When you are considering filing a personal injury case against an at-fault party you may have a number of questions. As an experienced personal injury law firm, we have heard it all. One of the top questions we get is: What are damages in personal injury cases? You may wonder: What is my case worth? Keep reading to get the answers and then contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation.
The Definition of Damages in a Personal Injury Case
First, let us discuss what we mean when we use the term “damages.” This refers to money that is paid to a person who is injured by the person or company that is found to be legally responsible for the accident that caused the injury. Damages can be determined by a settlement or ordered by a judge or jury after a court trial. There are several types of damages, which we will cover below.
Compensatory Damages
Most of the damages in a personal injury case are what are called “compensatory.” This means that their purpose is to compensate the plaintiff that was injured due to the accident or injury. Compensatory damages are essentially used to make the plaintiff feel “whole” again from a monetary standpoint, as much a that is possible.
This requires that a monetary value be put onto a case. Some compensatory damages are very easy to quantify. For example, getting reimbursed for medical bills is easy to figure out, and figuring out how to replace a vehicle is generally fairly easy to figure out. Harder compensatory damages to determine are things like pain and suffering or loss of consortium or enjoyment in life. There are many types of compensatory damages include:
- Medical costs.
- Lost income.
- Property loss.
- Pain and suffering.
- Emotional Distress
- Loss of enjoyment.
- Loss of consortium.
These are just some of the damages that a person may be eligible to be compensated for in a personal injury case.
Punitive Damages
Though punitive damages are much rarer than compensatory damages, they are a possibility in cases in which the at-fault party has acted particularly dangerously. While the purpose of punitive damages is to punish the at-fault party and discourage future similar activity, the money generally goes to the victim. This type of damage is generally at the discretion of the judge on a case.
Find Out What Your Damages May Be
If you have been the victim in an accident and believe you may have a claim for a personal injury case, contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation. We are standing by to provide you with the answers you need to the questions you have. We can carefully assess the case, determine who was at fault, and provide our best advice on how to proceed.
