How to Recover Compensatory Damages For Your Injury

Experiencing a sudden, serious injury is painful and traumatic. When the injury could have been prevented if someone else hadn’t been careless or reckless, it’s even more distressing.

After the initial pain and shock of the injury have subsided, you may find yourself facing additional anxiety when your medical expenses begin adding up, and your injury prevents you from returning to work in your former capacity, either temporarily or permanently. These adverse consequences of an injury are the “damages” in a personal injury claim.

A Renton personal injury lawyer carefully calculates compensatory damages before filing your claim.

What Is the Process for Recovering Compensatory Damages?

Washington is a fault-based injury state with a pure comparative negligence system. Under RCW 4.22.070, the law states the following:

“If the trier of fact determines that the claimant or party suffering bodily injury or incurring property damages was not at fault, the defendants against whom judgment is entered shall be jointly and severally liable for the sum of their proportionate shares of the claimant’s total damages.”

In other words, an injury victim who isn’t at fault for their injury can seek compensation for their damages from the party at fault for their accident or injury. Typically, they do so through the appropriate insurance policy; for instance, the at-fault party’s car accident insurance after an auto accident or commercial liability insurance after a slip-and-fall in a store.

If multiple entities cause or contribute to an injury, the injury victim can recover compensation from all liable parties. An example of this occurs in car accidents caused by drivers who swerve to avoid a pothole and hit another car. Both the driver who swerved and the negligent road maintenance agency could be held liable for the motorist’s injuries.

If the injury victim contributed to their injury, the insurance company deducts the injury victim’s percentage of fault from the total amount they pay out for compensatory damages.

Common Damages Recovered In Compensation Claims

Compensatory damages are the losses experienced by an injury victim as a result of an injury caused by someone else’s negligence. These include both economic damages, such as:

• Medical expenses
• Future medical expenses
• Out-of-pocket costs
• Lost earnings
• Future income loss
• Reduced future earning ability (due to disability)

These tangible damages are relatively easy to calculate. Less easily calculated are non-economic compensatory damages, such as the following:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and loss of enjoyment of life
• Catastrophic injury damages for permanent scarring, loss of limb, organ loss, loss of one of the senses, or diminished quality of life

Personal injury attorneys use a formula based on medical expenses, pain level, and duration of pain and suffering to calculate non-economic compensatory damages.

How Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Help Recover Damages?

Insurance companies require compelling evidence of their policyholder’s liability and the injury victim’s damages before they will offer a settlement for compensatory damages. After a car accident, slip-and-fall injury, medical malpractice, or other personal injury, a personal injury attorney in Renton will do the following:

• Conducts an independent investigation to compile evidence of the at-fault party’s liability
• Carefully calculates all past and future compensatory damages caused by the injury
• Presents their findings to the insurance company
• Negotiates with insurance adjusters and injury attorneys for the defendant and/or the insurer to achieve the maximum settlement available to the injury victim
• Obtains an ample settlement, or takes the claim to court if the insurance company wrongfully denies, undervalues, or delays action on the claim

Only about 4% of personal injury claims go to court. Most cases are resolved through a settlement, especially when the injury victim has experienced legal representation on their side throughout the process.

How Can a Renton Personal Injury Attorney Help My Case?

If you’ve been hurt through someone else’s actions or negligence, you may have the right to recover compensatory damages. Contact the Renton personal injury lawyers from Caffee Accident & Injury Lawyers at (206) 312-0954 today to learn more about your rights and options for financial recovery.