How Much Can You Recover in an Ohio Personal Injury Claim?

When you have a personal injury claim (or think you may have a personal injury claim), one of the most important questions you need answered is, “How much can I recover?” If the value of your claim is minimal, then filing a claim might not be worth it. But, if you are entitled to a substantial settlement or verdict, then hiring a Columbus personal injury attorney could be critical to your long-term health and financial stability.

So, how much can you recover in a personal injury claim in Ohio? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. The value of your claim depends on your individual circumstances—from the medical bills you’ve already incurred to how your injuries will impact your daily life in the future.

Damages Available to Accident Victims in Ohio Personal Injury Claims

But, while calculating the value of your claim isn’t easy, it is extremely important. You need to make informed decisions, and you need to make sure you do not settle for less than you deserve. So, while we can’t estimate the value of your claim until we get to know you, here is a general overview of the types of damages a Columbus personal injury attorney at Malek & Malek Law Firm may be able to help you recover:

1. Medical Bills

If you are entitled to financial compensation for your accident, we can seek compensation for your current and future medical bills. This includes all of your medical bills from the accident—from your initial doctor’s office or emergency room (ER) visit through the end of the recovery process.

In-patient care, scans and x-rays, blood tests, surgical procedures, follow-up visits, psychological or psychiatric therapy, and physical therapy and rehabilitation are all covered. If you are never able to fully recover, then you are entitled to compensation for your medical bills (and your other financial and non-financial costs) for the rest of your life. When you choose our firm to represent you, we will work with your doctors and other medical experts to ensure that we have a comprehensive understanding of the long-term costs of your injuries.

2. Prescriptions, Medical Supplies and Other Out-of-Pocket Costs

Along with medical bills, a Columbus personal injury attorney can also help you seek compensation for all of your other out-of-pocket costs. This includes not only prescriptions and medical supplies but also other expenses that you are forced to incur as a result of your injuries. If you need in-home care, if you need someone to clean your house and mow your lawn, if you need childcare, if you need transportation, or if you need any other types of services, these all can—and should—be included when calculating the value of your personal injury claim.

3. Lost Income and Benefits

If you are forced to miss work as a result of your accident, your personal injury claim will also include damages for your lost income and benefits. You are entitled to just compensation for every day and hour you miss from work. This is true whether you miss work because you need to go to the doctor’s office or hospital or because your injuries physically prevent you from working.

4. Lost Future Earning Capacity

In addition to compensation for your lost income and benefits, a Columbus personal injury attorney at Malek & Malek Law Firm can also seek compensation for your lost future earning capacity. In many cases, accident victims’ injuries will prevent them from working well into the future. Once we know your injuries’ long-term effects, we can then use this information to determine how much we can seek for your lost future earnings.

Even if you are able to work in a limited capacity, we can still seek damages for any reduction in your wages or salary. No matter how severely your injuries impact your life, you are entitled to just compensation for all of the impacts they cause.

5. Pain, Suffering and Emotional Trauma

Beyond compensation for your financial losses, we can also seek compensation for the non-financial effects of your accident-related injuries. This includes compensation for your pain, suffering and emotional trauma. If you are living with pain or other reminders of the accident on a daily basis, these are losses for which you deserve to be fully and fairly compensated.

The damages you are entitled to recover for your pain, suffering and emotional trauma are in addition to any compensation you are entitled to receive for the costs of treating your physical and psychological conditions. In many cases, accident victims’ compensation for the non-financial effects of their pain and suffering will significantly exceed the compensation they are entitled to receive for their out-of-pocket expenses.

6. Scarring and Disfigurement

In addition to long-term pain, suffering and emotional trauma, many accident victims will also experience permanent scarring and disfigurement. If the physical reminders of your accident will never disappear, this is another type of non-financial loss for which you are entitled to just compensation.

7. Loss of Companionship, Consortium and Enjoyment of Life

Finally, when calculating the value of your personal injury claim, it will also be necessary to place a dollar value on your loss of companionship, consortium and enjoyment of life. Traumatic injuries can impact victims in lots of different ways—including ways they never could have imagined. If you are no longer able to spend meaningful time with your friends and family, if you find yourself losing your connection with your spouse or partner, or if you are no longer able to generally find enjoyment in your life, you deserve to receive the maximum compensation available for these losses as well.

Discuss Your Claim with a Columbus Personal Injury Attorney for Free

Were you seriously injured in an accident in Ohio? If so, we strongly encourage you to contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation. To discuss your claim with an experienced Columbus personal injury attorney at Malek & Malek Law Firm, please call 888-444-7440 or get in touch online today.