distress conditions, can be considered when calculating damages.
Loss of consortium
For married individuals who are involved in an accident, their spouse may be able to receive loss of consortium damages. These damages are awarded because an injured spouse might not be able to provide the same level of companionship following the accident and might not be able to perform household duties and tasks due to injury, for example.
Crossen Fights for You
If you’ve been in a car accident, it’s important that you contact an Indiana personal injury lawyer and consult with that attorney to see exactly which economic and non-economic damages you could be entitled to as the result of an accident.
At the Crossen Law Firm, we have decades of experience helping car accident victims receive just compensation for their injuries and for economic and non-economic damages. We’d like to hear about your case and to help you. Contact us online or call us at 317-401-8626 for a free consultation on your case.
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