Types of Damages
Compensatory Damages
The word "compensate" means "to offset an error or undesirable
effect". Compensatory damages, therefore, are meant to make up
for an injury sustained by an individual. There are two basic
types of compensatory damages: actual and general. Actual damages
reimburse an individual for funds paid out-of-pocket for medical
treatments, lost wages, substitute transportation, property replacement
or repair, and rehabilitation. An accident victim can also sue
for general damages, which include estimates of loss not involving
actual monetary expenditure. Mental anguish, disfigurement, future
medical expenses, future lost wages, long-term pain and suffering,
loss of consortium, and loss of opportunity are all examples
of general damages.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are meant to punish a defendant for acts of
gross negligence or intentional misconduct that cause personal
injury to the plaintiff. They are not calculated by the extent
of the actual injury, but rather are meant to prevent the defendant
or others in similar situations from allowing or causing the
same sort of accident to happen in the future. For example, if
a person intentionally runs an automobile into a pedestrian,
punitive damages may be appropriate.
Nominal Damages
In a case where the evidence of actual damages is slight, the
courts may still choose to award the plaintiff a small sum of
money to acknowledge that he or she was legally wronged by the
defendant. These nominal damages may only be sought in intentional
tort cases where a physical injury to the plaintiff is not required
for a defendant to be found guilty. If the tort committed is
battery, for example, the defendant may indeed have shoved the
plaintiff in an offensive manner but without causing physical
injury. The plaintiff may then be awarded a minimal amount of
nominal damages.
Court Costs and Attorney's Fees
If a personal injury case is settled in favor of the plaintiff,
he or she may also have recourse to recover some of the expenses
of taking the case to court. These court costs would include
filing and process server fees, obtaining deposition and court
transcripts, and payment to translators. There are some instances
in which a plaintiff may also be able to recover attorney and
expert witness fees, but this is not as common.
What You Need To Know:
Insurance companies' obligations are to their stockholders and
policy holders, not to the people injured by their insured's
negligence. Insurance companies' desire to maximize their own
profits provides them with every motivation to try to deny your
claim or pay you the very minimum amount that they can get away
with. The insurance companies also have enormous advantages:
they have immense wealth, armies of experienced adjusters and
lawyers and years of experience reducing and denying claims.
At the Law Office of Stephen A. Burroughs,
our only obligation is to you, our client. We will use our experience
and every resource available to protect your interests, and we
will work hard to help you receive the full value for your case.
We will advise you every step of the way to help you avoid any
mistakes that could cost you money. There is no charge for attorney's
fees until you recover money for your personal injuries, and
we will also help you resolve your property damage claims for
no fee whatsoever. For assistance, call today at 1-877-300-3773, contact
us or submit
an free online case evaluation.
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