If you were involved in a traffic accident in which the driver of the other vehicle was at fault, you may be entitled to various forms of compensation for losses that you’ve suffered as a result of the accident. Here is a basic overview of the compensation you can get. You should always keep in mind that the type and amount of compensation you receive will depend on various factors, like the extent of the property damage or seriousness of personal injuries suffered. Since every car accident case is unique, it’s always a good idea to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney before accepting any offer of compensation from the other driver or their insurance company.
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Property Damage
If another driver collides with your car and is found to be at fault, there’s a high chance that your vehicle has taken some damage, even you can still safely drive away from the accident. Property damage compensation pays for the costs of making repairs for any damage that happened to your car in the accident.
In some cases, the damage to your car will be so extensive that the costs of repairing it to its pre-accident condition exceed its actual value. This is referred to as a “total loss” by insurers. In this scenario, you may receive a monetary amount equivalent to how much your car was worth before the accident.
Personal Injury
Car accidents sometimes result in injuries to a vehicle’s driver and passengers. The party at fault may be responsible for providing you with various kinds of personal injury compensation in this case, such as:
Compensation for Medical Bills and Expenses
In general, you’ll be entitled to receive payment for any medical treatment that you’ve received to treat injuries sustained in the accident, as well as for future treatment that has been deemed medically necessary.
Compensation for medical bills and expenses will cover the cost of transportation by ambulance, any treatment received at a hospital, the cost of prescription medicines or medical devices, as well as any necessary follow-up visits with a physician or other medical professional.
The amount you receive and how complex the claim process can get is highly dependent on the severity of your injuries. The process will likely be very straightforward if you were simply brought to a hospital for evaluation and discharged within a few hours. On the other hand, if you were badly injured and stayed in the hospital for weeks, you can expect to have to file various kinds of paperwork and wait a longer time before you get an answer from the at fault driver’s insurer.
Lost Wages
Compensation for lost wages pays for the wages that you would have normally earned, but couldn’t as a result of the accident. For example, if the nature of your injuries has prevented you from being able to do your regular job for a month, you may be compensated for that month of lost wages.
Should you be injured so severely that you’re unable to return to your job at all, you may also be compensated for some amount of lost future income.
Additional Considerations
In the majority of auto accident cases, the insurer of the at fault driver will be picking up the tab for your property damage and personal injuries, if applicable. However, just how much compensation you can receive will be limited by the coverage limits of the at fault driver’s insurance policy.
There may be cases where the damages caused by the at fault driver exceed these limits, especially if they caused a serious accident and only have the minimal liability coverage required by state law.
Even if the driver has enough coverage, insurance companies are known to deploy various tricks to minimize just how much compensation they pay out. An insurance adjuster could try to pressure you into accepting an offer that is much lower than what you’re entitled to.
As auto accident cases can get very complex, you should get in touch with a qualified traffic accident lawyer as soon as possible after you’ve been involved in one. Your lawyer is able to give you more details related to the whole process and will fight on your behalf to get you fairly compensated.