Car accidents can quickly get expensive. Even a light tap on your vehicle’s bumper can end up emptying your bank account. You’re pretty sure you can recover some compensation for your damages but you don’t know how to get started. An Ohio car wreck attorney can help you navigate the insurance claim process. 

Your Columbus accident lawyer can even go over which damages you can list on your injury claim. This way, you can start recovering financially after your car wreck. After all, there’s no reason to get stuck paying for damages out of your pocket.

Types of Damages Often Recoverable in a Personal Injury Claim

Before we get started looking at potential recoverable damages, it’s important to note that every personal injury claim is different. Your claim may include all of the following damages or only a few. You should also know you can only claim losses that apply directly to your accident. 

If you list non-applicable damages, you may be guilty of committing insurance fraud. This can not only result in an automatic claim denial by the insurance company but you may also be facing criminal charges.  With that being said, here are some of the common damages included in personal injury claims.

Damages or losses from an accident are typically divided into three categories, economic, non-economic, and punitive. However, punitive damages are a little different. You can’t claim this type of damage since it’s only awarded by the court in specific circumstances.

Economic Damages

If you can’t claim any economic damages you probably don’t have grounds for filing a personal injury claim. This doesn’t discount your non-economic losses, only highlights the importance of economic damages.

Claims that only list non-economic damages generally move to the lawsuit stage. This means your claim heads straight to an Ohio civil court.

Your economic damages are tangible. This means the losses have a defined monetary value. You can look at bills, receipts, and estimates to determine the value of these damages. This also makes it easy to calculate the value. You simply add up the expenses.

Your economic damages typically include any medical costs relating to the accident. This includes exams, testing, diagnosis, surgeries, and prescriptions. Your rehabilitation therapy, if necessary, can also be covered. If long-term care is required, this counts as economic damage.

Most injury claims aren’t limited to medical expenses. Economic damages can also include your property repair or replacement costs. You may also be able to claim lost wages if your injuries prevent you from returning to work. If you’re unable to return to work or are forced to accept a lower-paying position due to your injuries sustained in the accident, your claim can also include lost future earnings.

Before you can list any economic loss on an insurance claim, you’ll need to provide supporting documentation. For medical expenses, this means supplying copies of your health records. Lost income requires pay stubs and other financial statements like bank account information. Your property damage claim should include all bills, receipts, and estimates.

Non-Economic Damages

Economic damages are standard on most accident insurance claims. Your economic losses are often what prompt you to engage with the at-fault party’s insurance. Your non-economic damages are just as crucial, unfortunately, they’re also harder to prove and evaluate.

So, what are non-economic damages? These are intangible losses that typically include your pain, suffering, and mental anguish. Loss of life enjoyment is another commonly named non-economic damage. So, how do you place a price on something that’s personal and only holds value to you?

Since you don’t have any bills or receipts to work with, determining the value of non-economic damages requires a little creativity. Thankfully, the courts and insurance companies recognize this difficulty and allow you to fall back on one of two methods.

You can use either the per diem or multiplier methods. Both are accepted by the courts and insurance companies. The per diem method takes your average daily wage and multiplies it by the number of days your injuries caused pain and suffering. So, if your injuries caused you to miss work for 30 days, you take this number and multiply it by your daily pay rate,

The multiplier method takes the total of your economic damages and multiplies this by a number assigned to denote your pain and suffering. The number typically ranges from 1.5 to 5. The higher the number, the greater your pain and suffering.

Punitive Damages May Be Possible

Punitive damages are only awarded by a judge or jury, meaning your injury claim must go to an Ohio civil court. There aren’t any exceptions. Just because you’re pursuing a personal injury claim in court, also doesn’t guarantee you’ll receive punitive damages. This type of compensation is rarely awarded in personal injury cases. 

To be considered for a punitive damage award, you must prove the driver’s actions are considered grossly negligent. In other words, the accident wouldn’t have occurred if the driver had followed the Buckeye State’s traffic laws. You must also prove the driver showed an obvious disregard for the safety of others, this helps establish gross negligence.

Even if you prove these two standards, the court doesn’t have to award punitive damages. This type of damage is meant to punish the defendant and serve as a deterrent to others to prevent them from engaging in the same dangerous behavior. 

Comparative Fault Can Impact Your Potential Compensation

Ohio has an insurance rule that can be beneficial or a disadvantage. The Buckeye State follows modified comparative negligence guidelines that allow more than one entity to be at fault for the same accident. 

As long as your assigned percentage of fault isn’t over 50%, you can get started filing a personal injury claim. If your percentage of blame is 51% or higher, you can’t recover compensation from the other driver’s insurance provider.

Ensuring You Recover Your Damages From an Ohio Auto Accident

The expenses from an accident can be financially overwhelming. Thankfully, you should be able to file a personal injury claim. Before starting the claim process, it’s recommended you speak with an attorney. A personal injury lawyer can help ensure you’re listing all of your applicable damages.