What Should Be Included in My Personal Injury Settlement?

When you’re injured in an accident, you deserve to be rightfully compensated. Many people think they’ll automatically receive compensation after their injury case is settled, but that’s not always the case.

While there are no hard-and-fast rules on how much to expect in a personal injury settlement, there are some guidelines your personal injury lawyer can help you understand about what should be included in your settlement so you don’t end up shortchanged.

Compensable Items in a Personal Injury Settlement

The amount of compensation that will be awarded as part of your personal injury settlement depends on several factors, including the severity of your injuries. If you’re in a minor fender bender and only have a few bruises, odds are you won’t be compensated.

On the other hand, if you sustain a serious brain injury, you probably will.

Most people’s situations fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. In personal injury settlements, you may be compensated for certain types of damages. It’s important to know what medical costs you can expect to be reimbursed for.

Medical Care

Medical care can include the cost of hospital charges. This includes the hospital room, nursing care, and other hospital services provided during your stay. Ambulance services, however, may be covered under a separate policy.

Doctors’ fees are also compensable. This includes fees for any doctor who treated you in connection with your injury. The cost of prescription drugs taken due to the injuries you suffered may be covered, along with any ongoing care like physical therapy.

Lost Wages

In a personal injury claim, you can recover lost wages as part of your damages, and rightly so. This applies to time you’ve missed from work or were unable to work because of injuries you suffered.

The general rule is that if you are injured in an accident through no fault of your own and miss work because of it, you can recover those lost wages. How much you receive depends on the extent of your injuries and how long they take to heal.

For example, let’s say that you break your arm in a car accident caused by another driver’s negligence. You need surgery and physical therapy for several months after the incident.

While recovering from surgery, it takes two months before you can return to work at all and another month before you can return full time.

In total, this means that you miss about three months of work, equaling two months for recovery from surgery plus one month for recovery from physical therapy.

In this instance, you could receive up to three months of lost wages from the at-fault party or insurance company as compensation for your inability to work during that time period due to your medical condition related to the accident. You may also be entitled to disability benefits.

Property Damage

This is defined as any loss or harm caused by an accident and can include damage caused to your car, home or other property. For example, if you were involved in a car accident and your vehicle has damage or was totaled, you should include it in your claim.

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering is the most subjective part of any personal injury claim.

Your emotional anguish over being injured by another person’s negligent actions (or inaction) is pain and suffering. The amount you’ll be compensated for pain and suffering depends on the severity of your injuries and the impact those injuries have had on your life.

Loss of consortium is when one spouse suffers injuries in an accident and can’t perform his or her normal duties around the house like cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the kids. It’s awarded when a spouse can’t fulfill their normal responsibilities at home or as a partner.

Consult a Lawyer

It’s hard to determine what to include in your claim without consulting an attorney. Our law firm has helped lots of people just like you with cases just like yours. We know what it takes to get properly compensated for your damages and get your life back on track.

If you’ve been perplexed by the question “what should be included in my personal injury settlement?” Contact the experienced Greenstein & Milbauer team online or call 1-800-842-8462 today.

Find a NYC personal Injury lawyer office below:

Address: 1825 Park Ave, New York, NY 10035
Phone: (212) 685-8500