What Kinds of Damages Can You Recover after a Car Accident?
With some of the busiest roads in the country, Florida has become one of the most dangerous places to drive in the U.S., so it is important for residents to be prepared for the possibility of an accident. Car crashes can be devastating life events, costing injured parties thousands of dollars in medical bills and vehicle repair. When injured parties file a personal injury claim, however, they could be awarded financial compensation, either in a settlement with the other driver’s insurer or by a jury, which can help cover most of these costs. While the exact amount of a person’s case depends on a variety of factors, the types of damages that are available to successful plaintiffs are generally the same. To learn more about receiving your own potential monetary award, please call an experienced Altamonte Springs car accident lawyer who can explain your legal options.
Compensatory Damages
Most damages fall under the category of compensatory, as they are intended to compensate plaintiffs for losses they sustained as a result of an accident. There are, however, two different types of compensatory damages that a person could receive: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages reimburse victims for their accident-related financial losses, such as:
- Past and future medical treatment, including the cost of hospital visits, laboratory testing, physical therapy, surgeries, and treatment;
- Wages lost as a result of an injured party’s inability to return to work for a period of time until he or she recovers;
- Loss of earning capacity or future loss of income, which is available to plaintiffs whose injuries result in permanent damage that causes them to miss out on future career advancement opportunities; and
- The cost of repairing or replacing a damaged vehicle and any other personal property lost in the accident.
Calculating these losses is relatively straightforward, requiring documentation, such as medical bills, pay stubs, invoices, and receipts.
Non-Economic Damages
Some of the losses sustained by accident victims are more difficult to quantify. It is hard, for example, to place a dollar value on the amount of pain and suffering that a person endured because of an accident. This is, however, what non-economic damages are intended to do: compensate accident victims for their ongoing pain and discomfort, as well as for the anxiety, depression, and grief that so often accompany serious accidents. Plaintiffs can even be compensated for their loss of enjoyment of life, or their inability to participate in the same pre-accident activities or hobbies because of their injuries.
Punitive Damages
Besides compensatory damages, injured accident victims could be entitled to punitive damages, which are intended to punish the defendant for particularly egregious conduct. There is a limit, however, to how much a plaintiff can collect in punitive damages in Florida.
Seeking Compensation for Your Accident-Related Losses
After an accident, it’s important to speak with an experienced lawyer who can help you understand your legal options when it comes to pursuing damages. At Goldman Law, P.A., our dedicated Altamonte Springs car accident lawyers are prepared to advocate on your behalf to secure the compensation you deserve. Please call us at 407-960-1900 to learn more.
Resource:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.72.html
https://www.goldmanlawpa.com/the-importance-of-uninsured-underinsured-motorist-coverage/
