A car accident can have a tremendous impact on your life. It can leave you with significant financial losses in the form of medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, and lost wages, and the physical and emotional pain and suffering thrust upon you may be unbearable. As a result, if you’ve been injured in a car accident, then you might be worried about what the future has in store for you. How are you going to pay your medical bills? How are you going to afford groceries and pay your utility bills? How are you going to survive while you focus on your recovery?
These are all good questions that deserve answers. Fortunately, you might be able to find those answers and relief through a personal injury lawsuit. But what, exactly, can you recover from one of these claims? Let’s look at the damages that you may be able to recover from a successful personal injury claim.
- Medical expenses: If you win your personal injury lawsuit, then you should be able to recover compensation for your medical expenses, both those that you have already incurred and those that you expect to face in the future. This means that you’ll need to be able to articulate your medical condition and its prognosis, meaning that you may need your doctor to speak to what your future treatment is going to look like and how much it’s going to cost.
- Lost wages: A similar analysis is undertaken here. While you should be able to recover any wages that you’ve already lost on account of your injuries, you shouldn’t overlook any lost wages that you expect to see moving forward. This means that you’ll have to have some idea of how long you’re going to be out of work.
- Lost earnings capacity: If your injuries have affected your ability to return to your job or move onto better paying positions, then you need to take that into account in your personal injury case. Here, you may need an expert to testify as to how your injuries will limit your career, but since these damages can be quite extensive, acquiring this witness testimony can be important to your future.
- Pain and suffering: Your injuries have probably taken a toll on your physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing. Think about how you can portray that to a judge and jury. After all, you should be compensated for the pain that you’ve had to endure.
- Loss of enjoyment of life: Part of your emotional pain and suffering is your loss of enjoyment of life. Have your injuries limited your ability to engage in the activities that you love? Are you unable to play with your children because of your injuries? Do your injuries prevent you from partaking in your favorite hobbies? Again, you’ll want to paint a picture of how your accident injuries have limited your ability to enjoy the things that you love.
Know how to make strong arguments for your damages
A lot of the focus in personal injury cases is on proving liability. While that’s certainly a key component of your case, you really can’t overlook the importance of making a robust case for the damages that you’ve suffered. This will require some legwork on your end, including gathering your employment and medical records, as well as speaking with experts who can help you demonstrate how long-lasting the impact of your injuries will be. We know that’s not an easy thing to do as you try to recover from your injuries, but that’s why assistance is available. If you think that you could benefit from that kind of assistance, then we encourage you to research your options and settle for an advocate who is right for you.