Understanding the various kinds of personal injury damages!
When personal injury cases are concerned, there are mainly two categories of monetary damages that are economic and non-economic. In rare cases, a successful applicant can recover punitive damages. A personal injury attorney El Cajon can explain to you the type of compensation you can pursue and assist you in understanding the various kinds of personal injury damages.
Economic damages
Economic damages are the financial losses a person faces due to the negligence of another person. A few common kinds of economic damages are as follows:
· Medical expenses: Normally, the victim of personal injury can recover the cost of the medical treatment required for treating their wounds. Some examples of these are the ambulance, doctors, surgery, blood transfusion, hospital, physical therapy, prescription, pain management, diagnostic processes, etc.
· Long term care: Severe wounds such as head trauma or spinal cord damage can make a person dependent on the daily help of personal care and medical treatments. The party at fault must be responsible for such expenses.
· Lost wages: If a person facing injuries or undergoing medical treatment has to undergo physical therapy or surgery. The person might have missed the paychecks for being away from the job. Such financial losses are included in the personal injury claim.
· Loss of future wages: Serious injuries affect the earning capacity of the person. It can leave the person incapable of earning the income like before even after maximum healing. The decrease in earning capacity results in facing financial hardships.
All personal injury cases are different, and your circumstances decide the economic damages you might face due to personal injury. A personal injury attorney El Cajon can help you to determine the applicable economic damages in your personal injury claims.
Non-economic damages
Some kinds of losses are not simple to measure as they lack in paper proof like receipts or invoices. However, a personal injury attorney El Cajon knows how to calculate fair compensation. Non-economic damages are also termed as intangible losses. Some of the instances of such damages are:
· One of the intangible damages is pain and suffering. Pain is the physical discomfort, and suffering is the emotional distress and inconvenience of being injured due to the carelessness of another party.
· After experiencing a horrific accident, many people develop post-traumatic stress disorder.
· When a person has extensive scars due to medical treatments and wounds, it can be considered disfigurement damage.
· People that suffer life-changing injuries such as amputation or paralysis will experience a loss of enjoyment throughout their life because of their impairment.
· Serious injuries can result in chronic anxiety and depression, which leaves a long-lasting impact on the quality of life.
If you forgot to include a loss in the claim, however, you settled your claim already, you cannot ask for money later. Hence, ensure that you speak to the personal injury attorney El Cajon about how you have been affected by the injuries.
Punitive damages
Rarely, a person can demand punitive damages. These are above and beyond the economic and non-economic damages. For such damages, you are required to prove the defendant’s extraordinary conduct for qualifying for punitive damages.
A personal injury attorney El Cajon can assist you in gaining the compensation you deserve for your personal injury case. To determine the damages you can claim, contact us today!