One of the worst feelings in the world is the helplessness that can come when you are injured through the fault of another. When someone else injures you, it makes sense for them to compensate you. After all, it costs money to recover from injuries. On top of that, you might lose wages as a result of the time you spend recuperating.
But what if you have experienced something even more devastating, particularly if someone else has behaved in a reckless manner? In those cases, it might make sense for you to be awarded money beyond compensation for injuries. You might be awarded punitive damages.
What are Punitive Damages?
There are two main types of damages associated with accidents when someone is at fault:
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Compensatory: These are damages that the at-fault party is required to pay in order to restore your losses. If you are injured through someone else’s actions, that person or that person’s insurance company is required provide compensation to pay for medical bills, property damage, and lost wages. Even pain and suffering compensation falls into this category.
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Punitive: When a jury or a judge looks at what happened, and decides that the actions of the at-fault party were egregious, additional damages might be awarded. The point of punitive damages are to discourage others from similar behavior. Rather than just restoring the injured party to the condition before accident, punitive damages are designed to further punish the at-fault party.
States choose their own rules for setting punitive damages. There are some rules that states impose limiting the amount of money that juries and/or judges can award in terms of punitive damages. Other states, though, don’t limit the amount that can be awarded, allowing juries and judges complete discretion.
Setting punitive damages can be a little difficult, since it’s not as straightforward as looking at a hospital bill, or figuring out how many hours someone missed due to rehabilitation and then coming to the amount of salary that would make up for it. Instead, punitive damages are about trying to figure out an appropriate level of financial consequence associated with reckless or egregious behavior.
But do you deserve punitive damages? These types of damages can be controversial, since punitive damages are sometimes quite high. Damages in the millions of dollars draw attention to a case, and the hope is that large punishments will discourage others from doing something similar in the future, whether it’s drunk driving or a company that has recklessly poured chemicals in the environment.
However, if you have been seriously damaged by someone else’s outrageous behavior, it makes sense to ask a personal injury attorney about the precedents related to your case. You want an idea of what’s reasonable to expect in your case, and an experience lawyer can help you in this area. Punitive damages usually come at the end of a trial. If you accept a settlement you might not receive punitive damages. However, if you and your attorney recognize that someone else’s negligence resulted in serious injuries, or long-term disability, it makes sense to consider the possibility of punitive damages.