Obtaining Damages After a Annapolis Car Accident
Obtaining damages after a car accident case is often a very involved legal process, requiring the assistance of a knowledgeable lawyer. After an auto accident, there are many factors that an individual must focus on immediately. These include making sure that any injuries are taken care of and medical care is followed up with and maintained. After a person’s medical needs are tended to, an attorney can begin the process of gathering any necessary evidence to prove that damages are to be awarded to the injured party.
An experienced Annapolis auto accident attorney will be able to help you obtain any and all of the damages that you are rightfully entitled to. It is unacceptable to be injured due to the negligence of another without receiving just compensation, and an attorney can help to ensure that that does not happen.
Recoverable Damages
There are two general categories of damages that can be obtained after a car accident in Annapolis. These two categories are economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages consist of medical expenses, lost wages, and other out-of-pocket expenses associated with having been involved in a collision. The non-economic damages consist of the physical pain and mental suffering, inconvenience, as well as any disfigurement, scarring, and other intangible loss such as permanent injury, limitation on mobility, physical activity, and any other effects that the collision has caused.
In Maryland, there are caps on how much a person can obtain from non-economic damages. The cap is approximately $800,000, such that even if the jury awards greater than that sum, the judgment will be automatically reduced in conformance with the cap.
Value of a Claim
Once an attorney is retained, they can take all the steps necessary to obtain compensation for the damages incurred by the at-fault party. The attorney can assess the liability of pursuing recovery against the at-fault party individually, by determining what assets would be available and the value of the claim that would be able to be obtained
The attorney advises the client of each of these elements so that they fully understand the value of their claim, and the ability to be able to recover damages under the available scenarios.
Role of Health Insurance
If the injured party’s health insurance has been used to pay the medical expenses they often require reimbursement for what they have paid when there is a recovery. This is such that the health insurer has a lien for the amount that they have paid and they are entitled to reimbursement.
Typically, the health insurance pays a portion of the full charges. This is then the amount that they seek once they seek reimbursement. However, this amount can always be negotiated.
At the end of the process, there are a few elements to be considered when obtaining final damages. These include the amount recovered, the expenses that have been incurred, and any liens and balances by medical providers or health insurers that must be repaid. The net balance is what is paid as recovery to the injured client.
