After you’ve been in an accident in Louisiana, you could have the right to recover financial damages to compensate for your injuries. Through a personal injury claim, the at-fault party or their insurer can be required to provide compensation if they are proven liable.
To pursue your legal options and damages in a personal injury case, Louisiana personal injury lawyers can help evaluate and build your case to ensure fair payment.
Defining Economic Damages in Louisiana
When a resident of the Metairie, LA area is hit in a car accident or truck accident, suffers a slip and fall, or is injured in some other way, they can file a personal injury claim against the responsible party. Typically, accident victims will proceed with a claim against the insurance company and then a lawsuit if the insurance claims process is unsatisfactory. However, a victim can file a lawsuit anytime after the accident, as long as it is within the one-year statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits in Louisiana.
If the claimant succeeds, their compensation will fall within two different categories: economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages exist to help victims pay the financial costs associated with the accident. For example, these can include medical bills and lost wages.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, address non-tangible costs due to accidents that are hard to quantify. These can include pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, and loss of companionship if a loved one was lost in a fatal accident.
Accident victims can obtain a wide range of economic damages in a Louisiana personal injury claim. Such damages can include:
Initial Medical Expenses
Immediate medical services after an accident can require a variety of treatments for which a patient can be billed.
These expenses might be related to procedures and tests such as:
- X-rays
- Blood tests
- Emergency room treatment
- MRI scans
- Emergency surgeries
Patients might also require medications and home medical equipment in the immediate aftermath of an injury. Accident victims should keep track of all invoices, insurance statements, receipts, and other documentation of initial medical expenses due to the incident.
Rehabilitation Expenses
Recovery from an accident can require weeks, months, or even years of physical and occupational therapy. Costs for therapy and rehabilitation can be included as economic damages in a personal injury lawsuit. The anticipated need for future rehabilitation and therapy can also be included, if an estimate can be provided to the insurance company or to the court.
Property Damage
Damage to vehicles, homes, boats, campers, and other property can be covered as economic damages in Louisiana. Often, these damages can be easily proven when there are repair estimates and replacement costs for items that were damaged or destroyed. Victims must keep track of invoices, receipts, and other documentation to make sure they are fairly reimbursed.
Lost Income
Most accident victims will have to miss work due to an accident and resulting injuries. This can include time missed immediately after the accident and time missed while recovering from an accident. Lost wages can be proven through pay stubs and related documentation from your employer. If you are self-employed or a business owner, you might need to show documentation of lost work opportunities, canceled client meetings, lost bids, and other results of your accident.
Lost Earning Capacity
Serious injuries can result in lifelong physical or mental impairment. In many of these cases, a victim’s ability to continue in their career or perform their regular work is impacted or stopped altogether. Lost earning capacity in the future is an item that falls within economic damages. If the victim can demonstrate what their past income was and what their future earning capacity would have been if not for the accident, they can potentially be compensated in a personal injury claim.
Funeral Expenses
In the tragic event of a fatal accident, family members can be compensated for funeral costs and related expenses. These, too, fall within economic damages in a catastrophic personal injury claim.
Legal Expenses
When an insurance company negotiates in bad faith, it can be liable for the claimant’s attorney fees. If you are required to file a bad-faith lawsuit for benefits you were rightfully owed but wrongfully denied, your legal expenses can be included as economic damages.
Is There a Limit to Economic Damages in a Louisiana Personal Injury Case?
There is no general limit on economic damages in a personal injury case in Louisiana. There can be caps placed on recovery in medical malpractice claims and claims against governmental agencies. However, if you were injured due to a car accident, slip and fall, and most other types of personal injury claims, you are only limited by what you can prove as economic damages.
Call a Metairie Personal Injury Lawyer Today
A Metairie personal injury lawyer from The Law Office of John W. Redmann, L.L.C can help you seek and obtain economic damages in a personal injury case. Contact an experienced legal team at (504) 500-5000 to discuss your case and help you move forward in your recovery.