Damages – What you Need to Know about Damages in an Injury Case | Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me
DAMAGES – Typically the term “Damages” refers to all of your economic and non-economic losses caused by the car accident. The type and amount of your damages will directly impact the value of your case. The most common types of damages are:
MEDICAL EXPENSES – The cost of your ambulance ride (or air ambulance/ life flight), your initial Emergency room or doctor visit, your follow up medical appointments, surgeries, chiropractor visits, pain management, physical therapy, neurologist, orthopedic, primary care physician, and prescription or medication costs.
FUTURE MEDICAL EXPENSES – We typically try to ensure that our clients have finished treatment and their lives have retuned to as close to normal as possible before settling or proceeding to trial. However, sometimes it is either impossible or simply not feasible for a Client to complete their treatment, regain all their function, or be totally free from pain. In cases like this, it may be necessary to budget for future medical treatment for our Clients.
LOST INCOME – After suffering an injury from your car accident, you may not be able to return to work right away. Whether your injury is minor or serious, requires surgery, extensive medical care, or simply necessitates that you limit your physical activity your ability to work, run your business, and earn your normal income may be lost. Maintaining accurate records and keeping track of the calculation is necessary to ensure you are reimbursed for the income you after being injured in a car accident.
TRAVEL EXPENSE – Traveling to and from your medical appointments, the pharmacy, or any other events or locations necessary for your treatment and rehabilitation can be an expensive and time consuming process as well. Maintaining proper records, including your starting and ending location, the mileage between the two, and the reason for the trip is necessary to make sure you are properly compensated. The car accident Attorneys at Teague Law recommend you keep a travel log for this very purpose.
PAIN AND SUFFERING – The injuries you sustain in a car accident not only require you to seek medical care and undergo treatment to recover – but also to endure to the pain caused by the injuries – pain that may very well last past the end of your treatment or even be permanent. When determining the damages you incurred during your car accident, your Teague Law Car Wreck Attorney will look at the duration and level of pain you suffered, any limitations on your physical activity and movements, and the inability to do things you enjoy.
DIMINUTION IN VALUE – If your vehicle will be repaired by the insurance company through your property damage claim, you also have a diminution in value claim – that is a claim for the decreased value of your car once it is repaired. Services like carfax that report every accident and insurance claim your vehicle has been involved in result in a decrease in the value of your vehicle once it has been involved in an accident – even once the damage has been repaired. A diminution in value claim allows you to request compensation for the loss in value to your vehicle, even once it is repaired. Some vehicles will incur a significantly larger diminution in value than others. Calculating this decrease in value is difficult and may require that your Car Accident Attorney employ the services of a professional adjuster in certain cases.
PROPERTY DAMAGE – When you are injured in a car accident and an insurance claim is filed, you will have two separate claims – 1) property damage and 2) bodily injury. These claims will have the same claim number but will typically be handled by two different departments and adjusters within the insurance company. The Property damage claim only concerns the damage done to your vehicle and any other personal property on or inside of your vehicle. A property damage claim may be for minor damages to your vehicle that will be repaired by a body shop – or it may be for a total loss when the cost to repair the vehicle reaches over a certain percentage of the value of the vehicle (typically 75-85 percent). If a vehicle is totaled the amount paid out should be in a range between the Kelley blue book and NADA dealer black book value. Typically, Attorneys are not involved in the property damage portion of your case – however, the car accident Attorneys at Teague Law have helped clients when the insurance company has refused to accept liability, make a reasonable offer, or the claim involves a specialty vehicle or collector car.
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