If a bus accident injured you, your medical expenses could be overwhelming. Additionally, you may not be able to return to work right away, so your other bills might be piling up. You might also be paying someone to help you with household tasks you cannot manage due to your injury.
Damages in Huntsville bus accident cases are meant to provide a remedy, aiming to restore you to the position you would have been in had the crash not occurred. You could potentially recoup your out-of-pocket expenses and receive compensation for your pain and suffering. Speak with an experienced bus accident attorney at our firm to find out more.
Compensatory Damages
When you suffer an injury that was someone else’s fault, the law entitles you to compensatory damages. These reimburse your expenses and pay you for any losses that do not have a fixed value.
Special Damages
Special or economic damages reimburse the expenses you incurred and the financial losses you suffered due to your injuries. You must have documentation as proof.
Billing statements from hospitals, healthcare professionals, and your health insurer document your medical expenses. Be sure to keep your receipts for all payments, including parking at medical appointments and items you buy at the pharmacy. Keep track of your mileage to be reimbursed for travel costs, and get a receipt from people you hire for chores such as housekeeping and yard work.
Your injuries might prevent you from working. If so, you are entitled to your lost wages and the value of any paid time off you took. Your employment records and tax returns prove these losses. If your bus accident injuries will limit your work in the future, our Huntsville attorneys could engage an expert to calculate your lost future earning potential and include this in your total damages.
General Damages
Also known as non-economic or pain and suffering damages, they compensate you for the impact the injury has on your quality of life.
General damages provide compensation for physical pain, disability, scarring, and lost enjoyment of life. The value of these intangible impacts is difficult to estimate. The amount you may receive depends on factors such as your age, the severity of your injuries, and the effect they have on your daily activities.
Are Punitive Damages Available?
Punitive damages, also called exemplary damages, are extra money awarded to an injured person or the family of someone killed in an accident. They work like a fine on the responsible party for extremely negligent or intentionally dangerous behavior.
Punitive damages rarely come into play in personal injury cases, but some bus accident cases qualify. For example, if the owner of a fleet of school buses fails to keep them in good repair and a mechanical issue kills children, a court may award punitive damages. Similarly, if the driver of a tour bus drives drunk and you suffer severe injuries in a resulting accident, punitive damages may be appropriate.
Alabama Civil Practice Code § 6-11-21(d) limits the value of punitive damages to three times your compensatory damages or $1,500,000, whichever is larger. Our Huntsville attorneys could discuss whether punitive damages might be available in your bus wreck case.
Consult a Huntsville Attorney About Pursuing Damages for Bus Accident Injuries
When you have severe injuries, engaging a capable legal professional is essential. Our attorneys are highly skilled at maximizing damages in Huntsville bus accident cases.
We take our fees and costs from the verdict or settlement we win for you, so you engage us at no risk. Contact us today to arrange a free consultation to discuss your bus accident.
