If you’ve been injured due to someone else’s negligence in Missouri, you have the right to seek compensation for your losses. In legal terms, these losses are referred to as “damages.” Understanding the different types of damages available in a Missouri personal injury case is crucial to understanding the potential value of your claim. At Sticklen & Sticklen, we want to ensure you are informed about your rights and what types of compensation you may be entitled to pursue.
In Missouri personal injury law, damages are broadly categorized into two main types: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages: Quantifiable Financial Losses
Economic damages are intended to compensate you for the actual financial losses you have incurred and will incur due to your injuries. These are tangible losses that can be easily calculated and documented. Common examples of economic damages include:
- Medical Expenses: This is often the most significant category of economic damages. It includes past medical bills (doctor visits, hospital stays, surgeries, medications, physical therapy, etc.) and estimated future medical expenses related to your injury.
- Lost Wages: If your injuries have caused you to miss time from work, you can recover lost income. This includes past lost wages and compensation for future lost earning capacity if your injuries prevent you from working in the same capacity as before the accident.
- Property Damage: If your property was damaged in the accident (e.g., vehicle damage in a car accident), you can recover the costs of repair or replacement.
- Other Out-of-Pocket Expenses: This can include costs directly related to your injury, such as:
- Assistive devices (wheelchairs, crutches, etc.)
- Home modifications to accommodate your injury
- Transportation costs to medical appointments
- Prescription medications
To recover economic damages, it’s essential to keep detailed records and documentation of all your financial losses, such as medical bills, pay stubs, repair estimates, and receipts.
Non-Economic Damages: Addressing Intangible Losses
Non-economic damages are designed to compensate you for the more subjective, intangible losses you’ve experienced due to your injuries. These damages are harder to quantify in monetary terms but are equally real and significant. Examples of non-economic damages include:
- Pain and Suffering: This covers the physical pain and emotional distress you have endured and will continue to experience as a result of your injuries. This can include chronic pain, discomfort, and limitations on your physical activities.
- Emotional Distress: Accidents and injuries can cause significant emotional trauma. Emotional distress damages can compensate you for anxiety, depression, fear, grief, and other psychological impacts of the accident and your injuries.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life: If your injuries have diminished your ability to participate in hobbies, activities, and aspects of life you once enjoyed, you may be compensated for this loss.
- Disfigurement and Scarring: Injuries that result in permanent disfigurement or scarring can have a significant emotional and psychological impact. Non-economic damages can address this loss.
- Loss of Consortium: In cases of severe injury, a spouse may be able to recover damages for the loss of companionship, intimacy, and services provided by their injured spouse.
Calculating non-economic damages is more complex than economic damages, as there is no direct financial bill or receipt. Factors considered often include the severity of your injuries, the duration of your pain and suffering, the impact on your daily life, and Missouri precedents in similar cases.
Seeking Fair Compensation with Sticklen & Sticklen
Understanding the difference between economic and non-economic damages is a vital step in understanding your rights after a personal injury in Missouri. Insurance companies may try to minimize both types of damages, especially non-economic losses which are more subjective.
At Sticklen & Sticklen, we are committed to helping our clients understand all aspects of damages they may be entitled to recover. We will thoroughly assess your case, gather evidence to support both your economic and non-economic losses, and fight to ensure you receive the full and fair compensation you deserve under Missouri law.
If you’ve been injured in an accident due to someone else’s negligence, don’t hesitate to contact Sticklen & Sticklen for a free consultation. We can help you understand the damages you may be entitled to pursue and guide you through the process of seeking justice and compensation.