How Much Compensation Can You Recover For A Personal Injury in California?

Clients always ask how much compensation they will be able to recover by filing a personal injury claim. The amount of compensation that a personal injury victim is awarded can depend on a number of factors, including the severity of the injury and how the injury was treated. But, it’s important to know that the sky is not the limit when it comes to personal injury compensation. Here’s what you need to know about damage caps for a personal injury in California:

Economic vs. Non-Economic Damages

Before learning about damage caps, it’s essential that you learn about the differences between economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are awarded to victims that have suffered losses or incurred expenses as a result of their injuries. For example, a victim may be awarded compensation to cover her medical expenses or the income she lost because her injuries prevented her from going to work.

Non-economic damages are given to victims to compensate them for their pain, suffering, loss of companionship, and other anguish they have experienced as a result of their injuries.

Caps on Economic vs. Non-Economic Damages
There are no caps on economic damages in the state of California, so victims don’t have to worry about not being able to recover enough to cover their expenses and losses. However, there are limits on non-economic damages in certain types of cases.

Medical malpractice victims cannot recover more than $250,000 in non-economic damages. This is a significant limitation since many medical malpractice victims suffer a great deal and deserve more compensation for their pain. But fortunately, there are no limits on economic damages for medical malpractice victims.

There are also limits on non-economic damages in car accident cases involving uninsured drivers. An uninsured driver usually cannot recover any non-economic damages in a personal injury claim-even if the other driver is insured and found to be completely at fault for the accident. The only way that an insured driver can recover non-economic damages in a car accident claim is if the at-fault party was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident.

If you have been injured by the negligent acts of another person, let personal injury attorney James Rush at Rush Injury Law help. James Rush will work tirelessly to recover as much compensation as possible from the at-fault parties. Contact our office by calling 415-897-4801 or filling out the online form on our website www.rushinjurylaw.com to request a free consultation.