What Are "Future Damages" In California Personal Injury Claims?
- Nov 20, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 5, 2022
Calculating Your Future Losses After A California Accident Claim
Getting into an accident can result in physical injuries, income loss, and emotional distress. Some injuries can affect people permanently or for a very long time. Hence, if negligent parties caused your injuries, they should be held liable for the expenses and the emotional distress you sustain.
That said, some damages are easier to prove than others. For example, economic damages are easier to prove than non-economic ones since "emotional distress" don't have receipts or price tags to prove them.
"Future damages," however, have not happened yet. Hence, they often require expert assessment and a strong case. So let's look at what our prescreened California Personal Injury Lawyers have to say about it:
What Is The Average Personal Injury Settlement In California?
This might sound frustrating, but the answer is: it depends. Some injuries are more severe than others, so settlements vary across personal injury claims in California. Damages can be anywhere from $10,000 to millions of dollars.
The best way to get an estimate of your potential damages is to assess your case and calculate your losses based on the following:
Economic Damages. This includes past and future monetary damages, such as medical bills, income loss, damaged property, etc. Basically, anything that is "tangible."
Non-economic Damages. On the other hand, non-economic damages are not "tangible" damages. This could include emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of the enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, etc.
If you go to court, you might also be awarded punitive damages. However, punitive damages are much harder to prove and are only awarded based on what the judge or the jury deems appropriate for your case.
Because some of the above damages are difficult to prove without a strong case and solid evidence, you should contact a prescreened personal injury lawyer in California to ensure a successful claim.
How Do You Calculate Future Damages?
There are no receipts or records for potential or future damages. However, financial and medical experts can look into your case and identify the potential losses you will continue to incur because of the accident.
Some future damages include:
Future medical bills, including medication, rehab, medical equipment, potential health complications, etc.
Loss of income, especially if the injuries have made you unable to perform your job.
Remember, the abovementioned future damages are also caused by the accident. The goal of personal injury claims in California is to get the victims to a point in their lives before the accident happened. Hence, future damages caused by the negligent accident should count towards their damages.
The levels of need are not well defined or specified because they typically vary for various persons in different circumstances. However, the accident victim's most fundamental necessities are the immediate and future costs of medical care and any potentially lost wages due to injuries.
The best way to determine the victim's precise demands that will enable them to maintain the standard of living they had before their injuries is to involve economic and medical professionals. A California attorney for personal injury with connections to skilled accountants and medical experts can assist in estimating the cost of your future requirements and expenditures.
Is There A Cap On Pain And Suffering In California?
The only personal injury claims in California that have restrictions on compensatory damages are those involving medical negligence. In medical negligence cases in California, the maximum amount of pain and suffering damages is $250,000.
This cap was established by the 1975 California Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), regardless of the number of defendants or the severity of the injuries.
Find A California Personal Injury Attorney Near You
1000Attorneys is one of the few lawyer referral agencies certified by the California State Bar. We only give referrals to prescreened California Personal Injury Lawyers, so you know you're getting referred to trusted, experienced, and fitting lawyers.
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