After a traffic collision, you may be suffering from various losses. On top of the physical pain, car crashes can result in many financial burdens such as expensive medical care, property damage, and lost wages during your recovery.
However, if your accident was caused by someone else’s negligence, you may have options to pursue restitution with help from a dedicated attorney. There are many recoverable damages for Gainesville car accidents, which the legal team at Smith Hulsey can further explain and help you pursue.
Georgia law treats car accidents like any other tort when it comes to economic damages. These are out-of-pocket expenses, hard costs, and anything that can be determined at a specific value either mathematically or using invoices. Typical examples include medical bills and lost wages.
Also referred to as human damages, non-economic losses are those that cannot be objectively calculated. These damages are the subjective amount of money that equate to the value of a person’s inconvenience, pain, and suffering when going through a car crash injury.
Non-economic damages usually account for the bulk of the value in a car accident case. In a civil trial, the jury determines what dollar amount is reasonable for a person to be compensated for enduring the car collision. Our skilled attorneys could work with expert witnesses to testify on the severity of a person’s injury. A car accident lawyer’s closing argument often has a big impact in how the jury might calculate non-economic damages.
For an insurance settlement, insurance companies primarily use the value of a victim’s medical bills and the type of injury sustained to calculate non-economic damages. High medical bills will obviously lead to significant economic damages, but they could also indicate a serious injury worthy of significant non-economic compensation as well.
Punitive damages are similar to non-economic damages, except they are designed to punish the individual that caused the accident. In Georgia, the jury may hear evidence on the defendant’s economic status to determine what amount of money is adequate. The point of punitive damages is to hurt the defendant financially so that they are deterred from acting negligently in the future.
These damages only apply in the most egregious cases where there is reckless or intentional behavior on the part of the defendant, such as DUI or road rage. Punitive damages can add significant value to a case, so car accident victims should consult a knowledgeable attorney at our Gainesville office to learn whether they may be available in their circumstances.
First and foremost, an attorney’s job is to get the insurance limits of the policies at play. Following the Georgia minimum of $25,000, cases with high enough medical bills will likely pay out relatively quickly. A skilled lawyer could also look for exceptions in punitive damages liability, which can differ depending on the carrier and type of insurance policy.
Additionally, the role of a car crash attorney is to gather evidence and negotiate with the insurance representatives. If the traffic accident case is not settled, the lawyers at Smith Hulsey are prepared to go to court to recover damages on behalf of the injured victim.
If you or a family member suffered losses because of another person’s reckless behavior on the road, speak to an attorney about your options for seeking compensation. Our lawyers can explain the recoverable damages for car accidents in Gainesville and help determine the full value of your case. Call us today for an initial consultation about your circumstances.
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