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Money
Damages •Pain and Suffering: Often, the most valuable element of your bodily injury claim is the right to collect money for the physical pain and mental anguish you have suffered and will endure in the future because of your injuries. •Medical Expenses: These include the cost of all reasonable and necessary medical expenses that you incur and that you are reasonably certain to incur in the future because of your injuries. These include expenses for all forms of care and treatment, including hospital, medical, therapy, nursing, diagnostic testing, surgery, physical rehabilitation and pain management. •Loss of Earnings: You are entitled to recover the loss of earnings suffered because of your injuries. This means you can recover money equal to your wages, commissions, bonuses and all other earnings and fringe benefits such as insurance benefits. •Future Loss of Earnings: If your injuries limit your ability to earn money in the future, you can recover the value of the reduction in your earning capacity. These damages pay you for your lost earning power until the end of your working years. •Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Living a full life involves more than earning a paycheck. It means interacting with family and friends and experiencing the ordinary pleasures of life. You are entitled to be compensated for the loss of or impairment to activities and functions you were able to engage in before your injury such as social, sports and recreational activities. •Death: Damages for "wrongful death" are available to the deceased person's wife, husband and children -- or the next of kin, if there is no surviving spouse or children. Damages are not limited to loss of expected income. You may collect damages for loss of the deceased person's services, protection, care, assistance, society, companionship, comfort, guidance, counsel and advice. Damages are also available for any conscious pain and suffering the deceased person may have experienced prior to death. In addition, punitive damages are available to punish the wrongdoer. •Punitive Damages: Compensatory damages do not always fully compensate a person in certain situations. Therefore, the law allows for the recovery of punitive damages. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish the wrongdoer for certain kinds of serious misconduct and to deter future acts of misconduct. In Massachusetts, punitive damages are allowed in personal injury cases only if specifically provided for by statute such as the wrongful death statute. •Disfigurement: If the injury causes scarring or other unsightly disfigurement, you are entitled to recover for the disfigurement and the humiliation or embarrassment caused by the disfigurement. •Aggravated Pre-Existing Condition: If the injury results in the aggravation of a pre-existing condition, then you are entitled to recover for all damages that result from the aggravated condition. •Damage to the Family Relationship: Serious injuries to a spouse may cause damage to the marital relationship. If this occurs, you are entitled to recover for the loss of society, love, affection, care, assistance, companionship and any loss or impairment of marital relations. Parents may also recover for their losses caused by injuries to their children. •Damage to Your Personal Property: You are entitled to be "made whole" for any damage to your personal property. For example, in a motor vehicle accident, if your vehicle can be repaired, you are entitled to recover the reasonable cost of restoring your vehicle to the condition it was in before the collision. If the repair costs are more than the value of your vehicle (a "total loss"), you are entitled to recover the value of your vehicle before it was damaged. Let
us Know if we can help. *Note: This is a general statement of the law and is not intended to be all inclusive. You should always consult with an experienced lawyer about your specific case. |
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