What Is an Injury Settlement?

A settlement agreement is a contract between the defendant and plaintiff to settle the matter outside of court. This is a great way to receive quick compensation.

Unlike special damages, which can be easily calculated the non-economic damages can be more difficult to define in a dollar amount. They include things like suffering and pain.

Medical expenses

Depending on the severity an injury, medical expenses can make up a large portion of the settlement. This could include doctor's visits as well as medications, surgery and other procedures. These expenses are often not covered by insurance and may be expensive. In many cases, there are also ancillary expenses due to the injury such as home health care and adaptive devices, transportation to medical appointments and much more.

Medical bills are typically covered by a private health insurance provider or the government's Medicare or Medicaid, or your PIP coverage. If you are awarded a settlement with medical bills that have not been paid and the money received from the settlement will be used to pay these. Your attorney can negotiate with billing companies to lower the amounts.

Your lawyer can also determine the appropriate amount for any other losses that are not medically related. This includes loss of future earnings, pain and suffering and other non-economic losses. Your attorney must provide expert testimony and documentation of these damages in order to be able to claim the proper amount.

Loss of wages

In addition to compensation for medical costs, injured victims may also be entitled to lost wages. The amount of damages is by the amount of time the victim missed from work due to their injuries. A personal injury lawyer can help their client collect the compensation for lost wages in a personal injury compensation case.

A traumatic brain injury legal or spinal cord injury for instance, could force you to miss large amounts of work. This means you'll have to prove that the time you didn't work was directly linked to your accident. When proving that you lost wages, it is essential to include all sources of income. This includes regular wage overtime, bonuses, and commissions. You could also include vacation days or sick days.

If your doctor has decided that you are able to return to work with a few restrictions, then the employer must follow these restrictions. This could mean rearranging your job or supplying you with useful equipment.

A skilled personal injury lawyer will help you collect all the data needed to support a wage claim. They can also assist when the person injured is self-employed, or receives an undetermined amount of money. In these instances, the insurance company needs to analyze the person's past and future earnings and provide a reasonable estimate of the future loss of wages. This will require a detailed statement from the plaintiff’s accountant or financial expert.

Non-economic damages

When people think of personal injury claims, they usually consider the money lost due to medical expenses and lost wages. However, there are many other costs associated with injury that are harder to quantify in dollar amounts. These are referred to as non-economic damages. They are the more tangible consequences of a person's injuries, like pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.

Pay stubs, bills and other documents can be used to prove economic damages for juries and courts. Non-economic damages on the contrary, are more difficult to determine and could be based on subjective factors like pain, suffering, and emotional distress.

Pain and suffering includes any physical, mental or emotional distress that is a result of the accident. This could include the inability to pursue their normal social or leisure activities. The jury will take into consideration the extent to which the injury impacted the victim's quality of life.

Other non-economic damages are disfigurement, loss of consortium, and loss of enjoyment of life. A person could suffer from disfigurement following an accident which permanently alters their appearance. While this isn't an economic loss, it can be very painful to bear marks and other permanent injuries.

Compensations for pain and suffering

Pain and suffering is one of the categories of non-economic damages for physical pain and emotional distress you have endured from your accident. These are subjective damages which are decided by the jury, unlike medical bills or auto repairs, injury attorneys as well as lost wages. Every juror will have a different views on the amount of pain and suffering compensation is appropriate for your case.

Documentation is one method to assist jurors in understanding the seriousness of an injury. Your attorney can collect written records from your doctor that detail the extent and severity of your injuries. Additionally, he can gather photos and video footage. The testimony of family members and friends can be persuasive. These testimonies can be used to make the jury feel sympathy and also show how your accident has affected certain aspects of your life, including hobbies and family activities.

The extent of your injury may affect the amount you receive for suffering and pain. Awards for pain and suffering are generally higher for serious injury, disabling injuries that heal quickly.

Injuries can cause a lot of emotional and psychological trauma, and a successful claim for injury should reflect that. Personal injury attorneys can assist you in building a strong case, and work towards a fair settlement for all of your injuries. If you have questions about a possible settlement for your injuries, call Adam S. Kutner & Associates to schedule a consultation.