The Two Main Types of Compensation In A Personal Injury Settlement

Someone that has filed a personal injury claim must face the losses that resulted from an injury-causing accident. Hence, that claimant deserves to be compensated for those same losses. The money used to cover those losses/damages could qualify as one or 2 types of compensation as per personal injury lawyer in Barrie.

Some of the money would fall under the heading of special damages.

Those funds cover economic losses, i.e., the damages that can be calculated with relative ease. Medical costs are one part of the special damages. Claimants can use their medical bills to prove the size and extent of their medical costs.

The income that the claimant lost while recovering from the injury represents another part of the special damages. The claimant’s boss must provide confirmation of the fact that the injury kept the employee/claimant from doing his or her job. If there had been any property damage, then that would also get categorized as special damages.

Some of the money would fall under the heading of general damages.

Those are non-economic damages. The value of general damages cannot be determined with any level of mathematical certainty. Below are the types of problems that could cause a claimant to seek compensation for general damages

-Pain and suffering: The claimant must prove that the pain is both real and of obvious significance. Claimants that have managed to keep a journal or diary should find it easier to produce such a proof.

-Emotional trauma and its effect on the claimant’s daily life. Sometimes an injury’s effect produces a disruption of the affected victim’s life. An illustration of that possible situation could come from consideration of the challenges that would face a person that had to rely on a wheelchair to move about during the day.

What claimants should know about the delivery of compensation that has been promised by a settlement?

Delivery of the compensation takes place fairly quickly, if the liability of the opposing party has been firmly established. The insurance company asks the claimant that has agreed to the settlement to sign a release form. That signed form relieves the insurance company of the need to cover the costs that might arise from any new symptom or any complication.

The demand for a signed release form underscores the reason that personal injury lawyers in Barrie always urge their clients to delay settling until their doctor has said that their recovery has carried them to the stage of maximum medical improvement (MMI).

If a claimant had focused on recovery of money for property damage, and had assumed the absence of any injuries, that assumption could work to the insurance company’s advantage. A signed release form would free the insurer of the need to cover the cost of any slow-to-appear symptoms.