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What types of damages can you recover in a personal injury lawsuit?

On Behalf of | Feb 12, 2021 | Personal Injury |

When someone’s negligence or wrongdoing causes an accident in which you sustain serious injuries, you naturally worry about paying all the medical bills and other expenses resulting from those injuries. You also worry about all the income you are losing because you must take time off from work to recover. It likely crosses your mind that the responsible person, not you, should bear these burdens.

That is exactly what a personal injury lawsuit seeks to do: get you the compensation you deserve. FindLaw explains that you have the opportunity to recover the following three types of damages in your lawsuit:

  1. Economic
  2. Non-economic
  3. Punitive

Economic damages

Economic damages refer to those things for which you accumulate bills, both now and in the future. Common economic damages include the following types of expenses:

  • Ambulance or life flight
  • Hospitalization
  • Surgeries
  • Prescription drugs
  • Physical and occupational therapy
  • Medical equipment
  • In-home care and services

Your loss of income, both now and in the future, also make up part of your economic damages.

Non-economic damages

While your economic damages are fairly easy to determine, your non-economic damages are less so. Why? Because they consist of your subjective losses, such as the following:

  • Physical pain and suffering
  • Mental and emotional anguish
  • Dealing with disfiguring scarring
  • Dealing with the loss of a limb
  • Dealing with paralysis or other disability
  • Loss of your ability to fully enjoy your life

Punitive damages

In rare cases, the court may award you punitive damages in addition to your economic and non-economic damages. Punitive damages financially punish the defendant for especially reckless or egregious conduct in causing the accident that, in turn, caused your injuries.

All in all, your personal injury lawsuit can gain you more than enough money to compensate you for your present and future losses.