If you were injured in an accident, you may start to accumulate various types of losses, including property repairs, medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. Some of these damages are economic damages, while others fall into other categories.
Economic damages refer to tangible, measurable financial losses that can be documented with bills, receipts, or pay stubs. They are meant to restore you to your financial position before the accident occurred.
The Role of Damages in Personal Injury Cases
If you are injured in a car accident, truck accident, dog bite incident, or another event caused by someone else’s negligence, you may have the right to file a personal injury claim against them.
Personal injury cases seek financial compensation from someone who was negligent or otherwise legally responsible for causing an injury to someone else. Courts can’t undo the harm done, so their only relief is to order the defendant to compensate the victim.
Types of Damages Awarded in Personal Injury Cases
Damages in Tennessee personal injury cases generally fall into one of the following categories:
Economic Damages
Economic or special damages refer to losses that have a quantifiable value, such as medical expenses. Courts award economic damages to assist victims in covering financial costs directly tied to the accident. Plaintiffs generally provide bills and invoices to establish the value of these monetary losses.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic or general damages refer to losses that are not easy to quantify, such as pain and suffering. Courts award these types of damages to acknowledge that not all effects of an accident are so objective or tied to a specific dollar amount.
A victim’s statements regarding their pain or statements from witnesses who can detail how the accident changed the victim’s life can help establish the existence of these damages.
Punitive Damages
Economic and non-economic damages combined are referred to as compensatory damages because they are intended to compensate the victim. Punitive damages have another objective: to punish the wrongdoer.
Punitive damages in Tennessee are reserved for cases in which the defendant acted maliciously, intentionally, fraudulently, or recklessly.
Most Common Types of Economic Damages
Some of the most common types of economic damages included in Tennessee personal injury claims include the following:
Medical Expenses Related to Emergency Care
After an accident, a victim may seek emergency care and be billed for services such as:
- Ambulance rides
- Emergency department evaluation
- Hospital stays
- X-rays, blood tests, MRI scans, and other diagnostic tests
- Surgery costs
Patients can keep these bills to indicate the costs of their losses.
Ongoing Medical Treatment
Some injury victims may require extensive recovery. They may incur costs for rehabilitation and therapy, and they can request payment for these services.
Future Medical Expenses
Personal injury victims can seek compensation for their past medical bills and future medical expenses they reasonably anticipate incurring.
Lost Wages
Injury victims may miss work to seek medical treatment or recover from their injuries. They can also seek compensation for their lost income.
Reduced Earning Capacity
If the accident caused the victim to suffer a permanent disability or impaired them so that it affected their job, the injury victim could seek compensation for a reduction or loss of their earning capacity.
Property Damage
Accident victims can seek compensation for the costs of repairing their damaged vehicle. If the repair costs exceed the vehicle’s fair market value, you can seek compensation to replace the vehicle. If other personal property was damaged in the accident, you can also seek compensation for those losses.
Funeral Expenses
In wrongful death cases, payment can be provided for funeral expenses and burial costs.
Is There a Limit on How Much I Can Recover in Economic Damages?
No. Tennessee law does not limit how much compensation you can recover for economic damages. However, there is a limit to the amount of non-economic damages, which is $750,000.
How Much Are My Economic Damages Worth?
Your personal injury lawyer can help prove the value of your damages with evidence such as:
- Medical bills that indicate the cost of your initial medical treatment
- Testimony from medical experts about anticipated future medical treatment
- Invoices or receipts from body shops for car repairs
- The blue book value of your damaged vehicle
- Check stubs or letters from your employer regarding how much income you lost while you were recovering from your injuries
- Reports from vocational or economic experts about how the injuries will likely affect your long-term earning capacity
- Invoices for funeral costs and burial expenses
Our Tennessee personal injury attorneys can help compile information about your damages and seek maximum compensation on your behalf.
Contact the Nashville Personal Injury Lawyers at Meyers Personal Injury Law for Help Today
If someone else’s negligence caused your injury, you deserve to be fairly compensated for the full extent of your losses. Meyers Personal Injury Law is here to help. Our Nashville personal injury attorneys can review your case for free and discuss your legal options.
Call us today at (615) 258-9000 for your free consultation.
