When you suffer from a personal injury due to the negligence of another individual, you have a right to demand compensation. Even after consulting with your personal injury lawyer, it may be difficult to understand just what type of damages and various compensations you may be entitled to. Here is a brief summary to help you recognize the different types of legal damages involved in personal injury claims.
Priority Compensation
When you are injured, there will be bills associated with those injuries. It may be car repairs, medical bills or living expenses. This type of compensation is referred to as compensatory damages and deals with quantifiable expenses. That means you can be reimbursed for items such as:
• Hospital stays
• At-home nursing costs
• Lost wages
• Property repair
• Physical therapy charges
Further Compensation
There are also compensatory damage claims when the injury involved lowers your quality of life. They include:
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of life’s enjoyment
• Physical disfigurement
Life Compensation
When the injury causes a loss of life, there are compensatory damages associated with that loss. They are:
• Funeral expenses
• Loss of additional finances
• Medical costs for deceased
• Loss of consortium
• Mental anguish
Compensatory damages are meant to compensate the injured party for a loss incurred. Whether that is a lower quality of life, an injury suffered or a loss of a loved one’s life.
Punishment Awards
When injuries are grievous or caused by an outrageous act, compensation is not enough. Instead, the courts demand the responsible party be punished for the irresponsible and terrible actions that caused the injuries or damages. The court then orders the defendant to pay a punishment amount referred to as a punitive award.
Punitive damages are almost always an award of money, and the penalty is meant to punish the responsible party so that they won’t harm anyone else in the same manner. The more malicious or negligent the defendant’s actions, the more money the courts will award as a deterrent against future activities. This includes:
• Fraudulent actions
• Injurious assaults
• Financial destruction
• Gross negligent actions
• Malicious behavior resulting in death
When the defendant is a wealthy individual with irresponsible tendencies, the courts have been known to use the punitive damage awards to issue a warning to the defendant’s family, as the lawyers at Cohen & Cohen explain.
Personal Injury
If you or a loved one find yourself injured by the intentional or negligent actions of another, contact your personal injury lawyer right away. Your attorney can help you obtain medical care and physical therapy necessary to improve your quality of life. You deserve to be compensated for your pain and suffering.
We would like to thank Cohen & Cohen for their contribution to our blog.
310-788-3466