SARATOGA SPRINGS, UTAH CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER—JAKE GUNTER

Damages in a car accident can be economic or non-economic. Economic damages can be precisely calculated, like medical bills or future lost wages. Whereas non-economic damages are not precise in nature, like pain and suffering, future pain, future surgeries or bodily disfunction.

Here are the common Saratoga Springs, Utah car accident damages.

(1). Medical Bills. All medical bills that are related to the car collision count towards your damages. The insurance adjuster will argue that the bills are not related to the car collision. It is common for insurance companies to point towards anything in your past medical record that indicates you had pre-existing injuries.

(2). Future Medical Bills. Future medical billing can be serious. The cost of future medical bills can be mapped out by a life care planner and economist. Future medical bills generally require an expert witness to tie together for the jury the need for the future medical care. Normally a doctor, life care planner and economists are required witnesses.

(3). Pain and Suffering. Pain and suffering is what the jury says it is. Utah model jury instruction gives the jurors the following guides in determining general damages (called pain and suffering). See jury instruction CV2004 below.

(4). Future Pain and Suffering. Not only can the jury compensate you for the pain and injuries sustained during the car accident, but also for future pain. Some injuries just don’t seem to go away. The extent and duration of the injury are specific factors the jury considers when awarding money compensation.

(5). Property Damage. The classic property damages in a Saratoga Springs, UT car accident is the car itself. You need to get your car evaluated immediately by the adjuster or a collision repair facility. Other common items may be computers, watches or other electronics in your car that were destroyed or lost.

(6). Rental Car. The at-fault driver has no duty to provide you a rental car, but they often do because they know that if you go get one, it can be added to damages on the back end. The 3rd party at-fault driver has no contractual duty to provide you a rental car, but your own 1st party car insurance may. Having rental car coverage is a specific car insurance benefit, like towing that you have to purchase prior to the collision.

(7). Emotional Pain. Emotional pain comes in many different forms and the jury can compensate you for it. Normally you will need to show your emotional damages through counseling records or the pure terribleness of the accident itself.

(8). Lost Wages. Both lost back and future wages are recoverable in a Saratoga Springs, UT car accident. Your wages lost attending physical therapy or other medical appointments count, but not court hearings. Future lost wages also count. Lost wages are much different than future lost earning capacity.

(9). Lost Earning Capacity. Future lost earning capacity is where you can’t do the job you used to do before the car accident. Before the accident you were a hand surgeon, but after the accident your hands don’t work as well. Before the surgery you were a hairdresser, but now your back can’t keep up with standing all day. The difference in the lost future stream of income over the person’s lifetime is captured and called lost earning capacity. Normally you will need a vocational rehab specialist, a medical doctor diagnosing the injury and an economist to prove up a lost earning capacity case.

Utah Jury Instruction on General Damages.
Utah has a specific jury instruction on factors the jury may consider when awarding general, non-economic damages in a Utah car accident. Jury instruction CV2004 states:

CV2004 Noneconomic damages defined.
Noneconomic damages are the amount of money that will fairly and adequately compensate [name of plaintiff] for losses other than economic losses.
Noneconomic damages are not capable of being exactly measured, and there is no fixed rule, standard or formula for them. Noneconomic damage must still be awarded even though they may be difficult to compute. It is your duty to make this determination with calm and reasonable judgment. The law does not require the testimony of any witness to establish the amount of noneconomic damages.

In awarding noneconomic damages, among the things that you may consider are:

(1) the nature and extent of injuries;
(2) the pain and suffering, both mental and physical;
(3) the extent to which [name of plaintiff] has been prevented from pursuing [his] ordinary affairs;
(4) the degree and character of any disfigurement;
(5) the extent to which [name of plaintiff] has been limited in the enjoyment of life; and
(6) whether the consequences of these injuries are likely to continue and for how long.

While you may not award damages based upon speculation, the law requires only that the evidence provide a reasonable basis for assessing the damages but does not require a mathematical certainty.

I will now instruct you on particular items of economic and noneconomic damages presented in this case.

Some car accident damages cases will turn on the extend of the pain and suffering, while others may turn on physical scarring of a young women. Each case is different and the jury instruction is not an exhaustive list of factors the jury may consider. Having an experienced Utah personal injury trial lawyer is critical in telling your story to the jury.

CALL/TXT SARATOGA SPRINGS, UTAH CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER JAKE GUNTER. LET HIS 20 YEARS OF COURTROOM EXPERIENCE HELP YOU. (801) 373-6345.