How Do Long-Term Ailments Affect My Car Accident Claim?
Posted in Car Accidents on April 18, 2019.
You cannot control when you suffer injuries in a car accident on Alabama roads. These accidents can happen to anyone – and you can receive lasting and painful disabilities as a result of your accident. If you were in a car accident and came out with long-term ailments, you can claim additional compensation on top of your immediate injuries.
What Is a Long-Term Ailment?
A long-term ailment, also referred to as a permanent disability or a permanent injury, is any type of injury that impacts your physical or mental health for the remainder of your life – or a good majority of the rest of your life. This ailment has the opportunity to impact your ability to perform normal work or your daily activities.
Car accidents have the potential to cause serious long-term ailments to you, both physically and emotionally. Common long-term ailments in car accidents include the following conditions.
- Paralysis in one or more body parts
- Traumatic brain injury and brain damage
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- The onset of severe anxiety
- Quadriplegia or paraplegia
- Cognitive disability and impairment
- Permanent disfigurement and scarring
- Chronic pain
- Severe burns
Long-Term Ailments and Car Accident Claims
When you suffer from a long-term ailment as a result of your car accident, you can experience lasting impacts on your ability to work, your financial situation, and your overall quality of life. You can find yourself paying thousands of dollars in treatment costs for the rest of your life. You will have to take time off of work to recover and you may find that you cannot perform your former job due to your ailment. You can encounter significant mobility and emotional challenges because of your ailment that can cause you harm.
You can claim compensation for these injuries and losses through a car accident insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit. Because of the nature of your long-term ailment, you may have the ability to claim multiple forms of compensation through these claims. Typically, car accident claims that involve long-term impairments result in higher settlements than accidents with short-term and recoverable injuries.
Potential Damages in Long-Term Ailment Car Accident Claims
In the state of Alabama, you can claim both economic and noneconomic damages for your car accident injuries economic damages refer to out-of-pocket costs that you can calculate with documentation, such as bills and time off requests. With a personal injury claim for your car accident, you can recover compensation for the long-term costs of your permanent ailment – allowing you to seek the treatment you need for the rest of your life.
You can claim the following economic damages in Alabama car accident claims.
- Past and future medical expenses for your injuries immediately after the accident and your long-term ailments, including hospitalizations, surgeries, medications, therapies, and mobility equipment
- Lost wages due to recovery time and your loss of future earning potential, in the event that the long-term ailment impedes your ability to perform your job
- Property damage you sustained as a result of your car accident
On the other hand, noneconomic damages refer to the emotional and intangible consequences of your injuries. Long-term ailments can reduce your quality of life, lower your life expectancy, and cause you undue emotional. You can claim the following noneconomic damages in your Alabama car accident claim.
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Loss of quality of life
- Permanent disability and impairment
- Depression and anxiety
Schedule a Free Consultation
If you suffered an injury in a car accident in Alabama, do not wait to seek the compensation you need to recover. You can claim compensation for past and future medical expenses. Contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible to recover the compensation you need to care for your ailments.