Economic damages are compensation for financial losses incurred in an accident. They are usually caused by someone else’s negligence. For example, if a driver hits you after running a red light, you could file a claim or a lawsuit against them and make them pay for everything you lost, including money, due to their actions.
The personal injury lawyers at Oresky & Associates, PLLC protect New York residents by seeking just compensation after accidents where the actions of another caused or contributed to your injuries. Our bilingual team assists clients by determining what kinds of damages they deserve and fighting hard to secure those funds.
What Damages Are Available in a New York Personal Injury Case?
There are three types of compensation that you can pursue after a personal injury:
- Economic damages
- Non-economic damages
- Punitive damages
As explained above, economic damages reflect your financial losses.
Non-economic damages refer to the physical and emotional toll the accident has had on you. This often includes past and future pain and suffering, emotional distress, and lost quality of life.
Punitive damages are the rarest form of compensation. They are only awarded in cases where the at-fault party exhibits extreme negligence or malice. Punitive damages are awarded in addition to whatever economic and non-economic damages the injured party is entitled to.
What Are Examples of Economic Damages in a Personal Injury Case?
The kinds of economic damages you can recover depend on the specifics of your case, including the type and quality of evidence available to support your claim. As your personal injury attorneys, it is our job to find evidence that connects your economic losses to your accident. Such evidence might include your medical records, bills, receipts, employment records, and tax information, as well as testimony from experts and witnesses.
Our law firm often seeks compensation for the following types of economic damages:
Medical Expenses
The more severe your injuries, the more money you might need to spend on:
- Doctor or dentist bills
- Hospital stays
- Surgery
- Prescription drugs
- Rehabilitation or physical therapy
- Assistive devices
You could be entitled to compensation for the money you have already spent on medical care as well as estimated future treatment costs. As long as your medical expense is connected to your personal injury, the liable party should have to pay for it, not you.
Lost Wages
Personal injuries can affect your ability to work. If your injury is temporary, you can seek damages for the income, union benefits, and other benefits you lost from the moment you were injured to the moment you recovered (or will recover).
You do not have to be completely incapacitated to pursue lost wages. For instance, if you are able to work part-time during your recovery, then you can ask the insurer to cover the difference between your part-time salary and your normal salary.
Lost Earning Capacity
If you suffered a permanent injury, our New York attorneys can pursue damages for loss of employment, future loss of earnings, and lost job opportunities, including the opportunity to ask for a raise or a promotion. We can also ask for the difference between your past and present salaries if you were forced to find a new line of work that pays less than your previous job.
Property Damages
Property damage is especially common in traffic accident cases where the victim’s vehicle sustained damage or was completely destroyed. It also applies to any case where an item of value, including jewelry and electronics, was damaged in the accident.
A claim or lawsuit could allow you to seek compensation for:
- The cost of repairing the item
- The cost of replacing an item that was unsalvageable
- The diminishment of the item’s value
Out-of-Pocket Expenses
Out-of-pocket expenses are economic losses that do not fit into any of the above categories.
They frequently include:
- Treatment-related travel expenses
- Other transportation expenses
- Replacement services, such as childcare, housekeeping, or lawncare
- Delivery expenses
You already have to suffer physically and emotionally because of this accident. There is no reason for you and your family to suffer financially as well. Our law firm is prepared to pursue all of the damages you qualify for.
Can I Still Recover Economic Damages If I’m Partially at Fault?
Yes, CPLR 1411 allows you to recover economic and other kinds of damages even if you contributed to the accident. However, the greater your percentage of fault, the less you can recover in damages.
How Much Are Economic Damages Worth in New York?
Your case’s worth depends on how much you lost and expect to lose because of the accident, and on your share of liability. There is no average amount that all claimants receive: each person’s financial recovery must be calculated individually to reflect their situation.
Oresky & Associates, PLLC, will perform this task for you, applying our 30-plus years of legal experience to your case while you focus on your injuries and your family.
Is There a Limit for Economic Damages in NYC?
New York law does not place a cap on how much you can pursue for economic damages. This will not stop the insurance company from trying to limit your payout by blaming you for the accident, undervaluing your losses, or denying that their client is liable.
Let our New York lawyers prove your case’s true value by building the strongest possible case file.
How Are Economic Damages Calculated in New York?
Several parties will participate in calculating your economic damages, including:
- The insurance adjuster: The insurance company will have an adjuster investigate your accident, review the evidence, and evaluate how much your losses are worth to them for settlement purposes or what they think a jury could potentially award at trial.
- An economist: Our law firm can hire an economist to review the facts of your case and evaluate your present and future losses. They can present their findings to us via a written statement and/or in court under oath.
- A jury: If your case goes to trial, a jury, operating under instructions from the judge, will decide how much you recover for your economic and other damages. The jury members make their decision based on testimony and evidence presented by both sides during the trial.
Factors Affecting Economic Damages in NYC
Personal injury settlement amounts in NYC depend on, among other things, how severely you were injured. In general, the worse your injury is, the more you could potentially recover in both economic and non-economic damages.
Injuries that might result in higher payouts include:
- Wrongful death
- Spinal cord injuries
- Brain injuries
- Amputation injuries
- Burn injuries
- Broken bones
- Injuries that require surgical intervention
Our legal team represents clients regardless of the severity of their injuries. We will work to prove that you have asked for an appropriate payout and that the liable party’s insurer should pay it.
Get a Free Consultation After an Accident in NYC
Call Oresky & Associates, PLLC at (929) 560-0687 to learn more about how you can pursue economic damages in a personal injury case. Our New York accident attorneys have recovered over $500 million in settlements and verdicts for our clients, granting them time and peace of mind to recuperate from their injuries in peace.
Whether you were hit by a car, slipped and fell, or suffered a work injury, our firm is here to assess your case for free and fight for a just outcome. We are ready to start on your case right away without charging upfront fees.
