Types of Damages in Personal Injury Cases

Under the law, you are entitled to recover damages from the person, persons, or entities whose carelessness or intentional conduct was the legal cause of your injury.

For most personal injury claims and lawsuits, the injured party has the legal right to be made whole by seeking monetary compensation from the responsible party.

The Article Covers:

• The three types of damages recoverable in personal injury cases.
• The costs and services associated with each category of damages.
• The common misconceptions regarding personal injury damages.
• Valuable legal and financial tips on proving personal injury damages

Three Types of Damages in Personal Injury Cases

• Economic damages
• General damages (Pain and Suffering)
• Punitive damages

 What are Economic Damages?

In personal injury cases, economic damages refer to the quantifiable financial losses and expenses incurred by the injured plaintiff. The major areas of loss commonly result from past and future medical expenses, past and future income loss, property damage, and related out-of-pocket expenses.

Economic Damages – Past and Future Medical Expenses

Medical services and costs can be the largest and most significant component of economic damages in personal injury claims. Some examples include:

• Chiropractic visits
• Doctor visits
• Medications
• Medical equipment

Emergency Medical Services

• Ambulance Fees: Costs for transportation to the hospital immediately following the injury.
• Emergency Room Visits: Charges for examinations, tests, x-rays, and immediate treatment received in the ER.
• Rehabilitation and Therapy Costs: These are expenses for physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and other forms of rehabilitation necessary for recovery.
• Cost of Assistive Devices: These are the expenses for medical equipment and assistive devices like wheelchairs, crutches, prosthetics, and other necessary and medically prescribed aids.

Hospitalization

Learn about the different types of medical care available for injuries caused by accidents.

• Inpatient Care: Costs for staying in the hospital, including room charges, nursing care, and meals.
• Hospital Surgery: Fees for surgical procedures, including the surgeon’s fee, anesthesiologist’s fee, and operating room charges.
• Intensive Care Unit (ICU): Higher costs associated with specialized care within the intensive care unit.
• Hospital Imaging: These are the expenses for X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds that may be required to diagnose the patient’s injuries further.
• Hospital Laboratory Tests: These can include costs for blood tests, biopsies, and other reasonably necessary lab work for diagnosis and treatment planning.
• Hospital Medications: Costs of hospital-administered medications.
• Hospital Specialist Consultations: Fees for visits to medical specialists such as orthopedic surgeons and neurologists.

Home Health Care

Home health care involves treating an injured person at home. It is one of the most expensive economic components in personal injury cases.

Home health care often involves debilitating injuries. The primary goal is to support and improve a person’s health so that the person can gain more independence and self-sufficiency.

Coverage Issues: If you receive benefits through a Medicare or Medicaid health plan, check the schedule of services to determine whether the plan covers home health care.

There are three types of nursing service visits in home healthcare settings:

• Visits from a Registered Nurse (RN): These are the most expensive types of nurses. They are qualified to perform wound care, administer medication, monitor vital signs, and address other medical needs.
• Visits from a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN): These nurses are similarly qualified but can often be retained at a lower cost.
• Visits from a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): Nursing assistants help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and mobility support. They are the least expensive form of home nursing assistance available.

Other Homecare Costs

In severe personal injury cases requiring extended home care, the home may need to be structurally modified to accommodate the injured party’s needs.

To facilitate mobility within the home, modifications and the purchase of safety equipment may be required and can include:

• Installing ramps
• Widening doorways
• Installation of grab bars
• Installation of lifts

Economic Damages – Past and Future Lost Income Claims

Loss of income is a major feature of economic damages in personal injury cases.

Lost income and wage claims normally result from missing work during the injured person’s medical recovery and recuperation phase.

This will normally include:

• Past wages: Income lost from the time of injury to the present due to the inability to work.
• Future lost earnings: Projected loss of income should the injury impact the plaintiff’s ability to work in the future.
• Loss of income capacity: Loss of earning capacity is the reduced ability to earn income in the future due to the injury. This considers factors like disability, adverse career impact, and the economic value of lost opportunities.

Legal Tips

Lost Income Claims Cannot Be Speculative. By law, lost wage claims must be substantiated, reliable, and well-documented. At trial, the judge will reduce the verdict if the court deems calculating the plaintiff’s lost income claims speculative or overreaching.

Duty to Minimize Damages: The law requires that plaintiffs mitigate their loss of income claim by not delaying seeking medical care.

Most Lost Income Claims Are Straightforward to Calculate

In non-catastrophic injury cases, proving lost wages is relatively straightforward. All you need to do is obtain an income verification letter from your employer.

You could also ask your company’s human resources manager or payroll supervisor for a letter outlining your earnings history, the dates you were off work, and the amounts you lost.

