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Recovering Damages in Prince George’s County Car Accident Cases

Car accident victims in Prince George’s County can recover for the property damage to the vehicle if the insurance company doesn’t pay for that. If they don’t have collision insurance, they can make that an element of their damages. They can recover for their lost wages from time off from work. They can also recover for their pain and suffering, including past pain and suffering and future pain and suffering. In addition, they can recover for the medical bills that they have to pay as well as any costs of future medical costs.

How is the amount of recovery determined?

In order to determine the cost of the medical bills, they would submit a bill from all of their medical providers. In order to prove the amount of lost wages, they would submit time sheets from their employer stating the amount of time that they were out of work and their salary, either hourly or yearly. In terms of pain and suffering, that is determined either by a judge in the district court or by a jury at the circuit court level. The pain and suffering is based on the time that they had their injuries from the time of the accident up until the time of the trial.

Future pain and suffering is what the person is going to incur in the future. They can also recover for future medical expenses by having the doctor give an opinion as to whether any of the injuries are permanent. The doctor, as a medical professional, will be able to offer an opinion as to how much treatment is expected for the rest of the person’s life. The rest of the person’s life will be determined by an actuary scale to get a life expectancy finding. That will estimate how many years the person is expected to live and then they compute how much treatment the person will need.

Pain and suffering is based on how much the person has suffered and how their life and daily activities have changed because of their injuries. That determination is made by the judge or the jury. Another factor is whether the person appears to have had their life altered by the accident and, if so, to what degree. That is a subjective amount, but that’s what they are left with. They can prove that through the testimony of their treating doctor and their medical records, and that all comes down to how well the injuries are documented. One of the most important things a person can do is document everything. When people testify that they are hurt or injured, there is an inference that they might be exaggerating their claims to their benefit. In order to combat that, they have to report their injuries to a doctor and have the doctor testify to that.

How is property damage handled in terms of recovery?

Property damage is different. An injury is more subjective than property damage because to determine the property damage, they factor in who is at fault for the accident and then they have the repair person estimate the damages. From there, they determine how much they will have to pay for the property damage to fix the car, salvage the car, or get a new car or even the diminished value of the vehicle.

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