Compensation & Damages in Illinois Car Accidents

What Compensation and Damages Are Available in Car Accident Claims?

It’s possible to seek various damages after a car accident injures you or damages your vehicle critically. Understanding what’s available and how to pursue them can help direct your recovery. You can recover economic or non-economic damages.

What Are Economic Damages?

Economic damages are losses with a fixed monetary value. These losses are easily documented and can be readily apparent.

• Medical Expenses: any costs related to injury treatment after a car accident. That could be hospitalization, surgery, medication, ongoing treatments, or prescriptions. You may receive compensation for future medical expenses as well.
• Lost Income: possible income you couldn’t make while recovering from your accident. Lost wages could also include any kind of reduced earning potential if you couldn’t return to work in the same capacity as before your accident.
• Property Damage: the cost to repair or replace broken property. That could be your vehicle, clothing, or other items in your car damaged in the accident.
• Home Maintenance: the cost of modifying or updating your home to accommodate you after the crash. In some cases of severe injuries, homes need to be updated for crash victims to improve or allow mobility.

Working with a personal injury lawyer after a car crash could give you a clear picture of the physical losses you’ve experienced.

What Are Non-Economic Damages?

Non-Economic damages are more conceptual in nature. Also known as ‘emotional damages,’ these losses still have value compared to the physical losses in economic damages.

• Pain & Suffering: the grief felt because of physical or emotional anguish caused by injuries after your car accident. You can pursue damages for the suffering you’re going through.
• Scarring or Disfigurement: the value of your loss for permanent scarring, disability, or disfigurement. The injury they experienced may have created scars or changed their physical appearance. You have the right to pursue payment for that disfigurement.
• Loss of Consortium: being deprived of familial or intimate relations because of a negligent act. You could lose companionship, affection, love, comfort, or sexual intimacy after a crash. Family members who can no longer experience affection because of a crash can pursue a claim.

A personal injury lawyer can review your case and help determine any non-economic damages you could pursue.

How Are Damages Calculated after a Car Crash?

When you begin tallying your damages, you can start by looking at the concrete losses presented in your economic damages. Most of those can be easily accounted for with proper documentation like medical bills or damage reports, but the non-economic damages will take more work to calculate accurately.

Insurance companies use various methods to calculate your losses, which may not be accurate to your situation. A personal injury lawyer can help you examine your losses and accurately determine the compensation you’re owed.

The Multiplier Method

When an insurance company uses the multiplier method to calculate losses, they will add your current and expected expenses to determine your economic damages. They’ll combine that number with the total they’ve assigned your non-economic losses. The insurance company will consider your future damages and multiplies everything by 1.5 to five to arrive at your expected compensation.

The Per Diem Method

An insurance company may calculate your compensation by reviewing one day of damages. They’ll typically assign a dollar value for one day, then multiply that by the total number of days your injury affected you.

Who Pays for Damages after a Car Wreck?

You’ll have bills and expenses to pay after a car crash. Making sure your damages are covered can help your recovery. Knowing who can pay for your losses is essential to pursuing a lawsuit if needed.

Illinois is a “fault” state for car accidents. The driver or person responsible for the crash is expected to pay for the damages inflicted on other drivers or passengers involved. Crash victims can pursue a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company.

Insurance companies only need to pay for specific economic damages. You’ll need to file a personal injury lawsuit against them if you’re pursuing non-economic damages or your losses exceed their insurance policy. A lawsuit is designed to make a victim financially “whole.”

How Can a Car Accident Injury Lawyer Help?

After a car crash, an experienced car crash lawyer should be one of your first calls. Once you’ve received medical treatment, talked to the police, and collected the at-fault driver’s information, call a personal injury lawyer.

A lawyer will understand how to pursue a claim. They know that insurance companies operate to create revenue and use tactics to reduce payments or settlements. A lawyer can help you calculate the losses you actually experienced. They’ll work with you to collect evidence, track down witnesses, call in experts to support your claim as necessary, and help you build your case.

Your lawyer can handle your case in court if an insurance company doesn’t settle.

Get Help From an Illinois Personal Injury Lawyer

Car accidents are serious affairs. You need a car accident attorney who understands the trauma you’ve lived through and how to pursue compensation to help you recover. The Staver Accident Injury Lawyers, P.C., team is your Illinois personal injury resource to collect damages after a car crash.

We know no one plans to be in a car crash, and we’re prepared to hear your story and work on your case. You could handle your claim alone, but it is a complicated process. Many wrongdoers are ready to take advantage of your inexperience and short you on the losses you’ve suffered.

Work with us to ensure you can recover in peace.

Call 888-988-7612 or use our online contact form to schedule your consultation with a personal injury lawyer.