A victim of a personal injury accident, such as a car, motorcycle, or slip and fall accident, can experience long-term damages due to the impact of their severe injury. A personal injury incident can cause a traumatic injury, such as a broken bone, neck injury, or traumatic brain injury (TBI), that could cause pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium. These are non-economic damages that reflect how a personal injury victim’s standard of living is affected by a severe injury from a personal injury accident.
If you suffered from a personal injury accident, a personal injury lawyer could help you file a personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company to pursue compensation for non-economic damages. A personal injury lawyer can speak to medical experts to project your pain and suffering costs, determine the at-fault party, and negotiate a fair settlement with the liable party’s insurer to pay for non-economic damages.
What are Non-Economic Damages?
Non-economic damages are those from personal injury claims that are intangible, meaning they do not have a specific economic value. They have to do with the emotional, mental, and psychological impact of a severe injury caused by a negligent party. Your quality of life can be diminished following a personal injury incident by physical pain and suffering, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression from being unable to live life the same as before.
The following are some of the personal injury incidents that can cause non-economic damages:
- Car accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Trucking accidents
- Bus accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Boating accidents
- Lyft accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Product liability
- Medical malpractice
- Social media harm
- Defective drugs
- Defective medical devices
- Nursing home abuse
- Premise liability
Pain and Suffering Caused by Severe Injuries from Personal Injury Incidents
Pain and suffering from a personal injury accident refers to the physical discomfort and emotional injuries that a victim has to live within the aftermath of the accident. A severe injury from a personal injury incident will not just affect a victim for a couple of days. They will likely have to live with the pain, and their traumatic memories will serve as a reminder of the accident.
For example, let’s say you are involved in a distracted driving car accident. A driver rear-ends you, which results in your head striking the steering wheel and a traumatic brain injury (TBI). After the accident, you will have to handle the physical pain of the TBI, which can cause persistent headaches. Traumatic brain injuries can also result in memory problems, depression, and sleeping difficulties that can make life harder on a daily basis. In this situation, you could pursue pain and suffering damages in a car accident claim.
Personal Injury Accidents Resulting in Loss of Enjoyment of Life
The psychological and mental impact of a personal injury can lead to a loss of enjoyment of life. This is when the pain and trauma of a severe injury can affect the standard of living for a personal injury victim. They get less enjoyment from things than they did before the injury. For example, someone may enjoy going on walks in their spare time. However, if they suffer a severe knee injury, they will not be able to enjoy walks due to the pain in their knee.
Loss of Consortium Caused by Personal Injury Incidents
A personal injury incident can also affect your social relationships, as the pain of your severe injury can affect your ability to provide and receive love, affection, and companionship. Loss of consortium is a non-economic damage in a personal injury claim that refers to the deprivation of benefits from a relationship caused by a personal injury. A personal injury victim cannot receive the benefits of a familial or intimate relationship, such as affection, love, companionship, or sexual intimacy.
Depression and anxiety can result from a personal injury accident, both of which can make holding social relationships a challenge. Diminished quality of life can lead to sour attitudes that can lead to alienation. Physical pain and suffering can also cause people to not want or be able to go out, as well as engage in physically intimate activities.
How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Help With You Pursue Compensation for Non-Economic Damages?
Hiring a personal injury lawyer can help with the process of pursuing compensation for non-economic damages. They have the proper personal injury claims process experience required to put you in the best position to recover fair compensation for your damages.
Calculating non-economic damages can be tricky, as how it is done can vary based on the severity of the damages and what state the claim takes place in. An experienced personal injury lawyer can properly take into account how your quality of life has diminished due to a personal injury accident and hold the liable party accountable for their negligent behavior that caused your suffering.
The following are some of the ways a personal injury lawyer can help you recover compensation for non-economic damages:
- Assess your current and future non-economic damages
- Determine who caused the personal injury accident through negligent behavior
- Draft and send the demand letter to the liable party’s insurance provider
- Collect evidence to prove your non-economic damages were caused by the at-fault party
- Interview witnesses and experts to help strengthen your personal injury claim
- Negotiate with the at-fault party’s insurance company
- Represent you in court
Contact The Russo Firm for Help With Your Personal Injury Claim
The personal injury lawyers at The Russo Firm can assist you in calculating and pursuing compensation for non-economic damages like the ones outlined above. We have connections with medical experts that can help to accurately calculate the cost of your pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and mental anguish. We can also use personalized legal counsel and our vast resources to help you pursue compensation for economic damages, like medical bills, lost wages, and property damage.
At The Russo Firm, we offer free consultations to show personal injury victims how we can help them recover compensation for non-economic damages. Contact us at (561) 270-0913 or leave a message on our online contact page.
