Making an Injury Claim for Burns and Scars after an Accident in Georgia

Skin burns and scarring can cause a lot of physical and emotional pain. Serious burns can even be fatal or substantially impact a victim’s quality of life. It’s even harder if the burns and scars were the result of an accident someone else caused.

If you are dealing with burn injuries causing pain, scarring, or disfigurement, you may be able to make an injury claim for compensation of medical costs and other damages.

Types of Accidents Causing Burns and Scars in Georgia

Burns and scarring can happen during any type of personal injury accident, including:

• Car, truck, or bus accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Workplace accidents
• Defective products or equipment
• Flammable materials
• Scarring from a dog bite

Any accident that may involve fires or serious injuries can leave a personal injury victim with painful burns and scars that persist for the rest of his or her life.

In Georgia, if someone else caused the accident that led to the burns and scars, they may be legally liable for all your damages. And burns and scarring can leave you with significant medical bills, emotional suffering, and other losses.

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The Severity of Burn Injuries and Scarring After an Accident

Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and damage to that organ that be extreme or even fatal. Since burns and scarring can cause a lot of pain and suffering on top of the costs of treatment, burn injury claims can be worth a substantial amount.

Burn injuries can leave you at risk of infection, long-term disability, permanent scars, chronic pain, and extreme disfigurement affecting how you present yourself to the world. Treatment can take a long time and rack of tens of thousands of dollars (or more) in medical costs.

This is why it’s so crucial to build a strong injury claim for compensation of damages from your accident. We highly recommend contacting an experienced Atlanta burn injury lawyer who can help you navigate the legal process as you recover.

Making an Injury Claim for Burns and Scars After an Accident in Georgia

To make a personal injury claim for your burn injuries and scars after a Georgia accident, you will need to prove that:

• The person who caused the accident had a “duty of care” to you.
• They breached that duty of care, meaning they were negligent.
• Their negligence directly caused your injuries.
• The damages you are claiming result from their negligence.

An experienced lawyer can help you gather evidence for all of the above and negotiate with the insurance company if they pushback against your claims (which is highly likely).

What if the Accident Happened at Work?

If your burns and scarring were caused by an accident at work, you would likely need to file a worker’s compensation claim instead and inform a good workers compensation lawyer of your accident as soon as possible.

Damages You Can Recover from an Injury Claim for Burns and Scars in Georgia

You can include any damages resulting from your burn injuries in your insurance claim. Those include both general and special damages:

• Special damages are costs with a clear monetary amount like medical expenses, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and property damage.
• General damages are intangible losses that are not easily calculable, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, or loss of reputation.

Since burn injuries and scarring can be so emotionally difficult to deal with, it’s common for the victim to have a large amount of both special and general damages.

If the negligent person caused your accident through malicious intent or wantonness (basically, if they were exercising negligence way beyond average carelessness), you may be awarded punitive damages. These damages are meant to punish and discourage wrongdoing and are generally very large when awarded.

Factors that Affect an Injury Claim for Burns and Scars

The value of your injury claim will depend on factors like:

• The degree of fault
• How severe your burns were
• The extent of your scarring
• The value of all your damages

If you held some responsibility for the accident that caused your burns, your damages may be reduced based on your degree of fault. However, do not admit any fault or blame yourself until you’ve spoken to a lawyer and know all the facts.

There are different degrees of burn injuries, as well:

• Third degree burns are considered catastrophic injuries because they cover over 10% of the body and can greatly reduce your ability to work and enjoy life as before. They also require long-term, costly treatments.
• Second degree burns are still serious but involve less than 10% of the body.
• First degree burns tend to be minor, although you still may have a valid claim if you suffer from them.

More serious burns are also likely to cause severe scarring, and both can affect your quality of life long-term.

Sometimes, your claim is also impacted by the experience of your personal injury lawyer. That’s why it’s so important to work with someone who understands Georgia injury claims for burns and scars and knows what the insurance company is looking for in your claim.

Talk to an Atlanta Burn Injury Lawyer for Free Today

If you suffered burns and scars from an injury in Georgia, our lawyers at John Foy & Associates can help. We’ve been assisting personal injury victims with their claims for over 20 years, and we don’t take a fee unless we win you money. For a FREE consultation, call us today or visit our contact page.