If you suffer an injury because of another driver’s negligent or reckless behavior, you have the right to pursue compensation. The compensation you receive can go towards the unanticipated expenses stemming from the accident, including medical bills, lost wages, and more. As you prepare your auto accident claim in Riverside County, you may wonder how to determine how much compensation you’re owed. Let’s take a look at how you can calculate an equitable amount of compensation so you can move forward with confidence.
Assessing Economic Damages
Economic damages refer to the financial losses you suffer as a result of the accident. These include doctor’s visits, emergency room bills, prescription medications, lost wages, physical therapy, diminished earning capacity, and other tangible expenses. Calculating the total amount of economic damages involves locating receipts and bills that document the financial losses you’ve suffered. You may also include future medical expenses in this calculation, especially if you face a long and challenging road to physical recovery.
Calculating Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, can be harder to calculate as they lack an objective monetary value. It can be hard to put conditions like anxiety and depression into a dollar amount, but you still have the right to pursue non-economic damages as part of the auto accident claims process. If you’ve developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep issues, anxiety, or depression as a result of the auto accident, talk to your attorney about how you can quantify these hardships and obtain financial compensation to support your recovery.
Factoring Fault Into Your Estimate
In California, the degree of fault each party has in contributing to the accident influences the amount of compensation they may collect. For instance, if the other driver was 80 percent to blame for the accident, this means that you were 20 percent at fault. When you obtain a settlement, you will only be entitled to collect 80 percent of the total amount. As you prepare your auto accident claim, enlist the support of an experienced Temecula auto accident attorney to gain a clear picture of how much compensation you can expect to receive.
If you need help collecting compensation following an auto accident in Temecula or Murrieta, call Hales & Associates, A Professional Law Corporation, today at (951) 489-3320.