Determining how much your personal injury case is worth is crucial in deciding if you actually want to follow through with the process. If it’s not much money you stand to win it may not be worth your time and effort. There’s a lot of stress and hassle that go along with filing a case so you must make sure you stand to get a sizeable amount in damages. You don’t want to waste your time.
The first step after any accident is to get the proper medical treatment. Then you set an appointment with a personal injury lawyer to determine how much your case is actually worth. The only problem… it may not be easy to place a value on your case. Determining how much you stand to win is a tricky procedure.
When it comes to damages you stand to win from the defendant there are two categories you want to examine:
Compensatory damages are the actual costs associated with your injury. Often these types of costs will be any medical bills or damages to personal property like a vehicle or home. This can also include loss of wages from missing work due to your injury. These examples are easy to put a cost on because you have actual bills you can show. Other compensatory damages such as pain and suffering, emotional injuries, or loss of consortium can be difficult to price.
Punitive damages are damages collected to deter the defendant from engaging in the same type of conduct that caused the injury. If the compensatory damages are to “pay back the plaintiff,” then punitive damages are to “punish the defendant.” Also they help in limiting future cases of the same nature from other possible defendants.
Punitive damages will vary form state-to-state and case-to-case. Your personal injury lawyer will be able to better estimate the amount you can ask for.
Placing a value on your case requires the expert knowledge of a personal injury lawyer but you can start by adding up all your medical bills, property damage caused, and the loss of wages incurred. If you have questions about your personal injury or need help dealing with the insurance companies contact the Scranton Law Firm today and get all your questions answered free of charge. There is no risk to call so call now!
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800 400 8742
