Finding Relief With A Personal Injury Attorney

How Much Compensation Do You Need After Injury?

After being injured by someone else, it can be hard to figure out how much money you should be getting in compensation. Immediate medical bills are only one part of the equation, as there may be complications, extended medical stays, experimental techniques, and other personal and professional costs, such as losing time at work or needing to replace damaged equipment. Here are a few areas to consider, as you look through your injury situation for problems that need compensation.

Identifying Medical Costs

All medical costs related to your injury should be covered by the person(s) ultimately responsible for the injury, but there are many ways around that challenge.

Immediate medical costs are the easiest to record, but they must still be taken seriously, in case you miss a receipt or two. This includes your initial hospital visit, medication, and direct follow-up appointments. 

The hard part comes from complications caused by the injury. If you suffer from an infection, it's likely that your doctor will report the issue as a complication, and no further action is necessary. However, proving that the infection, or other complications, is related to the original injury is not always as simple.

Blood clots, excessive illness from a suppressed or weakened immune system, and other complications could be blamed on something else. A smart lawyer would identify a potentially ambiguous illness on your injury claim and challenge it as an unrelated cost, so you may need the lawyer on your side to work with your doctors, in order to prove the connection.

Beyond legal challenges, there are some administrative problems that can be a headache for injury victims. Not all medical specialists handle their billing matters the same, and you may end up waiting for a total payment amount long after the legal battle or settlement should be over. Be sure to explain your legal situation to the specialist's billing department to, at least, get an estimate for your court or mediation discussion to consider when adding up your compensation costs.

Major Non-Medical Compensation Needs

Aside from medical bills, you need to organize an estimate for any lost business, damaged property, and anything that would require money to rebuild.

For most people, lost wages is the biggest non-medical compensation point. You need to be compensated for any hours that you missed as a result of the injury, but it doesn't stop at a simple paycheck. Many businesses are competitive, and your lack of performance could lead to lost progress at work and lost rankings when it comes to promotions.

There are many laws to protect you from an employer's judgement because of a disabling situation that wasn't your fault, but this isn't just about punishment. Whether you have an excuse or not, another coworker or business partner could have snapped up a life-altering client that you may or may not have built a great relationship with if you weren't injured. This can be difficult to argue, but a lawyer can help you hammer out the details.

If your injury also resulted in damaged personal goods, such as an expensive phone, your vehicle, or anything that you happened to be carrying, you need to quickly declare the damage. The longer you wait, the harder it is to prove that the damage didn't happen in some unrelated incident.

Contact a personal injury law office for more info and to discuss other compensation points.