If you or somebody you care about sustains an injury caused by the careless or negligent actions of another individual, you should be able to recover compensation for your losses. However, the total amount of compensation you receive will vary depending on the totality of the circumstances surrounding your injuries. Here, we want to discuss what goes into properly valuing a personal injury claim in Arizona. When working to examine the total costs associated with a personal injury claim, we have to look at both economic (special) and non-economic (general) damages.

Examining the Medical Costs Associated With Your Injury

The medical expenses associated with your injury will be considered an economic loss. Typically, medical expenses are the larger part of a final personal injury settlement. When examining the medical costs associated with a personal injury, we have to consider a range of expenses, including:

• Ambulance transportation
• Emergency room costs
• Hospital admission costs
• Follow up doctor visits
• Physical therapy and rehabilitation costs
• Medical devices
• Prescription medications
• In-home medical care

The medical costs associated with an injury will vary depending on the severity of the initial injury and the recovery process.

Looking at Lost Income

In some cases, individuals sustain an injury severe enough that prevents them from returning to work right away, or even at all. Therefore, when looking to truly examine the total costs of a personal injury claim, we have to examine the lost income a person experiences. If a person cannot work for a month or two, these few months of lost income can significantly damage their personal finances and jeopardize their ability to pay everyday expenses.

If an individual is permanently disabled as a result of their injury, they may not be able to return to work at all. When considering lost income in these situations, we have to look at the total amount of wages and benefits a person would have earned over the course of their lifetime had they not been injured.

There Are Other Expenses

There are certainly other economic expenses associated with personal injuries that many people do not consider when working to secure compensation. For example, individuals may not be able to carry out household chores such as cleaning the home or doing yard work. The cost of paying someone else to do these things should also be included in a final personal injury settlement.

The Emotional and Psychological Losses

It is impossible to truly examine the costs of a personal injury and the value of a personal injury claim without examining the non-economic losses associated with the injury. These are more immeasurable losses. We say that they are immeasurable because there are typically no bills or receipts that can be gathered and add it up to find a victim’s level of:

• Physical pain and suffering damages
• Emotional and psychological trauma
• Loss of enjoyment of life

Additionally, we also have to consider how an injury affects a victim’s family members. Loss of consortium damages may be available to a spouse for a loss of sexual relations and intimacy as well as to family members who may lose the ability to enjoy time with their loved one as a result of the injury.

Speak to an Attorney

If you or somebody you love has been injured as a result of the careless actions of another individual or entity in Arizona, reach out to an attorney as soon as possible. A skilled lawyer can conduct a complete investigation into the incident and help you recover total compensation for your losses.