If you’ve been involved in a car accident, you may be wondering what types of damages — and how much money — you can recover from the at-fault driver’s insurance company. While it seems like a simple question, the answer is quite complex and depends on many factors. Importantly, before you can recover anything from another driver’s liability insurer, several things must be true about your accident:
- You must not be “at fault” for the accident (or, at the very least, you must not be more responsible for the accident than the other driver);
- You must have damages that stem directly from the accident (injuries, medical bills, lost wages, etc.); and
- The at-fault driver must have liability insurance coverage that applies to the accident at issue.
Potential Damages Categories
If all three of the above conditions are met, there are numerous categories of damages you can seek to recover for, including
- medical expenses
- lost wages or income
- physical pain and suffering
- mental and emotional pain and suffering
- temporary or permanent disfigurement (i.e., scarring, loss of a limb, etc.)
- loss of quality of life
- loss of consortium (the inability to have a normal marital relationship with your spouse)
- property damages
- any other inconvenience or expense caused by the accident
- any of the above damages that you will incur in the future as a result of the accident
- in certain cases, punitive damages.
How Much Money Can You Recover For A Car Accident?
Here’s where things get tricky. While there are many different categories of damages you can claim after an accident, these damage categories can be grouped into two main types: economic damages and non-economic damages. As the name implies, economic damages are damages that affect you economically. For instance, medical bills, property damage, and lost wages are all forms of economic damages. By contrast, pain and suffering, disfigurement, and loss of quality of life are all forms of non-economic damages.
It is typically easy to determine the amount of economic damages you are entitled to recover after an accident. After all, your medical bills, property damage, and lost wages can usually be calculated to the penny. And, in general, you should be compensated for every penny of your economic damages (unless you are partly responsible for the accident).
But what about non-economic damages? Obviously, there is no way to precisely calculate the value of someone’s pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, or bodily disfigurement. If your case is one of the few that results in a lawsuit and a trial, it is the jury’s job to place a monetary value on your non-economic damages. See Beason v. I.E. Miller Services, Inc., 2019 OK 28, 441 P.3d 1107. However, if no lawsuit is filed, there will be no jury to value such damages. In this scenario, the insurance adjuster gets to decide what your non-economic damages are worth. Of course, if you disagree with the adjuster’s valuation of your claim — and you likely will — you can always negotiate for a higher dollar amount or file suit if negotiations are not fruitful.
In sum, there is no set formula for calculating non-economic damages. And beware of anyone — including an attorney — who tells you otherwise. The truth is, non-economic damages vary greatly from case to case. These damages are influenced by a number of different factors, including the severity of your accident, the severity of your injuries, the medical treatment you received, the pain and suffering you endured, and a host of other considerations. Even the specific insurance company and adjuster processing your claim will impact the dollar figure you are offered for non-economic damages. Indeed, some insurers are known to place extremely low values on non-economic damages, while others are known to place high values on such damages.
What If The At-Fault Driver Has No Liability Insurance?
It is important to keep in mind that even if the at-fault driver does not have liability insurance, there could be alternative ways of recovering for your damages. For instance, if you purchased uninsured motorist or medical payments coverage as part of your own auto insurance policy, these coverages could apply and pay for some or all of your damages. Read our blog article on uninsured motorist coverage here. Also, if the at-fault driver has money or assets that could be used to pay for your damages, you could file a lawsuit and pursue a judgment against that driver directly. In fact, these options are worth exploring even if the at-fault driver does have liability insurance.
If you have been in a motor vehicle accident and would like to discuss your legal options, contact Stride Law today.