Accident Compensation: When and How To Pursue It (2024)

Personal Injury Compensation Claims

Personal injury cases fall under tort law, which is largely based on centuries of case law. However, some states have passed statutes to shape tort law in specific ways. Illinois, for example, has a premises liability statute, and many other states have dog bite statutes. As a result, an accident compensation helper, such as a personal injury attorney, must know both case and statutory law.

Nevertheless, tort law is based on a straightforward principle: When someone’s actions harm you, they should bear the financial burden of the resulting losses. And in order to help you accomplish that goal, the law establishes the following three grounds for pursuing bodily injury compensation:

Intentional Torts

Intentional torts happen when someone injures you with a deliberate act. These torts usually do not arise from accidents, as you must prove the other party’s intent to perform the act that resulted in your injury.

Negligence

Negligence occurs when someone fails to exercise reasonable care and ends up injuring someone else as a result.

Negligence claims require proof of four elements:

• The at-fault party owed the victim a duty of care

• The at-fault party breached that duty by failing to act reasonably

• The victim suffered physical or financial losses

• The breach was the proximate cause and cause-in-fact of the losses

The concept of duty of care applies to many types of relationships, including landlord/tenant, business/customer, and even the relationship between fellow road users.

Strict Liability

Strict liability applies to certain narrow situations involving activities that could harm innocent victims. Product manufacturers bear strict liability for injuries caused by their defective products. In these cases, the distribution of defective products could injure or kill thousands or millions of people. Victims can recover injury compensation by proving the product’s defects regardless of whether the manufacturer knew of them.

Dog owners also bear strict liability for unprovoked dog attacks. Victims in these scenarios can seek serious injury compensation simply by proving the dog’s ownership. Specifically, they do not need to establish the dog had a history of biting or that the owner negligently restrained it.

Types of Injury Claims

Injury claims can take many forms, some of the most common of which include the following:

Car Accident Claims

Car accidents fall under negligence. As such, in order to prove these claims, you must show the other driver failed to drive with reasonable care. You can often prove that by showing the other driver broke traffic laws. However, you can still win a case if the other driver did something dangerous, even if it was legal, such as eating while driving or driving shirtless with a cold drink in hand.

Medical Malpractice Claims

Doctors have a legal duty to provide reasonably competent and skilled medical services. An injured patient can pursue a medical malpractice claim when they suffer an injury due to the doctor’s negligence. These injuries can result from errors in diagnosing the patient, providing treatment, or even delaying a birth.

Slip and Fall Accident Claims

Property owners, managers, and tenants must provide reasonably safe premises for visitors. When a visitor is injured due to a hazard that should have been fixed by any of those individuals, they can pursue an injury claim with the help of a slip and fall lawyer.

Wrongful Death Claims

When a tort results in death, the surviving family members can pursue a wrongful death claim. These claims can arise from any type of accident, from car accidents to toxic exposure. Families can also file a fatal injury compensation claim when their loved one suffers intentional injuries resulting in murder. In such cases, a wrongful death attorney can help.

How to Claim Compensation for Personal Injury

You will usually start a personal injury claim by contacting the insurer of the at-fault party. You (or your lawyer) will file an insurance claim explaining the injuries and describing how the policyholder caused the accident.

The insurer will then decide whether to accept or deny the claim. If it denies the claim, you can file a lawsuit to continue pursuing compensation. If the insurer accepts the claim, you and your attorney can negotiate for a fair amount.

Liability insurance usually covers accidents as well, though it often excludes intentional acts, so you will follow a different process for injuries resulting from them.

The Value of an Accidental Injury Claim

Personal injury compensation guidelines allow you to seek compensation for economic and non-economic losses. Economic losses encompass the financial impacts of your injuries, including the following:

• Past and future medical expenses

• Lost income from missing work

• Diminished future earnings from long-term or permanent injuries

It’s also likely that your injuries will affect every facet of your life, from how you feel to what you can do. Non-economic losses cover these erosions in your quality of life:

• Pain

• Mental and emotional anguish

• Disability

• Dismemberment

• Disfigurement

Personal injury compensation levels can range from a few thousand dollars to millions depending on the severity and duration of the injuries. A permanently disabling injury, such as one affecting the brain or spinal cord, may entitle a victim to personal injury maximum compensation.

However, the at-fault party might have grounds to reduce your compensation. Comparative negligence allows a court to reduce your compensation if you contributed to the cause of your injuries. In Texas, for example, a jury can assign a share of the blame to you, and the court can then reduce your compensation in proportion to your fault.

Learn More About Accident Compensation From ConsumerShield

Victims face a difficult road after getting injured in an accident. They’ll need medical treatment to be able to work, and they might not have the resources to pay for treatment because they cannot work. ConsumerShield helps people in these situations by educating them about the law and referring them to lawyers who can assist them. Contact us for a free case evaluation to learn more.