What’s My Case Worth?

Determining exactly the worth of your losses is never an easy task. It often involves quantifying things that do not have monetary value. For instance, you might need to put a price on things like emotional distress, suffering and pain. What really is the worth of my case? This is the question probably troubling your mind in case you are considering filing a lawsuit regarding a personal injury case. To find answers to this, you first need to figure out the damages. Find out what your injuries have cost you mentally, physically and financially. In some cases, you also need to consider whether the defendant’s conduct deserves a punitive measure or not. In a personal injury case, the plaintiff is compensated by the individual or the company who caused the accident.

Compensatory Damages.

Most damages resulting from personal injury are compensatory. This means that the injured plaintiff should be compensated for the loss he or she incurred due to the accident. An award of compensatory damages is intended to make the plaintiff regain his or her losses as much as possible.

The following are some different types of compensatory damages that are common in many cases of personal injury.

Medical Treatment.

An award of personal injury damages should be inclusive of the cost of treatment the plaintiff has already incurred and compensation for the estimated cost of medical care he or she might require in the future due to the accident.

Income.

You are entitled to compensation for the impact the accident had on your salary and wages. This includes even the money you would be able to make were it not for the accident. Meaning, you should receive compensation also for losing your earning capacity.

Property Loss.

If during the accident, your clothes, vehicles, or any other property got damaged, you’ll likely be entitled to reimbursement for compensation or repairs for the market value that is fair enough for the lost item.

Suffering and Pain.

You probably have heard the term pain and suffering, but you may not necessarily be aware that it is a significant element of most of the personal injury cases. But what does this term refer to from a legal standpoint? Or more significantly, how can you calculate the worth of pain and suffering for the purposes of insurance claim that is injury-related?

There are two types of pain and suffering. Mental pain and suffering and physical pain and suffering. Physical pain and suffering results from the actual physical injuries that the accident caused to the plaintiff. It not only includes the discomfort you have experienced since the occurrence of the accident, but also the unfavorable conditions you are likely to suffer in the future as a result of the accident.

The physical injuries lead to mental pain and suffering. This means that as a result of being physically injured, the claimant may harbor feelings of mental anguish, fear, anger, emotional distress and loss of life enjoyment. Basically, mental pain and suffering refers to any form of negative emotion that the plaintiff experiences, or is bound to experience due to trauma, and physical pain caused by the accident.

Loss of consortium is part of mental pain and suffering. An injury to a person causes mental torture not only to the victim, but also to his or her spouse. For instance, a wife undergoes surgery and her husband takes care of her personal needs such as cooking, dressing, and bathing. While a loving spouse can willingly attend to these activities, the law recognizes the need for compensation.

How do you place a price tag on pain and suffering?
There are no charts to look at to determine the value of pain and suffering so as to come up with the exact figure to award. In most states, juries decide on a fair and reasonable amount to award the plaintiff.

In conclusion, to find out what you should get, consider the above factors. Take into consideration all the damages and losses you have already incurred, and those you are likely to incur in the future. And keep in mind that for you to be sure of full compensation, you need an attorney who is ready to walk the entire journey with you.