Income From Self-Employment Requires More Proof

Proving lost income from self-employment is usually much more challenging and complicated to establish.

You must gather all your financial records and your earnings history. You must also show periods in which you may not have worked and why.

Proof of Lost Income in Self-Employment Claims May Includes:

• Profit and loss statements
• Balance sheet
• Job calendars,
• Job invoices,
• Payroll records
• Office expense receipts
• Letters from your clients
• Proof of office rent
• Tax returns

 Proving Loss Income in Catastrophic Permanent Disability Claims

In cases involving permanently disabling injuries, the calculation of past and future lost income and income capacity can be incredibly complicated and expensive to prove. In such cases, the plaintiff will likely require retaining experts such as an:

• Forensic Economist
• Vocational Rehabilitation Evaluator
• Life Care Planner

Legal Tip

Developing A Comprehensive Life Care Plan. A Life Care expert will provide detailed analyses and projections of the plaintiff’s future lost earning capacity. Their findings are then presented as part of a comprehensive economic damages claim at trial.

Video On Life Care Plans and Medical Cost Projections:  

FAQ – Calculating Loss Earning Capacity

What are pre-injury earnings?

The following are considered pre-injury earnings:

• Actual salary
• Wages
• Bonuses
• Commissions

What is a plaintiff’s ‘work-life’ expectancy?

The plaintiff’s work-life expectancy is the estimated number of years the plaintiff would have continued working before retiring or becoming disabled. Factors like age, health, and occupation are used to project work-life expectancy.

What is wage growth?

Projections of how the plaintiff’s earnings would have increased over time due to factors like cost-of-living adjustments, promotions, or general industry wage growth.

How are fringe benefits determined?

The value of benefits like health insurance, retirement contributions, and paid time off that the plaintiff would have received.

What are out-of-pocket expenses?

• Costs of hiring help for household chores
• Cost of childcare
• Transportation expenses to and from medical appointments
• Property damage (usually a damaged vehicle)

 Economic Damage – Property Damage

Property loss claims are usually calculated by the cost to repair or replace personal property damaged in the incident, such as vehicles, clothing, or other personal items.

The most common property loss claim is based on vehicle damage arising from a traffic collision.

Out-of-Pocket Expenses

Costs directly related to the injury and recovery include transportation to medical appointments, home modifications, and hiring help for household chores.

How to Handle Property Damage Claims?

Resolving your car accident property damage claim does not require a lawyer, especially if the lawyer charges you for it. It is a simple process if you are willing to get informed and do some simple online research.

The Property Damage Evaluation Process

See what the property claims adjuster offers you and request that they provide you with all the documentation supporting their offer. If your car was totaled, make sure they prove the value of your vehicle based on the same year, model, mileage, and equipment. Kelley Blue Book is an excellent resource in this regard.

Remember, you are entitled to receive the fair market value of your vehicle from the insurance company. Collect your information based on local prices and mileage for a vehicle of the same model and year and comparably equipped.

Be Respectfully Persistent

Property settlements are resolved through negotiation. Once you find the market price between the high and low range, negotiate toward the high range. Don’t be shy – be respectfully persistent.

Insurance Adjusters – Property Claims

A word about insurance adjusters in personal injury cases: whether you are negotiating with your insurance company or the defendant’s company, remember that adjusters get paid based on how low they can settle your property claim.

Third-Party Market Value Estimates

To avoid the appearance of bad faith in setting the market value of the loss too low, the insurance company may hand off the claim to a so-called “third-party” public appraiser.

In most cases, the “independent” has a mutually profitable relationship with the insurance company, which aims to resolve the insured’s property claim as low as reasonably possible.

The real purpose of this maneuver is to remove any appearance of impropriety or bad faith by the insurance company.

Suppose the third-party market value is higher than the adjuster’s valuation. In that case, the insurance adjuster will often offer the insured the option of meeting in the middle, which gives the impression that the insurance adjuster has moved the market price higher than its own valuation.

Should the insured be asked why the insurance company valuation was less than the independent valuation, the company explanation will usually say that the independent valuation was higher because the company uses different methodologies in the valuation process.

In this situation, the insured feels the insurance company has made a good faith effort to resolve the property claim by raising the estimate closer to the independent estimated appraisal. Property adjusters commonly use this negotiation tactic.

Find out how you can avoid car repair scams.

What Are General Damages in Personal Injury Cases?

General damages, as opposed to economic damages, are intended to compensate the plaintiff for subjective, non-economic losses that are hard to quantify, such as:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Disfigurement
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium

What is Pain and Suffering?

Pain and suffering may include frustration, regret, distress, hurt, hopelessness, and despair. Yet this can be one of the most complex damages to value because of the difficulty of attaching a specific dollar amount to someone’s pain and suffering.

