Many people have heard the legal term damages, but do not understand what the word means. Understanding this term is important for anyone who has suffered a personal injury because the legal definition of damages differs from the everyday definition of damages.
What Does Damages Normally Mean?
Normally, the term damages refers to physical harm that impacts something’s value or usefulness. In the context of a car accident, damages might mean the property damage that a vehicle experienced as a result of the accident or the actual physical harm that a person received dut to an injury.
What Does Damages Mean in Legal Terms?
However, when Personal Injury Lawyers Huntington WV discuss damages, they are using the legal meaning of the term. In that context, it means the monetary value that is placed on the harm or the decrease in value that is attributable to a harmful event.
What Type of Damages Are Available?
Although not available in all scenarios, there are several different types of damages available to a person seeking compensation for an injury.
- Medical bills.
- This often not only refers to the medical bills that a person had to pay in the immediate aftermath of an accident, but also to the estimated cost of future medical bills that will occur as a result of the personal injury.
- Lost wages.
- This refers specifically to time missed from work as a result of a personal injury.
- Loss of future earnings.
- Many times, a person’s ability to work may be altered because of a personal injury. Loss of future earnings refers to the difference between what a person should have been able to earn and their new post-injury projected earnings.
- Pain and suffering.
- These damages attempt to put a monetary value on the pain that a person experiences.
- Future costs.
- These damages refer to costs that will be the result of the injury but are not otherwise covered. For example, if an injury left a person in a wheelchair, the cost to modify their home to make it wheelchair-friendly would be part of future expenses.
- Punitive Damages.
- These are damages that are intended to punish the wrongdoer.
Find Out More
Click Here to contact the Personal Injury Lawyers Huntington WV at Stapleton Law Offices and find out more about damages for personal injuries.
