Economic and Non-Economic Damages You Can Recover in a Car Accident Claim

If you have suffered any loss in a car accident in Atlanta, you are entitled to seek fair compensation to cover this loss. You can be compensated for both non-economic and economic damages. Compensatory damages in car accident cases are typically proportionate to the losses you suffer. And while some losses can be calculated in a specific dollar amount, others are harder to determine so clearly.

This is why the actual amount of compensation you are actually going to get for a car accident claim isn’t always very evident. Here are some types of damages you can seek as a part of such a claim.

Economic Damages

Economic damages refer to damages that cover the tangible losses you suffer in a car accident. These are the losses that are relatively straight-forward to calculate and can be calculated to a specific amount. Economic damages recoverable in accident compensation claims include:

Medical Costs

Medical costs refer to the full range of expenses caused by your accident-related injury. These include the physician’s fees, expenses of traveling to and from the hospital, cost of prescription medicine as well as the costs of any medical tests you need to undergo. In addition, medical costs also cover the costs of any long-term rehabilitation and therapy you may require on your way to recovery. This means that you can recover both actual medical costs you have incurred so far as well as expected future costs of treatment.

Lost Wages

Crash-related injuries may force you to go on bed rest. Even in the case of milder injuries, you may be unable to resume work for a period. This results in lost wages. Since these wages are lost directly as a consequence of crash-related injuries, you can seek them as a part of the compensation claim.

Loss of Property

A car accident may result in damage to your vehicle, making repairs or replacements necessary. The good news is that a car accident claim also covers such loss of property so that you can seek damages to the value of your property loss.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are the kind of damages that cover subjective kind of losses caused by a car accident. These include:

  • Loss of Companionship. If you lose a loved one in a car crash, you can seek non-economic damages in lieu of loss of companionship. It is hard to peg a definite dollar value for such a loss. Factors such as your relationship with the deceased and your emotional dependence may be used to determine the actual amount of damages.
  • Disfigurement and Scarring. If you suffer disfigurement or permanent scarring, especially on the face, this can have a direct effect on the nature of your social interactions. Victims of such injuries tend to suffer from self-image and confidence issues. This is why it is possible to recover damages specifically for disfigurement and scarring.
  • Mental Anguish. In addition to the physical fallout from a crash injury, you may also suffer mental anguish which can include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other problems. Such mental anguish can also result in diminished quality of life. When this is the case, you can seek damages for mental anguish as well.
  • Pain and Suffering. Pain and suffering are the physical and mental pain you may face due to a car accident. Damages in lieu of pain and suffering are typically calculated by multiplying the economic damages with a multiplier. In the case of minor injuries, this multiplier is a small number. In the case of major injuries, the multiplier is higher.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages apply to a car accident claim when it is clear that the at-fault driver showed fraud, malice, deliberate misconduct, or another form of gross negligence. These damages are a kind of punishment for the at-fault driver guilty of causing the crash.

Hiring a Car Accident Attorney in Atlanta, GA

If you have been injured in a car crash in Atlanta, GA, it is important that you hire a good attorney at the earliest. You may be entitled to compensatory damages but it is only with good legal help on your side that you can be sure of receiving them.

Here at Greene Legal Group, we help crash victims file for the compensation they deserve. We work with you to make sure you file for all the damages that apply to your claim. We also negotiate thoroughly on your behalf to ensure that you get the best deal. Call us today to schedule a free in-person session with one of our attorneys.`

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