How Personal Injury Compensation Can Help You Get Back on Your Feet
A serious injury can alter the way you live your life. From medical bills and lost wages to pain and suffering you may be overwhelmed by the effects of your injuries.
Some costs are easy to calculate, such as your medical expenses or time off work. Certain costs are subjective like your suffering and pain.
Loss of wages
Loss of income due to injury can be devastating. Many families rely on their earnings to cover basic living expenses such as rent or mortgage payments and food expenses. In New York, injured workers can file a personal injury claim against the driver at the fault in order to obtain the lost wages. A successful claim will require evidence that the injury is the cause of the wage loss, and that it is directly related to the accident.
To calculate the lost wages, you must first determine your average weekly wage (AWW), which is the amount that you earned prior to your accident. This can be done by looking at your past pay statements. A lawyer can help gather the appropriate documents to prove your claim. If you have more than one employer, or have multiple sources of income, it's essential to include both your salaries in your AWW calculation. It is also beneficial to include any additional financial benefits you receive like bonuses and health insurance, as well as retirement contributions.
You may not be in a position to return to your job or you might be able return in a lesser capacity, based on the nature of your injury. If you are in this circumstance the insurance company has to provide you with temporary benefits, like a weekly fixed payment that is based on a percentage of your average weekly earnings.
You might also be entitled to reimbursement for the paid time off (PTO) that you took to recover from your injuries. The value of PTO typically equals one day's wages.
When you calculate your lost wage, you should also consider any work-related costs that you've to pay. This could include the cost of transport, meals or other equipment required to help you recover.
While workers' compensation provides you with the medical treatment and compensation for the loss of your current wages, it cannot provide for future earnings. If your injury prevents your from working in the exact same field or earning the same salary you earn, you can apply for compensation through an additional claim referred to as "lost earnings capacity." You'll need to provide evidence that your accident has affected your ability to pursue your career direction.
Medical bills
Many people experience sticker shock when they see the costs of hospital visits, especially an emergency room visit. The cost of treatment for outpatients is also quite expensive. This is because medicine is a for-profit business, and doctors have to pay for their expenses and turn a profit. Therefore they are entitled to put a lien on your personal injury settlement or award to recover the amount they've been charged.
Medical bills are considered to be part of the claim to compensation for injuries caused by the negligent acts of another. In most cases, the at-fault person and their insurance company will pay the medical bills. The responsibility lies with you to pay these medical charges while the case is pending.
After your personal injury coverage (PIP) has reached its $8,000 or $2,200 limit you can apply your health insurance plan to pay the remainder of your medical expenses. However, it is very important that you have your health insurance contact information in the file of your medical professional to ensure that these bills are paid to them.
Additionally, you must make sure that any of the doctors you've been seeing is licensed by the Workers' Compensation Board to treat injured workers. If they're not, you'll be held accountable for the expenses in the event that you receive an injury settlement.
It is also crucial to ensure that you inform your attorney about all of the doctors' offices, physical therapists, and other medical professionals you've been to. accident and injury lawyers may be unaware of them and may not be able to collect the amounts owed from your settlement.
Although there is no way to completely cover the emotional and physical trauma you've experienced because of the negligence of someone else, an injury lawsuit could be helpful. You may be able to claim compensation for your injuries, or the loss of someone you love, if you can prove that other party's negligence caused it. This includes medical expenses, lost wages, and other non-economic damages such as discomfort and pain.
Pain and suffering
As opposed to the economic damages, such as medical bills and loss of income it is difficult to determine a dollar amount on suffering and pain. This is why it's crucial to have a competent attorney who can show jurors how your injury has affected your life. Evidence such as photos, witness testimony, and copies of your medical records may aid. However, describing to the jury how your injury affected your life and prevented you from enjoying activities and hobbies can be a major factor.
Your lawyer may use one of two methods for calculating your suffering and pain, which are the Multiplier method or the Per Diem method. The Multiplier method adds up your monetary damages, and multiplies it by a number ranging from one to five dependent on the severity of your injury. The Per Diem method assigns a specific dollar amount to each day that you were injured, and then multiply the sum by the number of days it will take you to fully recover. Your lawyer will take into account many factors to determine the fair settlement amount for your pain and discomfort.
It isn't something that can be measured by a computer or an algorithm and an injury case involving a person requires careful consideration of the unique circumstances that impact the individual victim's circumstance. In addition to assessing your actual physical pain mental anguish and emotional distress should be considered. This includes emotions like grief, depression, fear and anxiety as well as shock. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe mental illness that can lead to severe mental pain.
The best way to prove your loss of enjoyment of life is to have a certified expert like a psychologist, testify about how the injury has affected you. This can be done through written reports or face-to-face testimony. The more details that you provide the better chance it is that your attorney can get you a greater amount of compensation for your pain and suffering.
Although the majority of personal injury cases involve accidents, you can also pursue an action against someone who has intentionally hurt you. This kind of negligence claim is described as a civil tort. Although these types of claims are not common however, there are a variety of civil torts that can be filed, including medical malpractice, wrongful deaths dog bite injuries and defamation lawsuits.
Damages
Following an accident, a financial award can help someone get back on their feet. It could also cover more intangible losses such as suffering and pain. Typically the damage is paid by the defendant through an insurance settlement or by a jury or judge in a court case.
In general, there are two categories of damages: punitive and compensatory. Compensatory damages reimburse the plaintiff for the actual cost. They are available in nearly every personal injury claim. Punitive damages punish the wrongdoer and deter similar behavior in the future.
When seeking compensation, it is important to include not just the losses that have occurred in the past, such as medical bills and lost wages, but also estimated future losses and expenses. This includes prescription drugs, future surgeries and any other costs that are not anticipated. It is also important to take into account the impact of your injury on your quality of life. For instance, if you can no longer play with your children or engage in other activities you normally do, it is important to consider the loss.
The easiest method to determine past losses is by adding up the amount you've spent and the earnings you've missed. To estimate future medical costs and the potential for earnings loss, you'll require a doctor's letter indicating how long you will be out of work and your hourly rate. Then you can divide the number of days between the date of maximum medical improvement and when you are expected to resume work by the daily rate to calculate the estimated loss of earnings.
You could also be entitled to compensation for "loss or consortium" in the event that your accident has caused emotional distress in your relationship with your spouse or other loved ones.
It's difficult to put a price on the pain and suffering that you endure however, you are entitled to the full and fair compensation for your injury. This type of compensation is usually based on a judge's or jury's judgement instead of hard evidence. Your attorney can explain this in more depth and help you decide the amount of compensation you deserve for your injury.