Types of Personal Injury Compensation

Personal injury is a type of lawsuit involving bodily harm or mental suffering caused by another person’s negligence or wrongdoings. This includes car accidents, slip and fall cases, medical malpractice, product liability, and assault.

Being involved in a personal injury case can be overwhelming and lead to significant losses. So, it’ll help to understand what compensation you are entitled to. To help you navigate a settlement, read on to learn about the types of injury damages.

Compensatory Damages

This is the most common among the different forms of personal injury damages. As their name suggests, these are designed to compensate the injured party for their losses. Compensatory damages have two types, which are:

• Special Damages

This focuses on the financial losses suffered by the individual from their attained injuries. Special damages often include medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, lost income, cost for damaged property repairs, and more.

• General Damages

Also known as non-economic damages, this type aims to compensate the injured party for intangible losses. General compensation may be given for pain and suffering, physical disability or disfigurement, loss of consortium, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Calculating the monetary value of general damages can be difficult as they aren’t quantifiable and they rely on factors such as an injury’s severity and its effect on the affected individual. To maximize your compensation, it’s best to consult a personal injury defense lawyer.

Wrongful Death Damages

When a personal injury case leads to an individual’s death, their surviving family members may seek wrongful death damages. This type of injury claim combines both general and special compensatory damages, including funeral and burial costs, pain and suffering, medical expenses before death, and emotional distress.

Punitive Damages

Unlike compensatory damages, this focuses on punishing the party responsible for the personal injuries. Punitive damages are generally awarded in cases that involve gross negligence and intentional or malicious intent, like fraud, battery, or assault.

Consult Our Experts at Fitch & Stahle Law Office

Learning about the types of personal injury compensation will help you identify your rights in case you become involved in this type of lawsuit. If you do, having a reliable injury defense lawyer is most beneficial. Contact us at Fitch & Stahle Law Office in Iowa to learn about our legal services.