After getting involved in a car crash, the two main costs that most people think about are the cost of the medical bills they have to pay and the wages that they are losing during the recovery. The first is often easy to quantify, as you simply have to look at the bills you get from the medical center. The second can be more tricky.
One thing to remember is that you don’t have to be in the hospital with severe, life-altering injuries in order to justify missing time at work. Certainly, there are cases where people have traumatic brain injuries or severe internal injuries that take months to heal, and it’s obvious that they lost out on a lot of wages. But even if you were discharged the same day, the pain you’re feeling after an accident could be enough to keep you out of work for a substantial amount of time.
Spinal cord issues
For example, maybe you got involved in a car accident and you suffered spinal cord damage. You have limited mobility, you’re going to spend months doing rehabilitation and you may need special surgery to repair the damage. All of this could keep you out of work for months or years.
On the other hand, maybe you got in the same accident but your car held up a little better, and your back pain was able to be addressed by a chiropractor. You didn’t need surgery, although you did need treatments, like cupping, readjustments, hot stone massages, deep tissue massages and much more.
People sometimes think they need to go back to work right away, but this can be nearly impossible when you still have significant pain. If you do a lot of physical labor, such as lifting and carrying, you may not be able to perform your duties. This can cause you to lose thousands of dollars in wages as you wait for your back to heal, and those wages still need to be considered when you’re seeking compensation – even though you know you will return to work relatively quickly.
Has your case gotten complicated?
If your personal injury compensation case gets complicated and there are disputes over exactly what should be paid out, be sure you know about all of your legal options.