Call Us atIn car accident injury cases, you may seek compensation through the liability insurance coverage held by the other person involved and potentially through your insurance coverage. You may also be able to directly sue the person “at fault” for the accident. While this could allow you to recover for various “damages” that insurance typically would not cover, it can also be a complicated and time-consuming process, even compared to negotiations over insurance claims.
Before deciding whether you want to take this route, you should know a little bit more about how state law approaches this element of the civil litigation process and what restrictions it may place on your pursuit of compensation. Here is a broad overview of recoverable damages after an Anchorage car accident, which a seasoned car accident lawyer could expand on during a private consultation.
Understanding Economic Versus Non-Economic Damages
Just like other states, Alaska splits “compensatory damages,” which are losses that an injured person can trace directly back to an injury they suffered due to someone else’s misconduct, into two types. These types are “economic” and “non-economic” damages, sometimes respectively called “special” and “general” damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the more straightforward of the two, as they include losses with objective financial values that can be proven through bills and receipts, such as medical bills and lost work income.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages have completely subjective financial values that must be established through qualitative evidence like expert reports, witness testimony, and personal statements made by the injured person. These are sometimes called “pain and suffering” damages, as physical pain and suffering is the most common type of non-economic loss incorporated into Anchorage car crash claims. Other recoverable damages of this type include psychological trauma, emotional anguish, and lost enjoyment of life.
Are There Damage Caps for Car Crash Claims?
This state places “caps,” or limits, on the total amount of compensation that a personal injury victim can demand for non-economic damages. The exact cap that applies to a particular injured “plaintiff” changes depending on whether that plaintiff has suffered either “severe disfigurement” or “severe permanent physical impairment,” as outlined in Alaska Statutes § 09.17.010.
Under this section of state law, someone who has not been seriously injured in one of the ways can only demand a maximum of $400,000, or $8,000 multiplied by the number of years remaining in their life expectancy for all non-economic losses they have suffered from their car wreck. If an Anchorage plaintiff has suffered permanent harm, though, the recovery cap is the greater of $1,000,000 or $25,000 multiplied by the number of years remaining in their life expectancy.
An Anchorage Attorney Could Help Maximize Recoverable Damages After a Car Crash
While money alone cannot completely erase the mental and physical trauma that a serious car crash can cause, it could reduce the negative effects that your accident and subsequent injuries will have on your life. At the same time, courts require a good reason to award you money, and the same goes for insurance companies trying to settle a car accident claim with you.
If you want to get the most money possible for recoverable damages after an Anchorage car accident, you should consider working with a tenacious and experienced attorney. Call today to discuss your recovery options.
