Am I Owed Compensation for a Personal Injury?
Have you suffered an injury due to someone else’s negligence? If so, you are eligible to receive compensation. Damages, both economic and non-economic, are intended to compensate the injured party for losses incurred as a result of their injury. It might be a poor substitute for health, but. money for a loss or wrong, physical or otherwise, is at the very core of our civil justice system. As Attorney Eric T. Kirk will tell you.
Loss of Income
Injuries often limit the victim’s ability to perform their usual work. Compensation is awarded for wages lost. In addition, estimated potential earnings that might have been earned in the future but for the injury can be considered in appropriate circumstances. This concept is known as “loss of earning capacity”.
Medical Treatment
The most common form of compensation is awarded as reimbursement for medical care associated with the injury. This includes any future medical treatment reasonably anticipated in addition to medical expenses already incurred.
Non Economic Damages: “Pain and Suffering”
Victims are eligible to receive compensation for any past, ongoing, and future physical and emotional pain and suffering experienced as a result of an accident and resulting injury. This notion, which encompasses things like physical and emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life and activity, embarrassment, humiliation, and well as physical pain and torment, is generally referred to as non-economic damage. Maryland law imposes “cap” or upper limit on the maximum awards for non-economic damage.
Emotional Distress
In particularly serious cases, the injury plaintiff may seek compensation due for psychological distress resulting from their accident, including anxiety, loss of sleep, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Loss of Property, or Loss of Use
The injury plaintiff can request compensation for the fair market value of any personal items that were damaged as a result of your accident, including vehicles or other property.
Loss of Consortium
If the accident or injury impacts the plaintiff’s relationship with their spouse or family they could be awarded compensation for loss of consortium.
Punitive Damages
In cases of extreme, or gross, negligence, the victim may be awarded punitive damages. Damages are generally thought of as a measure of recovery to “make someone whole”, or to compensate them monetarily for a non-economic loss. Unlike compensatory damages, punitive damages are usually awarded with the distinct purpose of punishing the negligent party. It is exceedingly rare, if even possible, to receive punitive damages in an motor vehicle accident case premised on negligence. Moreover, an insurance company would not pay any award for punitive damage.
