Damages you could recover after an automobile crash:
When you are involved in a car accident, whether a minor collision or a major wreck, you are facing innumerable damages.
Some are obvious, such as damage to your car or maybe even cuts and scrapes or broken bones. For these you would seek compensation for medical bills and car repair.
Others are perhaps less obvious - time away from work, which could mean lost wages or even risk of losing your job.
You may also suffer lingering physical harm or perhaps even permanent disability. Too, some of these injuries are harder to detect and may not be felt for days or weeks after the accident - long after you might have settled your case with an insurance company, when it is too late to introduce new damages to your claim.
Many auto collisions are traumatic for those involved, or even for bystanders who witnessed it. Sometimes people experience anxiety when they have to get back behind the wheel, and others may have nightmares about the crash happening over and over again. Lack of sleep and mounting anxiety can lead to additional physical and mental suffering.
And if you are hurt, out of work, and facing a mountain of bills, this will put undue strain on your family.
All of these injuries cause a lot more damage to your life than merely the cost of the doctor visits or car repair. Yet that does not mean they aren’t real.
If you have been harmed by a car accident, you could have a legal claim for not just your bills, but also:
- Pain and suffering – this is a legal term for the compensation you can seek for the physical pain felt from injuries sustained in a car accident
- Mental anguish – often, victims can recover for the emotional strain they feel and that is imposed on their family members due to prolonged pain and suffering and worry about the future
- Loss of consortium – this is a legal term for the loss of companionship and partnership that someone experiences when a spouse becomes permanently disabled or severely injured
- Wrongful death – this is the legal term for a claim by a person who has lost a family member as a result of the accident
- Punitive damages – if the accident was caused by something the driver did knowingly or recklessly, such as getting behind the wheel while drunk or under the influence of drugs, you may be entitled to punitive damages as well as compensation for your losses. Punitive damages represent money a party may have to pay as punishment for malicious disregard for another’s well being and deterrence so others don’t do the same.
These are complex and finely nuanced damages that are tough to prove and require a skilled attorney to gather the appropriate evidence.
At NB&W, we have over 100 years of combined legal experience representing people and their families who are hurt in car crashes.
If you were hurt in a collision, contact us and tell us what happened. We will answer your questions and discuss your potential claims for damages. There is never a cost or obligation, so please don't wait - you have a limited time to file a claim and evidence gets harder to gather as each day passes.
Click here to read about the types of accidents we have helped clients recover from.
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