What Types of Compensation Can I Get After a Car Accident?
If you’ve been injured in a car accident in Florida, one of your first thoughts may be to call a lawyer and sue the other driver for your pain and suffering. In many car accident cases, victims are unaware of the types of damages they can seek.
Below, learn about possible compensation you can recover with the help of a Florida car accident attorney.
Medical Expenses
Many accident victims know they can seek damages for their medical bills but are unsure what that covers. In Florida, you can recover compensation for any accident-related medical expense. That could include the ambulance bill for your trip to the ER, surgery, follow-up visits, and medication.
Did you have to install a wheelchair ramp or pay someone to help you around the house after your wreck? You can seek damages for those costs, too.
Property Damage
After an accident, your car may be damaged or totaled. You can seek damages for the cost to fix or replace the vehicle, plus any other belongings that were damaged or destroyed in the accident. This could include your phone, tools used for work, clothing, or children’s toys.
Lost Wages
Many people must take time off work to recover after an accident. If you must stay home because you’re too hurt to work, you can seek damages for lost wages. That also includes any vacation days, paid time off, and employer contributions to health insurance and your retirement fund.
If you’ve become so disabled that you must switch careers or leave the workforce permanently, your Florida car accident attorney can help you seek damages for loss of earning potential.
Wrongful Death
Few things are more painful than losing a loved one in an accident. If this has happened to you, you may be able to file a wrongful death claim.
In our state, the surviving children, parents, and spouses of victims can file a claim. You may also file a claim if you lost your sibling (either through blood or adoption) and were partially or fully dependent on them.
Punitive Damages
Judges don’t typically award punitive damages for car accident cases unless the liable driver acted particularly maliciously. That’s because punitive damages are intended to punish the driver for intentionally causing the accident, which can be hard to prove.
However, if there is enough evidence of wrongdoing, the court may award punitive damages to you. As an example of a case for which you could seek punitive damages, suppose you were driving on the highway when a driver began to tailgate you. You tried to switch lanes, only for them to move behind you and aggressively honk their horn.
No matter what you did, the other driver refused to back off and pass you. Eventually, they grew so angry that they rammed the back of your car, causing you to careen off the road and into a ditch.
In this case, a judge may award you punitive damages.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages have no specific financial value, but you may be able to sue for them, depending on your case. For instance, maybe you have become too terrified to drive after your wreck or are down in the dumps because you can’t work anymore. These count as non-economic damages.
Contact The Law Offices of Marc L. Shapiro
Car crashes can be horrific, but you can seek justice with the help of a Florida car accident attorney. At The Law Offices of Marc L. Shapiro, P.A., we handle all types of car accident claims. Call us at 239-500-5000 for your consultation.
