What are the types of damages in personal injury cases in Oregon and Washington State?
The following are some damages in personal injury. We can help you recover money for your Oregon or Washington personal injury case:
GENERAL DAMAGES:
Also called “non-economic damages” are generally limited to such non-economic losses as:
- Physical pain and suffering.
- Emotional distress or mental suffering.
- Inconvenience.
- Loss of society.
- Loss of consortium.
SPECIAL DAMAGES:
Also called “economic damages”, special damages are provable out-of-pocket losses you can and must document. They include:
- Loss of wages – This is the pay that an injured person will lose while they are recovering from their injuries. So if they get a note from their doctor saying that they can’t work for a month, for example, and their employer does not pay them for that month, then they will be compensated for those lost wages if they get a recovery for those damages.
- Loss of future income – future wages, also supported by a doctor’s opinion.
- Loss of earning capacity – recovery of the difference of money paid for a job you lost from the accident and your new job.
- Past medical bills.
- Future medical bills.
- Wrongful death.
- Funeral and burial expenses.
- Loss of business opportunity/loss of employment.
- Property losses – car damage; child car seat damage; trailer damages; damage to tangible things in your car.
- Property repair and replacement.
- Substitute domestic services.
PUNITIVE DAMAGES:
- Despicable conduct.
- Fraud and malice.
- Conscious disregard for the safety of others.
- Oppression.
DEFINITIONS OF GENERAL DAMAGES TERMS
What do some of these terms mean? Here are some common damages we work with:
PHYSICAL PAIN AND SUFFERING
After you have completed your medical care after your car accident, you will receive a check from the other driver’s insurance company for your pain and suffering. The amount of money you get in a settlement depends upon many factors, some of which include:
- The amount of your car accident medical bills and the type of injury you suffered.
- Whether you are lawyer represented.
- The duration of your medical care.
- The severity of the4 car accident, i.e., how serious was the crash and what was the amount of repairs for your car.
- Whether there were aggravating factors, such as whether the at fault driver was drunk, or was cited at the crash scene by police.
EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
You can recover damages for emotional distress, but only if you also received a physical injury. You are more likely to get an emotional distress settlement if you received counseling by a mental health therapist or other professional. Other facts on recovering emotional distress money include
- How serious was the car accident.
- Was there something you saw in the crash which was alarming, horrific, or gruesome.
INCONVENIENCE
This is a catch-all phrase that ties into the pain and suffering settlement. You need an injury to recover money for being inconvenienced. It’s rare that the insurer will give you money without claiming an injury.
LOSS OF SOCIETY
You can recover money in death claims for the loss of your family member. The amount depends on the strength of the bond and duration of the ties between the family members. You can only recover money for loss of society if it is a close family relationship – husband, wife, parent or child.
LOSS OF CONSORTIUM
You can receive money if you’re married and your spouse was injured, and this injury prevented or interfered with your sexual relationship. Consortium settlements are rare and usually it takes a serious injury to your spouse for you to obtain a recovery.
Contact Todd Peterson
To get all the money you deserve for your accident, begin by filling out this short form. Please specify whether your accident happened in Oregon or Washington State, and give some brief details in the comments.
After sending the form, you’ll be taken to a second page where if you wish, you can share all the details of your accident in one convenient place.
Once I see your information, I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can. If you can’t wait, or you want to speak to someone immediately, phone 503-280-0888 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
