What Compensation Can You Recover After a Car Accident in Atlanta? Medical Bills, Lost Wages, and Pain & Suffering

A car accident can have a long-lasting impact on your life, leading to medical issues, emotional trauma, and other challenges that may impact you for years to come. In the aftermath of an accident, it can be easy to focus on your most immediate needs, like repairing a vehicle you use for work. But it is important to carefully consider all the ways an accident has impacted you to understand your right to damages.

Understanding Damages

Under the Georgia fault system, the driver who causes a crash is responsible for paying damages to the victim of a car accident. This includes two categories of damages, economic and noneconomic. Economic damages are those damages where you can show actual financial loss. For example, if your car requires $5,000 in repairs, these would constitute economic damages. Economic damages require proof of the loss through documents like a bill or receipt. 

Noneconomic damages cover injuries where it may not be possible to prove exactly the amount that is required to remedy the harm that occurred. Individuals who experience a traumatic car accident may have injuries that are not readily visible or quantifiable, like ongoing emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, or other mental health challenges. Compensation for these types of injuries is noneconomic damages.  

The Most Significant Types of Compensation

While a variety of damages may be available if you are the victim of a car accident, three categories of damages are important to think carefully about, as they often evolve, and the full amount of compensation you are entitled to may not be immediately apparent at the time of your accident. When dealing with these types of damages, it is important to speak with an Atlanta car accident attorney to make sure you are getting the full compensation you deserve.

Medical Bills

Medical bills are often the most significant part of a car accident victim’s claim. It may seem obvious that individuals are entitled to compensation for medical bills incurred through an ambulance ride and immediate hospital stay. But recovery for medical expenses involves many other types of medical treatment, including:

• Diagnostic tests such as X-rays, MRIs, or CT scans
• Surgeries
• Physical Therapy
• Prescriptions
• Chiropractic or acupuncture treatments
• Medical equipment
• Ongoindoctor’s visits
• Psychological treatment for PTSD
• Treatment for chronic conditions

Some of these expenses may relate to medical conditions that worsen over time. For example, you may hit your head in an accident and slowly develop chronic headaches in the days and weeks afterward. And some medical conditions may not quickly resolve, requiring ongoing medical support and estimates of future medical costs. 

Lost Wages

If you are out of work for any period of time as a result of your accident, or are no longer able to perform the work you used to do, you can be compensated for the wages you lost as a result of your accident. Even if you elect to use paid time off during your recovery, you can still claim lost wages for that period of time because the accident forced you to use your PTO.  

Where an accident impacts your ability to work moving forward, or changes how you work, you can also claim compensation for lost future opportunities, such as lost promotions or lost earning capacity moving forward. If an accident has impacted your ability to work in any way, it is important to speak with an Atlanta car accident attorney to consider all possible options for compensation.

Pain and Suffering

Anyone who has experienced an accident knows that medical bills and car repairs rarely reflect the true cost of the accident and the damage that it causes. There are intangible impacts that arise from surviving a car accident that can have a significant effect on your life. These types of injuries are often referred to as pain and suffering. Pain and suffering damages are intended to compensate you for the full impact on your mental, emotional, and physical health beyond what is on your medical bills.

Pain and suffering can include ongoing physical pain that you may experience, even if it does not rise to the level of preventing you from doing your job. It also includes emotional trauma and mental anguish that may not result in a medical diagnosis, but still have an impact on your life. Pain and trauma can also include ways in which an accident has disrupted or changed your lifestyle. For example, you may find in the aftermath of an accident that you are no longer able to do certain physical hobbies that you previously enjoyed, like biking or golfing. The suffering you experience from these losses is part of your overall damages. 

As a general rule, the more severe your documented physical injuries are, the higher an award of pain-and-suffering damages will be, as serious injuries are assumed to have a greater impact on your overall quality of life. But pain and suffering can arise in a variety of contexts, and if you believe you have a right to compensation for pain and suffering, you should speak with an Atlanta car accident attorney. 

Protecting The Full Value of Your Claim

Car accidents can be disorienting, and it is often difficult to wrap your head around the full impact in the immediate aftermath. Yet, an insurance company may push you for a quick settlement on a car accident claim, hoping you will accept their offer before the full extent of your damages becomes apparent. It is critical not to rush into an immediate settlement.

At Mabra Law, our experienced Atlanta car accident attorneys will take the time to sit down with you and explore the full extent of your injuries, ensuring they are clearly documented and nothing is left out. We will then work with you to fight for the amount you truly deserve. For more information or to schedule a consultation, contact us today.