A California accident victim is entitled to recover compensation for medical costs, lost wages, and other expenses with a specific dollar value– from the negligent party who caused it. In Southern California, a knowledgeable Los Angeles personal injury attorney is an accident victim’s best advocate.
At Salamati Law, we have represented accident victims in lawsuits against negligent parties for more than 25 years. We use our skills and experience to determine the total economic losses and to recover compensation from liability insurers and other parties that are responsible for them.
What evidence is needed to prove an accident victim’s economic damages?
Unlike non-economic damages, evidence of economic damages is a straightforward function of the specific costs and expenses that an accident victim seeks to recover:
- Evidence of medical costs and expenses includes hospital and doctor bills, invoices from lab testing services, and receipts for prescription pharmaceuticals and medical equipment
- Evidence of lost wages is inferred from the accident victim’s pay stubs and salary reports from the weeks and months immediately before the accident
- Evidence of expenses for rehabilitation and accommodations for injuries includes invoices from physical and occupational therapists, billing statements for modifications to housing and vehicles for things like ramps, handrails, and powered lifts
- Evidence of property losses includes statements from repair shops and insurance adjustments for damaged or destroyed personal property
How do negligent parties try to deflect responsibility for reimbursement of economic damages?
To recover damages, an accident victim needs to show that a party’s negligence was the direct and proximate cause of the victim’s injuries. Connecting an accident victim’s medical bills to an accident is a relatively straightforward matter when the bills refer to a hospital’s or doctor’s services within the first few days after the accident.
When a victim requires ongoing medical services, their lawyer will need to show how all of those services relate to the accident and not some other medical condition. Your team of Los Angeles personal injury lawyers will be a critical factor in demonstrating that connection.
How can an accident victim improve their chances of recovering the largest amount of economic damages?
Every California accident victim should have a medical exam as soon as possible, even if there are no apparent injuries. Someone who hits their head in a slip and fall accident, for example, might not immediately experience symptoms of a concussion. Securing medical attention immediately will help in connecting economic damages directly to the accident.
The victim should also confer with and retain a personal injury lawyer. They can then begin to catalog the victim’s actual economic damages with invoices, receipts, and bills for medical and other services. Individuals in California have two years from the date of an accident to file a lawsuit to recover their economic and non-economic damages. Retaining a lawyer early within this two-year period will substantially improve an accident victim’s opportunity to recover maximum compensation.
Call the Los Angeles Office of Salamati Law for a free consultation
Please see our website or call our Los Angeles offices of Salamati Law for a complimentary analysis of your accident and injury case. We represent persons who have suffered injuries in Southern California car crashes, slip-and-fall accidents, and other accidental events– caused by someone else’s negligence.
