What Is an Injury Claim?

An injury claim is a request for monetary reimbursement from the person who caused you harm. The process is usually in a non-judiciary setting and your lawyer handles all communications with the defendant as well as his insurance company.

Special damages are easy to calculate and can include costs that relate to your injury, such as medical bills, repair bills and lost wages. General damages are harder to quantify and include things such as pain and suffering.

Medical Treatment

A claim for injury is incomplete without medical treatment. Workers injured in an accident must get the medical attention they require to heal their injuries and be able to establish that someone else was negligent. It's also a means to determine how much the accountable party owes in damages.

Under California workers' compensation laws, you have the right to medical care that is reasonably necessary to treat or alleviate from work-related injuries and illnesses. The doctors who provide that care must follow guidelines that are based on scientifically-supported medical treatments.

The insurance adjuster will consider medical bills as a way to determine the severity of your injuries when calculating the total amount of suffering. They might employ a multiplier to determine the right range of damages. However, if you've had gaps in your treatment or your physical therapy account for a large proportion of your bills the adjuster from your insurance company may think that your injuries are not as severe as you claim.

There are many valid reasons why gaps could exist in your treatment. It could be that you are unable to attend a doctor's appointment due to transportation issues, family issues or other circumstances that are unavoidable. A seasoned personal injury lawyer will be able to collect evidence to prove that a gap in treatment was due to circumstances beyond your control.

Lost Wages

The loss of income caused by injuries sustained in a car accident is a separate type of economic damage that can be recovered through an individual injury claim or lawsuit. This is known as lost wages or loss of earnings, and it is one of the most significant losses that victims suffer as a result of their injuries.

Lost wages can be devastating to the injured victim, and are often difficult for injured victims to manage. If you are injured people who are paid hourly or full-time can lose a significant amount of money. In addition to losing on the benefit of not working injured workers could also lose out on other benefits offered by the company, such as gym memberships and company-loaned vehicles and other perks.

In some cases, the injuries from a car accident may be so severe that the victim is unable to return to work or they permanently cease to be able to perform their job responsibilities due to physical and emotional trauma. In this case the victim could be entitled to a reimbursement of future lost wages or lost earning capacity as a part of their damages.

To be eligible for compensation for lost wages caused by an accident, you will need to provide proof of the time you missed at work. This could be in the form of paystubs, the records of employment, profit and loss statements and tax documents. It is also important to have a doctor's certificate or a disability certificate from the employer that outlines the injuries and the time the person has to be out of work in order to recuperate.

Pain & Suffering

It is difficult to prove that there was pain and suffering. It includes any pain, discomfort, inconvenience or emotional trauma caused by an accident. It also covers any loss of enjoyment in life or disfigurement caused by the injury.

Your lawyer can assist you determine the worth of your claim by providing an accurate and objective analysis of the way your injuries impact your daily life. This information is usually more persuasive to a juror than receipts and injury lawyer bills.

There are a variety of ways to calculate pain and suffering damages such as the multiplier method and the per diem method. By using the multiplier method, your actual economic losses are added up and then multiplied with a number that ranges from 1.5 and five, based on how serious your injuries are.

Other non-economic damages you may be able to pursue include loss of consortium (money that compensates your spouse for their loss of companionship) physical impairment, disfigurement. Physical impairment refers to any limitations you might experience in your daily activities because of the injury. Disfigurement may be awarded if the accident results in permanent injury or scarring.

As opposed to the specific damages that can be proved by receipts and bills, pain and suffering damages are more subjective and difficult to quantify. It is important to document your injuries and discomfort so you can prove the impact they had on your life.

Damages

There are some costs that can be printed on a receipt and tacked up to a tidy figure but there are also costs that aren't easily quantifiable. These intangible losses can be addressed by general compensatory damages.

You may be eligible to claim compensation for emotional distress that you have experienced, for example, the effect your injuries have had on your life. This can include anxiety, fear and post-traumatic stress disorder. You can also receive compensation for the loss of enjoyment in your life when an injury has made it impossible for your from participating in activities you were previously able to enjoy before.

Special damages are the compensation you receive for expenses caused by your injury lawyer or illness. These can include the cost of travel to and from the hospital as well as prescriptions, treatment home adaptations, and care. You can also claim loss of future earnings in the case that your injury lawyer or illness prevents a return to the same job.

In some cases the court can make exceptional damages. These damages are meant to retaliate against defendants who have committed serious conduct, such as defamation. An experienced lawyer can advise you on whether or not exceptional damages are appropriate in your particular case.