If you get into a car accident, you may need to seek compensation from the other driver. It’s not just damage to your car that needs to be addressed. You may also have suffered injuries in the accident, or a child or another loved one may have been hurt.
As you work through this process, it’s important to consider both short and long-term types of compensation that you may need. For instance, emergency medical care may be necessary right after the crash, along with transportation to a medical center – typically by an ambulance or a medical helicopter. In the case of a severe accident, this creates tens of thousands of dollars in immediate medical costs. Additionally, if you were supposed to go to work and you got injured, you could start missing out on wages that you otherwise would have earned.
What are the long-term costs?
Many of the long-term costs are similar, but they’re just more extensive than people assume. For instance, even if you recover from the initial injuries, you may have a reduced earning capacity, meaning you will always earn less than you would have prior to the accident. You can sometimes seek compensation for this reduced earning potential, along with the wages that you directly lost while recovering from your injuries.
On top of that, you may have extensive healthcare costs after the immediate medical care that you receive. You could need therapy, rehabilitation, medication, in-home care and much more. With serious injuries, such as spinal cord injuries, you could have tens of thousands of dollars in annual costs for the rest of your life.
As you can see, it’s very important to understand all of the legal options you have to seek financial compensation after a crash.