*The following is not legal advice—for a thorough analysis of your case’s value, call our firm today.
Personal injury claims are intended to provide for the costs that an injury incurs.
These costs fall into two different categories: economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are fairly easy to calculate, as they are naturally quantifiable. Non-economic damages are slightly more difficult to manage, as they attempt to provide compensation for abstract concepts like pain, suffering, and companionship.
The damages covered by personal injury claims include:
- Lost wages
- Medical expenses
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Anxiety and stress
- Lost earning potential
- Future medical costs
- The difficulty of daily living
- Renovation to accommodate injury
When it comes to calculating damages your Austin car accident case, consider your present medical expenses and current lost wages first. These are easily provable through documentation. Now consider the long-term medical costs of your injury.
Will you require physical therapy or medication? Equipment (e.g. wheelchairs)?
If counseling or emotional therapy is necessary, how much will that cost? You will want to calculate the annual costs of your future medical expenses and multiply it by the remaining years of your expected lifespan, given that you live a full life.
If your injury has potentially affected your life expectancy, do not take that into consideration—assume you will live an average lifespan.
Consider your earnings. If you are unable to work or no longer able to work at the same capacity, calculate how much your yearly income will now be. Subtract that from the income you would have earned in full health, and multiply that by the remaining years of life expectancy. This is your estimated lost income for the rest of your life. Include raises and promotions if you had reasonable cause to expect them.
When you add all these together, you have a fairly rough estimate of how much your case is worth pertaining to economic damages. For severe, life-changing injuries, this amount may be multiplied to compensate for your mental anguish and daily struggle as you adjust to a new life. However, do not depend too much on this figure: our firm would work with experts to account for inflation, ensuring that your future is truly taken care of.
For a truly accurate analysis of your case’s worth, speak with an Austin personal injury attorney. Contact the firm of FVF, LLP.
