What Is an Injury Settlement?
A settlement agreement is an agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant to settle the matter outside of court. It is a good way to receive quick compensation.
Non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify in dollars. They include things like suffering and pain.
Medical expenses
Medical expenses can make up a significant portion of a settlement based on the degree of the injury. These may include doctor’s visits and medications, surgeries, and other procedures. These expenses are usually not covered by insurance and may be costly. In many cases, there are also additional costs that are associated with the injury like home health care and adaptive devices, transportation to medical appointments, and many more.
Medical bills are usually covered by your private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or PIP. If you receive a settlement with unpaid medical bills, these will need to be satisfied by the settlement funds. Your attorney can negotiate with billing companies to lower the balances.
Your lawyer can also determine the proper amount of damages you should pay to pay for your other non-medical loss. These include future income loss or pain and suffering and other non-economic damages. Your attorney must provide expert testimony and evidence of these damages in order to make a proper claim.
Loss of wages
In addition to the compensation for medical costs the injured victim may also be entitled to compensation for lost wages. The amount of damages is according to the amount of time the victim missed from work because of their injuries. A skilled personal injury attorney can help their clients recover the compensation for lost wages in a personal injury case.
You may have to miss a significant amount work if you suffer from a traumatizing brain injury, spinal cord injury, or both. You will need to prove that the accident caused you to miss work. In order to prove lost wages, it is essential to include all sources of income. This includes regular wage and overtime, bonuses and commissions. Include any days of vacation that you have not used or sick leave.
If your doctor has determined that you are able to return to work, but with certain restrictions the employer has to follow these restrictions. This could mean changing your job or providing you with the necessary equipment.
A skilled personal injury lawsuits lawyer can help gather all of the information required to support a lost wage claim. They can also assist in situations where the person who is injured is self-employed, or receives a variable wage. In these cases the insurance company has to review past and future earnings of the injured party and provide an accurate estimate of the loss of future wages. This may require a thorough financial statement from the plaintiff’s accountant, or a financial professional.
Economic damages
When people think about personal injury damages they typically think of the cost of medical expenses and lost wages. However, there are many other costs associated with injury that are harder to quantify in dollar amounts. These are known as non-economic damages. These damages are based on the intangible consequences of an injury to a person, like pain, suffering and loss enjoyment of life.
Pay stubs, bills and other documents can be used to establish economic damages for juries and courts. Non-economic damages on the other hand are more difficult to determine and could be based on subjective factors such as suffering, pain, and emotional distress.
Pain and suffering includes any physical, mental or emotional anguish resulting from the accident. This could include the difficulty of a person to participate in their usual hobbies or social activities. The jury will take into consideration the extent to which the injury has affected the victim’s way of life.
Other non-economic damages are disfigurement, loss of consortium, and attorneys loss in enjoyment of life. A person could suffer from disfigurement after an accident that permanently alters their appearance. While this isn’t a financial loss it is painful to bear scars and other permanent injuries.
Damages for pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering is a class of non-economic damages to compensate for the physical pain and emotional distress that you’ve suffered from your accident. Unlike medical bills, repairs to your vehicle and lost wages, these are more subjective damages that must be decided by jurors. Each juror has their own opinion on how much compensation for the pain and suffering that they suffer is appropriate for attorneys your case.
One way to assist a jury recognize the extent of your injuries is through documentation. Attorneys can collect written records from your doctors that provide details of your injuries, with photographs and video footage. The testimony of family members and friends can be persuasive. These testimonies can help to inspire sympathy from the jury and also show how your accident has affected your life, like hobbies and family activities.
The length of your injury may affect the amount you receive for pain and suffering. Pain and suffering awards are typically higher for severe and disabling injuries than injuries that heal more quickly.
Injury can cause a lot stress and emotional trauma, and a successful injury claim should reflect that. Personal injury attorneys will help you build an effective case, and negotiate a fair compensation for all of your injuries. Adam S. Kutner and Associates can provide you with a consultation if you have any questions about a settlement that could be possible for an injury.