The loss of enjoyment can be a powerful aspect of a plaintiff’s general damages claim. This is when a plaintiff establishes that they can no longer participate in physical activities they routinely enjoyed because of the accident.

What is Loss of Consortium?

Loss of consortium is considered a general damage claim because it represents the intangible harm and disruption to the spousal relationship caused by the injured party’s incapacitation or disability. It is also understood as the loss of comfort, society, and affection.

A loss of consortium claim is mainly brought in a wrongful death action by the surviving spouse for the loss of the other spouse or family member. The law provides that it can also be brought in cases with a substantial and debilitating injury rather than a death. Such is the case where there is a loss of sexual affection and comfort.

What Are Punitive Damages?

Punitive or exemplary damages are monetary awards a court may grant in a civil trial. The public policy aim is to punish the defendant for malicious conduct and deter the defendant and others similarly situated from engaging in comparable behavior.

Unlike compensatory damages, which will make the plaintiff “whole,” punitive damages are based on the defendant’s level of guilt and the need to punish and deter such conduct in the future.

How Are Punitive Damages Awards Determined?

Determining the amount of punitive damages is partially based on the defendant’s wealth to the degree the punitive damage amount will sufficiently deter the defendant from engaging in this behavior in the future.

However, over the past decade, state courts have required that there must be a reasonable connection between the actual harm suffered and the degree of punitive damages awarded.

Punitive Damages in Civil Drunk Driving Cases

In many jurisdictions, including California, a drunk driver who seriously injures or kills another person can be liable for punitive damages in a civil court and manslaughter in criminal court.

The courts have held that operating a vehicle while intoxicated demonstrates a reckless disregard for the safety of others, which can rise to the level of intentional misconduct.

In civil cases, the plaintiff would need to establish the following facts to be legally permitted to prove a punitive damage claim:

• The defendant was driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• The defendant’s intoxicated driving was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.
• The defendant’s conduct was willful, wanton, reckless, or demonstrated a conscious disregard for the safety and rights of others.

The amount of money awarded will be determined by:

• The egregious nature of the defendant’s conduct
• The wealth of the defendant
• The severity of the plaintiff’s injuries.

Eight Common Misconceptions About Personal Injury Damages

Misconception 1: Most plaintiffs are greedy and exploitative.

Reality: Most plaintiffs are seeking to be made whole. Their claim for damages is often based on substantial economic losses and pain and suffering.

Misconception 2: The legal system is abused mostly by fakes.

Reality: The civil justice system provides a fair process for resolving disputes and compensating injured parties for the damages they have suffered by the responsible party. While there may be isolated cases of abuse, the vast majority of personal injury claims are valid and necessary to help plaintiffs recover and rebuild their lives.

Misconception 3: Jury awards are excessive and outrageous.

Reality: There is a lack of understanding about damages. Serious injuries can result in substantial, long-term costs and losses that go well beyond present medical bills. Damage awards are intended to compensate plaintiffs for their losses, including lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and reduced quality of life.

Misconception 4: Pain and suffering damages are easy to calculate and are based on a simple formula.

Reality: There’s no fixed formula. Pain and suffering damages are subjective and depend on the severity and duration of the injury, its impact on daily life, and persuasive evidence presented to the jury or judge. Factors like medical records, testimony from the injured person, and medical professionals all play a role.

Misconception 5: I can’t recover anything if I’m also at fault for the accident.

Reality: In many jurisdictions, comparative negligence laws allow you to recover damages even if you share some blame. Your recovery will be reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if you are 20% at fault, you can typically recover 80% of your damages. Some states have a modified comparative negligence system where you can only recover if your fault is below a certain threshold (e.g., 50% or 51%).

Misconception 6: I can only recover money for my physical injuries and loss of wages.

Reality: Personal injury law allows for recovery from emotional distress, psychological trauma, and mental anguish resulting from the incident, in addition to physical injuries. This can include conditions like anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress.

Misconception 7: The insurance company’s initial settlement is almost always fair.

Reality: Insurance companies are businesses seeking to minimize their payouts. Their initial offer is often much lower than the total value of your claim. It’s crucial to consult with an attorney and understand the full extent of your damages before accepting any offer.

Misconception 8: My social media posts are private and won’t affect my case.

Reality: Anything you post on social media can be discovered by the opposing party and used against you. Even seemingly innocuous posts can be misinterpreted to downplay your injuries or portray you in a negative light.

Legal Tip

Consult With A Personal Injury Lawyer: If you have been injured resulting from the carelessness or intentional acts of another, consulting with an experienced personal injury attorney can significantly improve your chances of a favorable outcome.

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