In certain situations, suing for damages is the best way to get the compensation you deserve. Speak with an experienced car accident attorney to learn more about your options.
When you suffer a car accident in St. Louis, your first step should always be to take care of your health. If you need emergency treatment, then you must get to a hospital right away. If not, you can start to gather evidence on the scene, see a doctor soon after, and eventually speak with a St. Louis auto accident attorney. Once you have obtained all of the necessary evidence and have a lawyer at your side, you can begin to explore your options. One option that you might choose to pursue is suing the other driver for damages. Damages are not as simple as you might think, though. There are several categories of them, and when you bring a case against somebody else, you need to decide what is worth going after. The most common types of damages are listed below.
Actual or Compensatory
This type of damages refers to the harm your body and property sustained. Calculating actual damages is generally straightforward. If the result of your crash is a broken arm and minor vehicle damage, you can add your medical and auto mechanic bills into one number. This number will equal the damages you sustained in the crash. If your injury has long-term consequences, this calculation gets significantly more complicated. One thing that can happen is that you can lose your ability to do your job. In this case, the compensatory payment might be able to cover your lost wages.
Emotional Distress
This category refers to compensation for emotional damage, rather than physical. Generally, these come as a package deal. An example of this is if you were in a crash that caused only a concussion initially, but then you started getting regular panic attacks afterward. In this case, you could receive compensation for your physical injuries, and even more for the emotional distress, you experience post-crash.
Wrongful Death
If you are in the car with a loved one at the time of an accident, there is a chance that you could live and they could die. If this is the case, you may be able to be compensated for wrongful death. Two factors that commonly go into this are loss of companionship and loss of wages. If the person that died is a spouse or child, there will definitely be a loss of companionship that may be worthy of payment. Depending on your financial situation, this death could have financial consequences too. With a capable lawyer, you could be compensated for both of these elements.
The process you undergo after a car accident can at sometimes be relatively simple. The other driver may be reasonable, their insurance company might be fair, and you could get a great deal. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. In certain situations, suing for damages is the best way to get the compensation you deserve. Speak with an experienced car accident attorney to learn more about your options. They will help you understand if you should sue or not, which damages you are entitled to, and how to proceed in your case.