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Car Accident
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Car Accident
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(877) 880-4090After a car accident, you likely have several tasks to tend to. No matter the size of your to-do list, investigating damages you may qualify for deserves a top place on that list. Once you know which damages you may collect, you could have a better idea of how to proceed with your insurance claim and any legal case you have.
One reason to have a medical professional examine you after a motor vehicle accident is so you know whether you may return to work. Even if you may still go back to your workplace, you could have restrictions on the actions you can and cannot perform for your recovery. If your physician says you cannot return to work until you recover, you may qualify for lost wage damages.
These damages make up for your lost earning capacity. If you spend time in the hospital, take off work to attend physical therapy or have trouble moving around, lost wages damages help cover the financial gaps. To support your claim to lost wages damages, you must prove the accident affected your future earning capacity. Your legal representative may ask you for past earnings to prove how much you should receive in damages.
No matter if you experience a major or minor car accident, you may have injuries to address. One reason to let a doctor check you out after an accident, no matter how you feel, is you may have delayed or hidden injuries you may not notice immediately. You deserve fair compensation from the at-fault party for the harm you suffered, which is where medical expenses damages come into play.
Examples of common car accident medical expenses include permanent disability, cognitive or physical therapy, medical care professional consultations, ambulance rides, in-home care and medical accessories. Whatever the medical expense, keep detailed records, so you improve your chances of getting every penny you deserve.
The law defines pain and suffering as physical or psychological distress suffered after an accident. Juries and judges calculate pain and suffering damages according to intensity of pain suffered, injury type and future pain prognosis. The accident or your injuries may harm your mental health, which could trigger anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Depending on the state, injured parties may add a general loss of enjoyment of life to pain and suffering damages.
These damages do not work the same across all states. In some geographic locations, injured parties must lose consciousness for a specific period to qualify for pain and suffering. In others, the jury may assume that parties who sustain bodily injury qualify for pain and suffering damages.
Unlike other damages, injured parties often have a hard time calculating pain and suffering damages. After all, you cannot ask your medical care provider to itemize your psychological or physical distress on a medical bill. Instead, you must have strong evidence that supports your claim. Consider gathering documents such as images of your injuries, medical records, proof of lost income, medication receipts, doctor’s notes and medical bills. All these documents paint a picture of what you endured (or continue to endure) on your path to recovery.
Car accident injuries may rob couples of their ability to show each other affection, which the law defines as a “loss of consortium.” One unique fact about loss of companionship, affection or consortium damages is the uninjured spouse claims them, not the injured party. Even then, the uninjured spouse may claim nothing if the injured spouse does not recover other damages.
Some motor vehicle accidents end in fatalities. If they do, surviving family members may have a case for a loss of companionship or society. Before deciding damages, juries consider whether the deceased person had a loving relationship with the plaintiff, the effect the deceased’s death had on surviving relatives and the couple’s living situation.
One reason to take images of the inside of your vehicle is so you have proof of damaged or destroyed personal property. You deserve damages to replace or repair damaged property, so take careful inventory of all valuables in your vehicle when the accident happened.
You need not wonder about how much you stand to collect in damages after a car collision. Get answers to your questions and experience peace of mind with help from the legal professionals at Fielding Law. You do not pay a fee unless you win, and our clients enjoy direct access to their attorney. Submit a Contact Us form or speak to a representative by calling 877-880-4090.