If you’ve been hurt because of someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. Compensation is a broad term that includes many different payments, including economic damages.
While economic damages are more straightforward than other types of damages, Roderick C. Lopez Personal Injury Lawyers has found that our clients usually benefit from an overview of what they are.
We’ve written this in-depth article to explain all you need to know about economic damages.
What Are Economic Damages?
Under Texas Law, economic damages are compensation for actual financial losses that happen after an accident. This is different from non-economic damages, which compensate injured people for emotional or psychological losses.
Economic damages are tangible losses that are easy to calculate. You can usually prove economic damages with:
- Bills
- Invoices
- Estimates
- Receipts
- Bank statements
The purpose of economic damages is to pay someone for actual expenses that arise because of an injury or an accident. This may also include anticipated future expenses. The idea is that you shouldn’t be responsible for incurring these expenses because of someone else’s negligence.
Types Of Economic Damages In Laredo, TX
Economic damages cover a variety of expenses that happen after an accident. We have included some of the most common types of economic damages that we recover for our clients.
Medical Bills
Medical expenses are the most common economic damage in a personal injury case. Medical bills include:
- Emergency medical treatment
- Doctors visits
- Surgeries
- Follow up appointments
- Rehabilitation and physical therapy
- The cost of medical devices
- Pharmaceuticals
- X-rays
- Blood tests
You can recover money for medical bills that already exist, as well as future anticipated medical bills.
Lost Wages And Lost Income
When you get hurt in an accident, you might miss work because of your injury. Perhaps you have many doctor’s appointments and have used all of your sick days. Sometimes you aren’t able to perform the same tasks that you used to and just can’t work.
In these cases, you have the right to recover lost wages from the time that you miss because of your injury. You can also recover money for future lost wages. For example, if you know that you will miss work once a month for a recurring appointment or that you will need 3 months to recover.
When someone is permanently injured or disabled, they might not be able to work again. In that case, you can recover money for lost earning capacity. If you had a job that paid a certain amount, and now you can’t work or make the same amount of money, you can get paid for that loss.
Property Damage
It’s pretty normal for personal injury cases to also result in property damage, particularly in car accident cases. You have the right to recover money for that property damage, whether it’s the fair market value of the property or the cost of repair.
Funeral Expenses
In a wrongful death case, you can get compensated for funeral and burial costs. The average cost of a funeral in the United States is just under $8,000. Many people don’t have an extra $8,000 to spend on burying a loved one. Everyone should have the chance to mourn and honor a loved one, especially after an unexpected accident.
When Can You Get Economic Damages?
You can ask for economic damages in any type of personal injury case. As long as you can prove the amount of the damages and that the at-fault party was negligent, you can ask for it.
We normally recover economic damages in the following types of practice areas:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Wrongful death
- Medical malpractice
- Workplace accidents
- Premise liability
- Dog bites
- Defective products
We also recognize that many types of accidents are unexpected or unusual. We are prepared to recover economic damages any time someone was negligent and caused financial harm.
How Do You Calculate Economic Damages?
Calculating economic damages is pretty easy, as long as you have records. First, you list out all of the types of economic damages that apply in your case. Then you can look at records like bills, past payments, and invoices, to begin adding it all up.
After you calculate your current economic damages that are incurred so far, you can begin to predict your future economic damages. If you are paid a salary or a known hourly rate, you can easily estimate future lost wages. Similarly, if you know that you must go to the doctor or receive a certain treatment in the future, you can calculate that as well.
The most important thing is that you keep track of your economic damages as the case unfolds. Sometimes it is harder to go back and find a record than it seems, especially if you are working with insurance companies, hospitals, and doctor’s offices.
What Is The Deadline For Pursuing Economic Damages?
In Texas, you have two years from the date of the accident to ask for economic damages. If you don’t discover your injury until later, then the clock starts from the date that you did learn of the injury or reasonably should have. This might seem like a long time, but it goes by quickly.
Talk With A Laredo Personal Injury Lawyer About Economic Damages
It’s best to hire a Laredo personal injury attorney, like Roderick C. Lopez Personal Injury Lawyers, to get started immediately on your case. That way you can focus on recovering while we handle your legal affairs. If you have any questions about economic damages, call our office at (956) 529-7336 for a free consultation.
Roderick C. Lopez Personal Injury Lawyers
6557 Metro Court, Suite 1 Laredo, TX 78041
(956) 529-7336
