Read on to find out how to recover damages in a Las Vegas accident claim and ensure you don’t remain with unpaid expenses
Car accidents, even minor collisions, can quickly become expensive. Even if you have some savings stashed away, it’s probably not enough to cover all of the mounting costs.
You depend on your accident claim to recover at least some of your losses. However, are you positive you’re listing all of your damages?
If you can’t answer yes to this question, it may mean you’re missing out on some compensation. So, what are the recoverable damages in a Las Vegas accident claim? We’re looking at this to help ensure your accident claim doesn’t leave you with unpaid expenses.
Common Types of Recoverable Damages
Some of your recoverable damages are pretty obvious while others are easy to miss. If you forget to include a loss on your claim, there’s a good chance you can’t add it at a later date. This means you may be missing out on compensation.
Property Damage
Pretty much every vehicle accident claim includes property damage. While it typically refers to your vehicle, it’s not the only type of property that can be damaged in an accident. Your electronic devices can also sustain damage. Tablets and phones can end up with cracked screens, and the same goes for laptops. Even a designated computer bag can’t always protect your electronics in a car accident.
Your compensation may cover repair or replacement costs, depending on the extent of damage. If you’re worried about claiming a lesser value for your vehicle, you may be able to recover its pre-accident worth, which usually means filing a diminished value claim.
Considered part of your accident claim, being able to recover your vehicle’s pre-accident value can help cover extensive repair bills or help offset most of the new vehicle purchasing costs.
Medical Expenses
This is another common damage in Las Vegas accident claims. You should be able to list all medical costs relating to treatment for injuries sustained in the accident. If your injuries are severe, you may need long-term or lifetime care, which is another recoverable damage.
Even if you walk away from a traffic accident, it’s still a good idea to make an appointment with a healthcare provider. Some injuries like internal bleeding or organ damage may take a while to start showing signs and symptoms. The same can also apply to soft tissue injuries like contusions. Your medical checkup is considered a damage and you can usually recover compensation for the doctor’s visit.
Don’t forget to keep copies of all your medical bills and receipts. You’re also going to need copies of your medical file, which is the proof you submit with your accident claim to support your medical expenses.
Lost Income
Are your injuries preventing you from returning to work? Chances are, this is one of the worst times for you to start missing paychecks. You have your everyday bills to keep up with and now the accident is adding to your monthly expenses.
If your injuries are severe enough to keep you away from your job, you can claim lost income. You may also be able to claim lost future income if your injuries prevent you from returning to work. What about if your injuries are forcing you to accept a lower-paying position? This can be considered an economic loss and you may be able to recover the discrepancy in pay.
Recovering Non-Economic Damages
Not sure what non-economic damages are or how they can impact your accident claim. Your non-economic damages are intangible items like your pain, suffering, mental anguish, loss of life enjoyment, and even loss of consortium.
The types of non-economic damages listed in Las Vegas accident claims vary. Everyone responds differently to a vehicle accident and this can determine which non-economic damages you can include in your claim.
Since non-economic damages don’t come with a handy price tag, calculating their value can be tricky. Your personal injury attorney can use one of two options.
- The multiplier method assigns your pain a number between 1.5 and 5. The higher the number, the greater your pain. You take the assigned number and multiply it by how many days you experienced pain.
- Using the per diem method, You take your average daily pay and multiply this by the number of days you felt pain.
The multiplier method is more commonly used to calculate non-economic damages, but both solutions are accepted by insurance companies and civil courts.
Punitive Damages
Sometimes, the at-fault driver’s actions are considered grossly negligent; this usually applies when the at-fault driver purposely or knowingly acted in a manner designed to cause injury and harm to others. When this applies to an accident claim, you may be eligible for punitive damages.
Before you start trying to calculate your punitive damages, there’s something you should know. Only a civil court judge or jury can award punitive damages in a personal injury case. Yes, this means filing a lawsuit in civil court against the at-fault driver and their insurance provider.
Nevada does have a cap on punitive damage award amounts. Currently, the cap is set at $300,000 if total damages are less than $100,000. If your accident claim is for more than $100,000, you can’t receive more than three times the amount.
The goal of awarding punitive damages is to punish the at-fault driver and discourage others from repeating the same reckless or negligent behavior.
Comparative Negligence Can Affect Your Accident Claim
Nevada is a comparative negligence state. Comparative negligence allows for more than one individual to be responsible for the accident. Fault for a vehicle accident is typically assigned by the authorities and/or insurance adjuster.
As long as you’re not assigned more than 50% of the blame, you can still file an accident claim. However, your compensation will be reduced by the same percentage.
Don’t Miss Out On Getting Compensation for Potential Damages
You probably have your economic damages down but what about your non-economic losses? Will punitive damages apply in your accident case? These are questions your accident attorney can help answer.
Working with a car accident lawyer can help ensure you’re not missing out on any potentially recoverable compensation.
