Truck accidents often lead to severe and life-altering injuries. If you or a loved one were harmed in a crash involving a commercial truck in South Carolina, you may be entitled to seek compensation. Joye Law Firm Injury Lawyers is here to help you understand your legal options, pursue fair compensation, and begin the journey of recovery. Call us today at (888) 324-3100 or contact us online to learn more in a free initial consultation.
What Damages Can I Recover After a Truck Accident?
The term “damages” refers to the amount of money you may be awarded in a personal injury lawsuit to compensate you for the losses you suffered due to the underlying accident. To understand how pain and suffering damages are calculated in a truck accident case, it’s helpful to know the three main types of damages allowed in personal injury cases in South Carolina. They are:
Special Damages or Economic Damages
These compensate you for dollars-and-cents losses, such as:
Medical Costs
Medical expenses are among the most straightforward types of economic damages to calculate. Each time you undergo an X-ray or attend an appointment with your doctor, you receive a bill for the services.
Our attorneys will gather all of your existing medical bills and get an understanding of your ongoing medical treatment needs. This includes assessing the costs of surgeries, physical therapy, prescription medications, assistive devices, and any long-term care or rehabilitation you may require.
We collaborate with medical experts to project the future financial impact of your injuries, ensuring that no expenses are overlooked. Using this information, we can calculate a comprehensive and appropriate demand for compensation to cover both your current medical bills and anticipated future healthcare costs. Our goal is to secure the financial resources you need for a full recovery and to protect your financial well-being in the years ahead.
Lost Income
Lost income is the money you can’t earn because your injuries prevent you from working or limit the types of work you can perform. If the accident leaves you with a permanent disability, you may experience future losses of income. Even if you are able to perform a different type of job in the future, it may pay less than your current job. You may seek compensation for present and future losses of income caused by a truck accident.
Our attorneys can help build a strong case by working with vocational experts who specialize in assessing your ability to work and earn a living post-injury. These experts evaluate factors such as your physical limitations, transferable skills, job market conditions, and earning potential to determine the financial impact of your injuries.
Additionally, economic experts can calculate the total value of your lost income, factoring in projected future wages, benefits, and career growth you may have achieved had the accident not occurred. By incorporating this data into your claim, we aim to secure fair compensation that accounts for both the immediate and long-term financial burdens caused by the accident.
Property Damage
Property damage refers to the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle following a crash. Even minimal damage will require some type of autobody shop work to repair. The insurance company representing the trucking company or at-fault truck driver should be financially responsible for the expense of repairing or replacing your damaged vehicle.
Compensation for property damage also could cover personal property that was inside the vehicle at the time of the collision. For example, if your laptop computer or cell phone was damaged in the crash, you may seek compensation for the cost of repairing or buying a new electronic device if it’s no longer functional.
Another important consideration in property damage claims is diminished value. Even after repairs, a vehicle that has been involved in a major accident often loses market value, as buyers may view it as less desirable than a similar car with no accident history. This reduction in resale value is known as diminished value, and you may be entitled to additional compensation to account for this loss.
General Damages or Non-Economic Damages
These compensate you for losses that are harder to assign a monetary value. Below, we’ll review some of the most common losses for which you may seek general or special damages.
Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering compensation includes payment for the physical and emotional impact a person experiences as the result of a tractor-trailer accident. The physical pain or mental anguish can disrupt your life after a serious accident; the effects can be temporary or may last a lifetime. Injuries can lead to chronic pain, physical impairments, and disability. Some people can’t return to their jobs because they are physically unable to complete the required tasks.
Many accident victims experience emotional, mental, and psychological distress that can be as debilitating as physical injuries. The effects of emotional injuries can last long after the physical wounds heal, like insomnia, PTSD, depression, and more.
Generally speaking, there are two ways insurance companies put a dollar value on pain and suffering:
- Multiplier method – In the multiplier method, non-financial damages are determined by multiplying the financial losses (medical bills, lost income, and other calculable expenses) by a number between one and five, depending on the severity of the pain and suffering the victim experienced.
- Per diem method– In this method, the accident victim is given a certain amount of compensation for each day they are expected to experience pain and suffering.
The way pain and suffering damages are calculated can vary significantly from case to case.
Loss of Enjoyment of Life
Truck accidents can cause serious injuries that make it impossible to do the things you once enjoyed. For example, a leg injury could prevent you from playing pickup basketball games or going dancing with your spouse.
A hand injury could prevent you from playing a favorite musical instrument or lifting your child. A traumatic brain injury could make it difficult to concentrate on reading your favorite books. The result of these injuries is the loss of enjoyment of life, for which you should be compensated.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are intended to punish wrongdoers and discourage others from behaving similarly in the future. These damages are typically reserved for cases where the defendant’s conduct goes beyond mere negligence, such as instances of drunk driving, gross violations of safety regulations, or knowingly operating a poorly maintained or improperly loaded vehicle.
Similarly to other types of damages, punitive damages may be brought against multiple parties. They might include trucking companies and port operators, especially if evidence shows they encouraged unsafe practices, failed to properly vet or train drivers, or ignored mandatory safety standards. Securing punitive damages often requires a strong presentation of evidence proving intentional or reckless disregard for safety. An experienced attorney can help build this case, ensuring the responsible parties are held fully accountable for their actions.
