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Personal Injury Compensation - Damages For Which You May Be Paid

Personal injury law of every state provides that you may receive personal injury compensation (be paid) for injuries which you suffer when you are hurt by someone else or by a malfunctioning or defective product. You may have a personal injury claim for any or all of the following damages:

- Out-Of-Pocket Damages: This includes the actual cost of medical care and treatment and loss of income. The fact that a bill is paid by insurance does not matter. For example, if you are injured in a car accident (when the other driver is a fault) and go to the emergency room, even though the emergency room bill is paid for by insurance, you may still have a claim for the amount of the emergency room bill.

- Pain and Suffering: You are entitled to be paid for any pain that you have suffered and endured after being injured by someone else. Even though it can be difficult to place an actual value on pain and suffering, it is a legitimate damage for which you should be compensated.

- Specific Injuries: This includes injuries such as a broken leg, a severed arm, a third degree burn, etc. Because these injuries are much more severe than a normal soft tissue injuries, you may be entitled to be paid for them in addition to normal pain and suffering.

- Temporary Disability: This includes activities (work or pleasure) that you cannot do while you are recovering from the injuries that you suffered. A temporary disability can be partial such as not being able to use your arm, or it can be a total temporary disability such as not being able to work.

- Permanent Disability: This covers any permanent disability and can be either a permanent partial disability such as losing the use of your arm or it can be a permanent total disability meaning that you will not be able to work again.

- Future Damages: This includes the costs of future medical treatment and future loss wages. Basically, any damage that you suffered that will affect you in the future is covered in future damages.

- Punitive Damages: In cases where someone or a business acted in a reckless or wilful manner and you were hurt, you may be entitled to punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish a person or business for his/her/its behavior and to deter the person or business from acting in the same way in the future. Punitive damages are not applicable to normal negligence cases.

None of the above damages are mutually exclusive. Depending on your situation, you may be entitled to personal injury compensation for one or more or all of the above damages.

This is basic general information only. If you have any questions whatsoever, talk with a lawyer licensed in your state.

To help determine what your personal injury claim is worth, see Personal Injury Calculator Homepage.

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