Understanding General Damages Vs. Special Damages (2025)

Personal Injury Claim Basics: What Are Damages?

In a civil case, damages are what the plaintiff requests the court award. Damages are remedies that can help make the injured party whole, and they typically come in the form of financial compensation.

Although the majority of civil cases involve injuries, plaintiffs can also suffer harm in the form of property loss, reputational damage or even the loss of enjoyment of a legal right. Damages can be awarded for all of these loss types.

General Damages

General damages are those that strive to compensate you for losses that don’t have a clear financial price tag. Because you can’t produce a receipt or bill, these losses are subjective.

General damages examples include compensation for pain and suffering and a monetary award for loss of enjoyment of life. Suffering an injury can mean dealing with physical and psychological trauma that you would not otherwise have experienced. Loss of enjoyment of life compensates you for not being able to live your life as you used to.

Additionally, if you’re filing a wrongful death lawsuit, you can claim loss of consortium. These damages compensate you for the loss of companionship and support.

How Are General Damages Determined?

Determining whether you’re entitled to general damages vs. special damages involves considering the impact that your injuries have on your overall life. It requires that you put a price on losses that are subjective in nature, but there are basic formulas that lawyers and the court use to accurately calculate how much you should receive.

One option is to use the multiplier method. This method requires taking your financial damages, or special damages, and multiplying them by a factor between 1.5 and 5. The more severe your injury is and the more it impacts your daily life, the higher the factor generally will be.

This kind of accident compensation can also be determined by using a per diem method. The per diem method involves assigning a daily monetary value to the suffering you’re experiencing, and then multiplying that by the number of days you’ve been and will continue to be injured.

Special Damages

Special damages refer to losses that have actual financial value. With these losses, you can provide bills and put an accurate number to what you’ve suffered. Special damages examples include compensation for medical expenses and monetary awards for lost wages. In general, you can receive compensation for medical costs that include:

• Hospital stays
• Ambulance rides
• Medications
• Rehabilitation sessions
• Prostheses
• Medical devices

If you need to receive ongoing medical care, special damages also take this into account. Additionally, because it’s likely that you won’t be able to return to work while you recover, you can also often claim lost wages. These damages will compensate you for the income you would otherwise have received.

In some instances, you can also claim property damage compensation. If you were in a car accident, for example, and you totaled the vehicle, you can receive compensation to cover the purchase of another vehicle.

How Are Special Damages Determined?

To determine the amount of special damages you should receive, the insurers or court consider the actual financial losses you suffered. This is one of the reasons why it’s so vital to keep accurate and comprehensive records of every single bill you have related to the accident.

To calculate lost wages, insurers and the court will look at your regular weekly or hourly pay and multiply that by the days you missed work. If you’re a freelancer and you lost out on commissions, you can show contracts you had or the typical workload you would have had while you were recovering.

Future medical expenses and future lost wages can be a bit more complex to calculate. To get you the compensation you deserve, your lawyer can bring in expert witnesses to testify on what you would need treatment-wise and how long you’ll be out of work.

Get Help From ConsumerShield After an Accident

If you’ve suffered losses because of someone else's negligent or intentional tort, you may be entitled to compensation. Because understanding general damages vs. special damages is only one step in a complex process, it’s important to consult an experienced personal injury lawyer who can fight for you during negotiations and in court.

At ConsumerShield, we can provide legal advice from leading professionals and put you in contact with trusted attorneys in your area who can effectively handle your claim. Contact us to get started today.