What Damages Can I Include in My Truck Accident Claim?

Being involved in a truck accident will often mean having to deal with catastrophic injuries that can lead to a lifetime of debilitation. Injury victims not only experience incredible pain. They then have to experience the stress of mounting medical bills. Anyone who’s been in a truck collision knows how high those bills can get. The stress gets even worse when they have to miss work for extended periods of time. Without vacation time or sick days to cover time away from work, victims of truck crashes lose out on wages they would’ve made if they could work. All of these monetary losses are known as “damages” in legal terms.

If you’ve suffered a severe injury due to the negligence of a truck driver or another party, how do you go about recovering the damages you’ve incurred? Your first step should be to contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible. The Jones Law Group has a team of skilled legal representatives who will work tirelessly to help you obtain the compensation you deserve for the suffering you’ve experienced.

Get in touch with us as soon as possible to schedule a free case review. You can use our online contact form, or you can give us a call at (727) 571-1333.

Here’s some more information on the damages many truck accident victims may be able to recover with the help of an attorney.

Past and Future Medical Expenses

Whether a truck driver lost control on a slick highway, or caused your accident for some other reason, your medical bills are going to be shockingly high. The following are just a few examples of how high those expenses can get.

• The costs associated with a severe spinal cord injury, for instance, can reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars – or even more – over the victim’s lifetime.
• If you or a loved one suffers a traumatic brain injury, ongoing treatment and rehabilitation could cost as much as $1.8 million.
• Truck accident injuries can sometimes be so severe that the victim has to have a limb amputated. The cost of the amputation procedure can be as high as $60,000, with a prosthetic limb replacement costing up to $40,000.
• An injury that requires extensive surgery can also be incredibly expensive. Many victims will need follow-up procedures as well. Not only will they receive a bill from the doctor who performed the surgery, but also bills from the anesthesiologist and the medical facility where the procedure took place.
• Catastrophic injuries will also typically involve continuing scans and tests that can last for years. These can include X-rays, MRIs, CT scans and others. Every one of these tests will just add on to the overall bill.

Lost Income or Loss of Earning Capacity

As stated earlier, any sort of horrible injury will result in a victim having to miss a substantial amount of work – and could possibly make it impossible for that person to be able to work at all. When talking to an attorney to determine how much money to claim for lost wages – as well as future lost income – keep the following in mind.

• If you are able to return to work, consider how much time it took until you were able to do so. You might have been relatively lucky, suffering an injury that you recovered from fully in a few days or a couple of weeks. You might not be able to go back for months, or even years. The amount of time you’ve missed will have a major impact on your claim.
• There’s also a chance that you might have to miss work due to treatment appointments or physical therapy. That missed time could add up to a substantial amount of money.
• Suppose you will be able to go back to work, but you’ll have to be on some sort of modified schedule to accommodate your limitations. It could be that you can only work part-time, or you might have to take a lower-paying position. All of this lost income could also be included in your claim.

Pain and Suffering

A truck driver or trucking company’s negligence can lead to far more than physical damage. The emotional and mental trauma stemming from an accident can be just as devastating, and last for just as long. These are known as non-economic damages, and their costs can pile up as well. These are just a few examples.

• Emotional trauma such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) can be just as debilitating as a physical injury, ruining a victim’s quality of life.
• Accident victims will often suffer from mental issues because they can no longer take part in the activities they previously loved. Someone with a severe back or leg injury, for instance, may no longer be able to play golf, or even take an enjoyable walk around the neighborhood, or on the beach.
• There can also be feelings of embarrassment associated with an injury suffered in a truck accident. Someone with a traumatic brain injury, for example, may get incredibly frustrated because they can’t remember names, or they can’t express themselves as easily as before. This can lead to feelings of extreme anger and depression.

Contact an Experienced Truck Accident Attorney Today

The only way you will have a reasonable chance of obtaining the full and fair compensation it will take to recover your damages will be to hire an attorney. Trucking accidents are incredibly complicated.

Evidence will need to be gathered through a detailed investigation. Expert witnesses, such as truck accident reconstruction specialists, may need to be called on to support your case.

Skilled attorneys will know how to negotiate with insurance companies to help injury victims get the money they deserve. If the insurer doesn’t make a fair settlement offer, your attorney will be more than ready to fight for your rights in a court of law.

Don’t try to go it alone. Get in touch with the Jones Law Group to get the legal help you need. Contact us online or call (727) 571-1333 as soon as you can to schedule a free consultation to learn more about how we may be able to help.