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How much can you recover from your personal injury claim?

On Behalf of | Feb 23, 2023 | Injuries

In the days, months, and even years following your car accident, you’re going to have to find a way to make ends meet. Your medical expenses may far surpass your insurance coverage and your savings, and your lost wages can make it difficult to support yourself and your family. That’s probably why you’re reading this blog post. As you do so, you may find yourself wondering how much you can get out of your personal injury and how to maximize the compensation that you receive.

The exact amount of compensation that you recover from your claim will depend on a number of factors. But before you get to that point, you’ll need to be sure that you can prove that the driver who caused your accident and your injuries was acting negligent at the time. So don’t overlook the legal challenges that you might face in that regard.

What damages can you recover?

There are a various damages that you might be able to recover through your personal injury case once you’re able to establish liability. These losses are broken down into two categories: economic and non-economic damages. Let’s look at each in turn.

What are economic damages?

These are direct financial losses that you can put a price tag on. These damages include lost wages, lost earnings capacity, and incurred and expected medical expenses and rehabilitation costs.

To prove these damages, you’ll want to do each of the following:

  • Retain your medical bills
  • Gather your pay stubs
  • Keep receipts from any purchases you make to further your recovery
  • Talk to your doctor about your condition and your need for future care and treatment
  • Talk to an expert in your field to determine how your injuries may impact your career

If you have any inkling that an expenditure is related to your accident injuries and your recovery, then you should track. It’s better to be safe than sorry when trying to prove your economic damages.

What are non-economic damages?

These are damages that are not directly tied to your financial well-being. Your pain and suffering is amongst them, and so are mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life. There’s no cap on the non-economic damages that you can recover, and Kentucky doesn’t have any particular formula to help you calculate these damages. However, it’s worth noting that you can only recover non-economic damages in your personal injury case if one of the following applies:

  • You suffered a bone fracture
  • You suffered loss of a body part
  • Your injuries are permanent
  • You suffered permanent disfigurement
  • Your medical expenses exceeded $1,000

Although there’s no cap on the amount of non-economic damages that you might be able to recover, a number of factors will be taken into consideration. This includes:

  • The severity of your injury
  • The length of time that your pain and suffering and other non-economic damages are expected to last
  • The ways in which your life has been negatively impacted by your accident injuries

To better prepare yourself to show these injuries, you might want to consider keeping a journal that details every aspect of your life that’s been negatively touched by your injuries.

Are you ready to take legal action?

There’s a lot on the line when you’ve been injured in a car accident and are considering a personal injury lawsuit. A properly handled case may give you the financial resources that you need to appropriately further your recovery, while mistakes made during your case could leave you with less compensation than you expected or an outright denial of your claim.

That’s why to build the strongest case possible, you might want to consider having a legal professional by your side. With a competent legal advocate in your corner, you might be able to present a strong case, beat back common defenses, and secure the outcome that you deserve.