[Transcript]
What compensation can you receive after a life-changing car accident? My name is Kenneth Berger and I handle life-changing injury and wrongful death cases across the state of South Carolina and I want you to know that if you've been involved in an accident like this, you certainly have the right to file a personal injury claim.
Types of Compensation and Claims after a Car Accident
As part of that claim, or part of that legal action, you can seek compensation for medical expenses and those could be past and future, right? And those could include expenses for hospitalizations, surgery now or in the future, any type of ongoing medical treatment, any type of medications that may be necessary.
Another type of damages that you can recover and seek compensation for after this type of injury is for loss of income. And the loss of income may be for your lost earnings at present; it can also be for any impact that your injuries in this accident have on your future earning ability.
Another area that a lot of clients want to know about is can they be reimbursed for their out-of-pocket expenses and the answer is absolutely. Be it co-pays, medical supplies, medical equipment, home or vehicle modification, attendant care, whatever it may be; any harm, any loss, financial or otherwise, that you have incurred because of this accident, the state of South Carolina, under our law, says that you ought to be able to recover financially for it.
There are some other types of damages that are called non-economic. These are damages, not that go toward something you can put a hard dollar figure on, but more towards just the impact on your life. And those could include things like lost enjoyment of life, physical pain, suffering, mental anguish. And once again, even though it's hard to put a dollar figure on those things, the law requires that a dollar figure be put on those things because of the harm you've suffered.
You should also know that there's what's known as loss of consortium, and a loss of consortium claim is when your injuries have resulted in an impact on your spouse, okay? It doesn't just have to be your physical relationship, but if the relationship has changed, the duties and responsibilities have shifted, and that's caused harm or increased burden to your spouse, then your spouse would have a loss of consortium claim.
Life-changing injury cases can be complex. There can be a lot of different moving parts. There may be questions over not only who is responsible, but how much insurance is in play, which insurance companies ought to pay, which insurance companies ought to pay first. A lot of times, life-changing injury cases can require expert opinions on everything from future medical needs to loss of overall earning capacity throughout your life and those things factor into the amount of compensation you should receive under our state law.
If you have any questions whatsoever regarding either the accident itself, the injuries, the damages that you're dealing with now, feel free to reach out to us. We really pride ourselves on the information we give and the guidance that we provide. And again, my name is Kenneth Berger. This is all I do; life-changing injury, wrongful death cases this is all we do. We've spent a long time working to understand damages, understanding people, and understanding the different ways that we can help clients most. So if you have any questions whatsoever, please reach out to us and we very much look forward to hearing from you soon. On top of everything and more than anything else, we do wish you as full and as fast a physical recovery as possible. Take care