Babylon Personal Injury Lawyer

If you are the victim of someone else’s negligence or intentional act, the responsible party may be required to compensate you for your injuries. New York law has several types of damages available to injured parties. These include economic, non-economic, and punitive damages.

Determining Economic Damages

Economic damages are relatively easy to calculate because they generally have a fixed dollar amount. Economic damages may include:

• Medical bills;
• Prescription costs;
• Expenses related to physical therapy and rehabilitation;
• Property damage repairs;
• Lost wages from missing work due to your injury; and
• Future lost wages if you need more time off to recover.

If you want to pursue a claim for damages, you should keep all receipts and documents related to your injuries, property damage, and treatment.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages compensate you for the subjective losses you sustained due to your accident or injury. They can be difficult to quantify because they don’t have an exact dollar amount attached to them. They include the following:

• Pain and suffering,
• Emotional distress,
• Disfigurement, and
• Loss of enjoyment of life.

Insurance companies use various methods to calculate non-economic damages, but those methods don’t necessarily account for each person’s experience. You should speak with a personal injury attorney to help calculate your potential non-economic damages, especially before accepting a settlement offer from an insurance company.

You should note that non-economic damages are limited in New York car accidents. Non-economic damages are only available if you were seriously injured. A serious injury under New York law includes:

• Death;
• Disfigurement;
• Dismemberment;
• Loss of a fetus;
• A fracture;
• Permanent loss of an organ, body part, or another function; or
• A long-term injury that limits your ability to participate in your life.

Even if an injury isn’t on this list, it may still be considered serious. A Babylon personal injury attorney can assess your injury and help you determine your rights to non-economic damages.

Punitive Damages

You may also be eligible for punitive damages if you can prove that the responsible party’s behavior was particularly egregious. This may include when a responsible party completely disregards the safety or health of others or if they act with an evil or malicious motive. Punitive damages are intended to punish the party for their bad behavior rather than compensate the victim for their injuries.

A punitive damage claim is much more difficult to prove than other damages. Additionally, responsible parties rarely agree to pay punitive damages as a part of a settlement. Speak with a Babylon personal injury attorney at TonaLaw to determine your eligibility for punitive damages.

New York Personal Injury Claim Deadlines

Most claims in New York have a statute of limitation, or deadline, by which you must file your case in court. If you miss this deadline, you may not be able to pursue your case or obtain compensation. The statute of limitations for most personal injury claims in New York is three years from the accident date. You have less time and some pre-filing requirements to file your case in court if it involves a government agency or a medical professional.

Three years may seem like a long time. However, as time passes, evidence can be lost, and witnesses can forget. Do not delaycontacting a Babylon personal injury attorney. By calling TonaLaw, you can ensure that your case is handled within the requisite time so you don’t lose your rights to compensation.