Damages for an Annapolis Car Accident

Generally speaking, any damage caused by an automobile collision is recoverable. That is, within the confines of the amount of insurance available or the amount of personal assets that can be attached if a judgment in excess of the available insurance is obtained in court.

After a person has been in a car accident in Annapolis it is very important that they contact a knowledgeable and local car accident lawyer as soon as possible. An experienced attorney can help guide their client through the legal process, ensuring that their client has the legal knowledge in order to make informed decisions about their case, as well as fighting to make sure their client receives the highest amount of compensation possible.

Types of Damages

There is a right to recover for any damage that is a consequence of and caused by a car accident. That falls into two main categories of economic damages and non-economic damages.

Economic

If a person is not able to return to work, there is an economic loss because perhaps they cannot earn the same amount of money that they were earning prior to the accident. In this case, an economist needs to state what the loss is over the work-life expectancy of the injured victim.

Economic damages consist of any incurred expense caused by the accident and that typically includes medical bills for medical treatment, lost wages, payment for prescriptions, lost wages, and any other out-of-pocket or incurred expense of an economic nature, like property damage.

Non-Economic

Non-economic damages consist of physical pain, mental anguish, and any other suffering, impairment, limitation, permanent injury, inconvenience, scarring, disfigurement, or other intangible loss due to the collision. Many times it is necessary to provide expert testimony to prove those elements of damage.

Caps

In Annapolis and in Maryland generally, there are caps on the non-economic damages in a case, meaning on the generally termed the “pain and suffering” aspect of damages, there is an approximate $800,000.00 cap on the recovery. Therefore, anything up to that approximate amount is allowable, and anything awarded over and above that amount is reduced to the amount of the cap.

Expert Testimony

In Maryland, if you are in circuit court because the value of the claim is deemed to be in excess of $30,000.00, then you will need the testimony of experts to prove any element of damage that is not in the purview of a layperson to be able to understand without the aid of expert testimony.

For example, most medical treatments will require a medical expert to testify and it is usually a treating physician to testify to the symptoms, the examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of the injuries incurred as a result of the accident.

Death Claims

In the case of a death claim, an expert will have to testify as to the economic loss over time, the value of services that were rendered by the deceased to a family member and there are experts on grief and the nature of grief. Many elements of damages may be available and may be required to be proven by expert testimony.

Damages for an Annapolis Car Accident