How Much is My Personal Injury Claim Worth? | Legal Services ...

Please keep in mind that this article is general in nature because laws pertaining to personal injury claims vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Please contact a personal injury lawyer about your claim.

The starting point with calculating personal injury claims is to determine applicable heads of damages.

Heads of damages defined

View heads of damages as categories. Pain and suffering is a category of compensation where you?re compensated for your pain and suffering (depending on the jurisdiction).

What are the usual heads of damages in car accident claims?

1. Pain and suffering

2. Past wage loss

3. Future wage loss

4. Loss of earning capacity

5. Costs of future care and treatment

6. Special damages (a.k.a. out-of-pocket expenses)

Explanations of the above-mentioned heads of damages:

1. Pain and Suffering

If you?re hurt from a traumatic incident, you?re likely entitled to pain and suffering compensation if it?s awarded in your jurisdiction.

2. Wage loss (past)

Past wage loss is awarded if you were working at the time of injury, you lost wages, and the cause of those lost wages was your inability to work due to the injuries from the traumatic incident.

3. Loss of future earnings

If your injuries prevent you from working into the future, then you may have a claim to have those lost future wages paid to you. This requires calculations. In some jurisdictions only loss of earning capacity is awarded instead of future wage loss.

4. Loss of earning capacity

This head of damage takes several factors into account to determine the total loss of income you?ll suffer. It includes, for example, your loss of competitiveness in your job industry as a result of your injuries.

5. Costs of future care and treatment

Cost of future care endeavours to provide money for anticipated care costs in the future. It may be as slight as massage treatments or be extensive as modified home, new vehicle, round-the-clock care, surgeries, etc. The cost of future care is, like all heads of damage, determined on a case-by-case basis.

6. Special damages (a.k.a. out-of-pocket expenses)

Out-of-pocket expenses are generally straight forward. If an injured person pays for treatment, that cost should be reimbursed. Still, the injured victim must justify the expenses and show that they were reasonable.

Quantifying the entire claim

Sometimes the heads of damages are assessed quickly, other times it takes a long time. One never knows how long it will take during the early days after a traumatic incident..

Generally a great deal of time is spent waiting for medical doctors to examine injured victims. Doctors are busy and there are waiting lists. Moreover, an injured victim?s condition changes over time (hopefully for the better). One objective when putting a personal injury claim together is waiting long enough (but not too long) for medical professionals to be able to determine the injured victim?s long-term outlook.

Now that you have a general idea how personal injury cases are assessed in some jurisdictions, you can consider how to approach your claim.

It?s important to get the appropriate legal advice by talking to a personal injury attorney in your jurisdiction. The above may or may not apply in your state or province.

Source: http://www.coloradocommunicationcoach.com/how-much-is-my-personal-injury-claim-worth

time person of the year sag nominations sag nominations derek jeter time magazine person of the year time magazine person of the year la clippers