The Different Types of Compensation After a Motor Vehicle Accident

After being involved in a motor vehicle accident, there are several different types of compensation you could receive for your damages. “Damages” is a legal term used for any type of personal injury, vehicle damage, property damage, or other types of losses. Damages can be broken down into three general categories:

• Property: These types of damages include vehicle damages, personal property losses, and other types of property damages.
• Compensatory: This category is for any personal injuries and could include general and special compensatory damages.
• Punitive: In a rare number of cases, punitive damages may be awarded to the injured party. These are in addition to other awarded damages. Their purpose is to punish the responsible party by making an example of their negligent behavior in hopes it deters others from behaving in the same manner.

The types of damages you can seek will depend on the extent of damages and injuries sustained in an accident. It is highly recommended that you speak to a qualified car accident lawyer as soon as possible following your accident to find out.

Vehicle Damage

Vehicle damages are normally covered by auto owner’s insurance either under property damage, collision, or comprehensive coverages. If you were at fault for the accident, then your property damage coverage would pay to fix the other person’s vehicle. Your collision and comprehensive coverages would pay to fix the damages to your vehicle, minus your deductible.

If the responsible party did not have auto insurance, then vehicle damages are covered through the uninsured motorists’ coverage you should have on your policy. Uninsured motorists’ coverage will also pay for the personal injuries you sustained.

Property Damage

Property damage, like to a fence or telephone pole, is covered under property damage insurance. For personal property losses, like damage to your smartphone, clothing, groceries, or other items in the vehicle at the time of the accident, they, too, would be covered by property damage coverage, as long as you were not at fault. Otherwise, personal property losses not covered under auto insurance are sometimes covered under homeowners’ or renters’ insurance.

Car Rental Expenses

Your motor vehicle accident claim could include the cost of renting a car while your vehicle is repaired and fixed. Most people have coverage for rental car expenses as part of their auto insurance. If not, and the other person was at fault, then you could seek reimbursement from their insurance company.

Out-of-Pocket Expenses

Certain other out-of-pocket expenses are allowed to be claimed as part of your compensation— for instance, you had to call an Uber, Lyft, or taxi to get home after being released from the hospital.

Personal Injuries

Personal injuries are any injury you sustained as a result of the accident, from minor bruising to broken bones and the loss of life. Common general personal injury damages one could seek compensation for could include:

• Pain and Suffering: This type of damage refers to the physical and mental injuries you sustained as a result of the accident. The amount you can seek does vary based on the extent of the injuries.
• Mental/Emotional Anguish: Injured people can experience flashbacks to the accident, PTSD, and other ongoing emotional and mental When these occur, compensation can be included in your car accident lawsuit.
• Loss of Companionship/Consortium: This form of damage is when you are no longer able to provide the same level of satisfactory comfort, affection, love, and companionship to your spouse, partner, or children.

Special personal injury damages often sought as part of a personal injury claim include:

• Medical Treatment and Care Expenses: You can seek compensation for any medical bills you experience as a result of the accident. However, you may have to pay for certain medical costs upfront before you receive reimbursement through your car accident injuries claim.
• Loss of Current Earnings: Any earnings you lose because you are unable to work can be included in your claim. The total amount you can seek includes any lost wages from the date/time of the accident until you are released by a medical professional to return to your normal working schedule.
• Loss of Future Earnings: If you are not able to return to your former position or normal working schedule, you can also seek the loss of any future earnings you can no longer make. In addition, this could include bonuses and other lost compensation you would have otherwise earned if it was not for your personal injuries.
• Household Expenses: You can claim your portion of certain general living expenses and other household expenses as part of your accident claim.
• Costs for Future Medical Treatment and Care: In the event you need ongoing medical treatment and care, future surgeries, or other medical procedures in the future, the costs for these can be claimed now as part of your injury claim.
• Special Travel Expense Costs: This type of compensation is for unique cases where the injured party loses money for travel-related expenses because of the auto accident. For instance, you are visiting Houston on vacation and are injured in an auto accident. You have to extend your hotel stay until your physician releases you for travel. You can also seek this compensation if you have to cancel travel plans and experience any monetary losses.

Wrongful Death

When your loved one dies as a result of their personal injuries, in addition to seeking damages for pain, suffering, mental/emotional anguish, and the loss of companionship, you can also seek damages for wrongful death. While no amount of money can replace your loved one, you should not have to worry about not being able to support yourself and your children financially.

Some of the types of monetary compensation included with wrongful death claims include:

• Burial and Funeral Expenses: You can seek damages to cover the burial and funeral expenses for your loved one.
• Loss of Future Earnings: Any earnings your loved one would have made can be included in your personal injury claim. The amount of future earnings sought vary based on how much longer they would have continued working.
• Loss of Support/Services: This type of compensation is to cover expenses your loved one provided—for example, the costs of health insurance for you and your children. In cases where parents are divorced, the loss of child support would be another type of loss of support you could seek.

Punitive Damages

To be awarded punitive damages, the responsible party must have behaved in such a gross and negligent manner that it demonstrated a general disregard for the safety of others. For instance, the defendant was deliberately hitting other vehicles on the road, trying to cause the other drivers to lose control and wreck their vehicles.

In addition, the case often has to proceed to trial since judges are the ones who normally award punitive damages. However, if you have a skilled car accident lawyer, they may be able to negotiate punitive damages as part of your settlement.

Why Did the Insurance Company Say I Don’t Need to Retain a Lawyer?

The thing you need to remember is that insurance companies, whether yours or the other party’s, want to try to settle your damages claim for as little as possible. It is not uncommon for insurance companies to say they can settle your claim without you having to hire a car accident injuries lawyer.

However, this should be a warning sign that the insurance company may be trying to offer you far less than you are entitled to receive. To illustrate, let’s assume the insurance company dissuades you from hiring a lawyer. They tell you that you will have to pay 30% to a lawyer out of the $20,000 settlement they have offered.

This is where most people make a mistake. They stop and think that $20,000 is a good amount and why should they pay $6,000 to a lawyer and be left with $14,000? Yet, what would you say if you found out, after consulting with a car accident lawyer, the actual amount of damages you were entitled to receive was $200,000?

By hiring a car accident lawyer and paying them $60,000 for their help, you would still end up with $140,000. This is quite a big difference from the $20,000 you were initially offered for NOT hiring a lawyer.

Had you accepted the $20,000 and settled your injury claim, the insurance company would have saved $180,000 in damages they did not have to pay you. This is why insurance companies will tell people they do not need to retain a lawyer.

• Disclaimer: Please keep in mind the dollar amounts used here are for illustrative purposes only and do not imply the actual amount of damages you could seek or be awarded.

To find out the actual amount of damages you could seek for your motor vehicle accident, contact a Houston TX auto injury attorney at Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P. by calling 713-574-5089 today!