If you have been injured in any type of accident, you could have grounds for seeking financial compensation through a personal injury claim. In this scenario, you may qualify for both financial and non-economic damages.
Non-economic damages are funds awarded to victims to cover the intangible negative impact of their injuries. For example, awarding money for medical bills would be providing a victim with economic damages. Awarding money to a victim for lost enjoyment of life would be a non-economic damage. One is directly related to monetary expenses while the other is not.
Florida’s Laws Have Changed
Florida previously had a law in place that limited the amount of non-economic damages an injury victim could recover. However, the law has since been struck down multiple times by the District and Supreme Courts as being unconstitutional. This means that there is no artificial cap on the amount of money you can seek for damages such as pain and suffering and lost companionship.
Examples of Non-Economic Damages
Some examples of non-economic damages are as follows:
- Pain and suffering, both emotional and physical
- Emotional distress
- Lost sexual function and lost companionship, also known as loss of consortium
- Permanent disfigurement
- Lost enjoyment of life
Each situation is unique, so discussing your injuries from a holistic perspective can be helpful when determining which non-economic damages to ask for. In other words, the more you tell your attorney, the better.
Punitive Damages
There is an additional type of non-economic damage that you might receive: punitive damages.
Punitive damages are neither economic nor for the pain and suffering you have experienced. Instead, they are awarded to punish the negligent party for malicious actions and truly reckless behavior. Jurors and judges will sometimes award punitive damages if they are trying to send a message that this type of behavior is unacceptable.
An example would be forcing a manufacturer to pay large sums of money in punitive damages after selling a product that they knew was dangerous. On a smaller scale, a drunk driver may be ordered to pay punitive damages for the injuries he or she caused after purposefully drinking and then getting behind the wheel.
Discuss Your Case with a Miami Personal Injury Attorney
Speaking with Attorney Boris Lavent is the best way to determine what your injury case might be worth. While non-economic damages don’t have obvious dollar values, he can provide you with an idea of your claim’s value after reviewing the pertinent facts.
To meet with Boris Lavent of Lavent Law, P.A., complete the form below or call (305) 257-9464. He can work to maximize the value of your injury claim by including both your financial losses and your non-economic damages.
Address
Phone