No one ever wakes up and expects to suddenly suffer a catastrophic injury. Your entire life could be affected by another party’s negligence or misconduct. Fortunately, there are legal options that may be available to you that will allow you to take that control of your life.
Although your injuries may be all-consuming, with help from an experienced Monroe catastrophic injury lawyer at John Foy & Associates, you can spend your time healing from your injuries while we fight for justice. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more about how much your catastrophic injury claim could be worth and what to expect from the personal injury claims process.
When Is an Injury Considered “Catastrophic”?
One of the top concerns people have after suffering a catastrophic injury is whether they are over-exaggerating the severity of their injuries. After all, no one suffering from a debilitating injury wants to be accused of attempting to pursue a frivolous claim.
However, it should be noted that the type of injury you are diagnosed with is not necessarily what determines whether your injury is considered “catastrophic“. A catastrophic injury is one that has a substantial impact on your life, however that may be.
This may be in the form of severe physical limitations, tremendous financial losses, or severe psychological trauma related to the accident or resulting injuries. For this reason, even if you have suffered an injury that another person may consider minor, it is worth your time to reach out to a catastrophic injury attorney in Monroe to find out what legal options may be available to you.
Examples of injuries that could warrant a catastrophic injury lawsuit include:
- Amputation
- Dismemberment
- Quadriplegia or paraplegia
- Spinal cord damage
- Broken bones and fractures
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Neck injuries
- Concussion
- Internal bleeding and organ failure
Fight for Maximum Compensation
It is important to recover maximum compensation for your damages when you have suffered a catastrophic injury. The entire purpose of pursuing a catastrophic injury claim is the ability to recover the compensation you are going to need to deal with the tremendous effects of your injuries.
This means you may need to be prepared to pursue the conversation you are entitled to across multiple avenues. You have the right to be repaid for every single loss. This does not only include compensation for your economic damages but your non-economic damages as well.
Economic Damages and Non-Economic Damages
Economic damages and non-economic damages are also commonly referred to as compensatory damages. These refer to the types of losses you are entitled to recover as part of your catastrophic injury claim. To ensure you are compensated fairly, your attorney will separate your losses into these categories to accurately calculate the value of your claim.
Economic damages are monetary, and non-economic damages describe how your life has been affected by your injuries. Examples of non-economic damages you could recover as part of your catastrophic injury claim in Monroe include:
- Chronic pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of consortium
- Diminished quality of life
- Disfigurement
- Dismemberment
- Skin scarring
- Reputational damage
- Inconvenience
- Shame
- Embarrassment
- Indignity
- Fear
- Shock
- Anticipation and apprehension
Examples of economic damages you could recover as part of your catastrophic injury lawsuit include:
- Loss of household services
- Lost wages
- Loss of future earnings and benefits, such as retirement savings contributions and paid time off
- Costs of your current and future medical care and equipment expenses
- The damage to your credit score and report
- Costs of increases to your auto or health insurance
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are not awarded as often as you might think. However, if the court system finds the defendant’s conduct to be intolerable or reprehensible in some way, they may impose punitive damages as a way of punishing them. When a court awards punitive damages, it sends a message to the community that the court system is not going to tolerate the defendant’s actions, nor will it allow similar actions to go unpunished in the future.
Although punitive damages could increase the amount of compensation you are awarded, it is important to remember that these are not compensatory losses, so you are not entitled to them as part of your injury settlement the same way you are entitled to economic damages and non-economic damages.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Claim
If you hope to maximize your compensation following a catastrophic injury in Monroe, you need to be prepared to file insurance claims and bring your case to court. Although it is possible to settle your claim without having to go to court, in the vast majority of instances, insurance settlements simply do not adequately meet a victim’s needs.
This is, in part, because the amount of compensation you can be awarded from an insurance settlement is entirely based on the amount of coverage purchased by the policyholder. Since Georgia is a no-fault state, this means the amount of coverage purchased by the defendant in your case will determine how much compensation you are awarded.
If the defendant only purchased the minimum amount of $25,000 of bodily injury liability coverage, but your medical expenses exceed $100,000, anything over $25,000 the insurance company won’t cover. For this reason, you should always be ready to bring your catastrophic injury case to court if you hope to get the most out of your claim.
Although bringing your case to court can seem overwhelming, doing so increases the likelihood that you will be able to recover your damages in their entirety, without the limitations of an insurance settlement.
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Speak with a Catastrophic Injury Lawyer in Monroe Today
Are you interested in holding the at-fault party accountable to the fullest extent of the law after you were critically injured by their negligence? Learn more about the insurance and civil claims process when you contact a dedicated Monroe catastrophic injury lawyer at John Foy & Associates for help.
Our firm is proudly offering free consultations to catastrophic injury victims across Monroe and surrounding cities. Claim yours by filling out our quick contact form or calling our office today.
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