Anyone who has sustained injuries caused by the negligence of another individual can recover damages by filing personal injury claims.
According to law, such legal claims are often used by people to recover both economic damages (e.g. loss of wages, hospital bills, diminished or complete loss of earning capacity) and non-economic damages (e.g. emotional anguish, pain, and suffering).
To have a better understanding, here are the myths and facts about personal injury claims:
Myth: Personal injury lawsuit is often tedious that involved parties have to wait years for the court ruling.
Fact: Usually, the aggrieved party will receive compensation within one year after filing personal injury claims. But in some special cases where the dispute is much complicated, it would take more than a year or so.
To avoid lengthy and expensive court battle, involved parties usually resort to out-of-court settlement where defendants usually pay the victims before the judge announces his ruling. According to lawyers, out-of-court settlement is usually better than litigation.
Myth: Victims have to pay expensive attorney’s fee or else they will not get any legal service.
Fact: There are many lawyers nowadays who agree with “no win, no pay” arrangement which means that victims can have a legal service without having to pay their lawyers, unless they will receive a settlement from the defendants.
Myth: The injured party can demand any amount of settlement they want.
Fact: The nature and extent of the injuries and the losses suffered by the injured victims will determine the amount of compensation they will receive. In computing the damages, economic and non-economic losses will be considered.
Myth: It is ok to file personal injury claim which is more than the amount of real damages.
According to lawyers, demanding an outrageous amount of personal injury claims may weaken a case because it may show that the alleged victim is only filing a lawsuit to make a profit out of this. This means that people should only ask the rightful amount of compensation to recover damages.
Meanwhile, a court may grant victims with punitive damages, which is more than the amount of the real damages. This compensation aims to deter companies from being negligent and to discourage others from committing the same reckless act.
Myth: Injured parties automatically recover damages even if they are “at fault”.
Fact: In some states, if the injured victim has contributed to his injuries (called as contributory negligent), he may not recover claims. However, in California and in most states, comparative negligence is used to determine if the monetary award is justified or not.
According to lawyers, comparative negligence considers the degree of carelessness and recklessness of the involved parties, allowing the court to decide if the injured victim really deserves to be compensated.
Myth: Victims can file personal injury claims any time they want.
Fact: In personal injury claims, victims should consider the statute of limitation which is the deadline in filing claims. In California, people should file their case within two years after the alleged negligence happens. However, a court may extend the deadline in some special cases.
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