Thanks to years and years of lawyers advertising their legal services for people who have been involved in all types of accidents, most Americans know that they may benefit financially for them to consult with a personal injury lawyer if they?ve been involved in a motor vehicle collision.
But what most of those advertisements do not say is that a majority of car accident cases can actually be handled without an attorney, not to mention the fact that hiring an attorney solely for the purpose of handling your property damage claim is almost never a financially beneficial option.
Economic Damages vs. Non-Economic Damages
When a person pursues a personal injury claim, there are essentially two primary types of damages that can be sought by the plaintiff; economic damages and non-economic damages.
Generally speaking, economic damages are defined as damages that can be calculated and accounted for through receipts, records and other types of documents. These damages essentially have a price tag affixed to them, so the plaintiff should be able to construct an itemized list of the damages and be able to come up with a relatively straightforward value of the losses that he or she has suffered.
The term non-economic damages, on the other hand, generally refers to the physical and emotional stress that an accident victim suffers as a result of personal injury and is otherwise known as ?Pain and Suffering.? Physical pain, mental suffering, emotional distress and loss of consortium are examples of non-economic damages that can be sought in a personal injury claim.
Property Damage is Difficult to Negotiate
As I previously mentioned, property damage is considered an economic damage because an exact price tag or value can be affixed to the financial loss that the accident victim suffered. In the example used above, the plaintiff sought compensation for property damage ? which typically represents a damaged or totaled vehicle ? in the amount of $11,500.
When it comes to pursuing a personal injury claim, the property damage portion is a pretty straightforward form of financial loss because the value of a vehicle is pre-determined by the market value. With non-economic damages, a personal injury attorney will work to negotiate the compensation that his or her client shall receive in a settlement based on pain and suffering that the accident victim has experienced.
But with economic damages, such as property damage, an attorney is not going to be very successful in negotiating a higher value of your vehicle. Think about it ? if your car was worth $11,500 and it was totaled, how would an insurance company justify paying you for more than the value of your vehicle?
Furthermore, the plaintiff will have to pay the attorney for his or her services, which means that even if the attorney recovers the full value of the vehicle the plaintiff will lose money and not have enough to replace the damaged property. Attorneys know this is a battle that will go nowhere, and that?s why they won?t bother to handle claims solely for property damage.
Category: Car Accidents
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