Understanding Different Types of "Damages"

The goal of a personal injury lawsuit is to provide a plaintiff with the compensation they need and deserve to be able to recover from an accident and pay any bills this recovery process generates. The law recognizes two types of damages that defendants can claim: punitive and compensatory.

Before filing a personal injury lawsuit it is important to familiarize yourself with these different types of damages so that you can seek the type best suited to your particular situation.

Compensatory Damages

Compensatory damages are meant to help the defendant make a fully recovery from his or her accident. This means providing the necessary compensation to help an accident victim return to the same quality of life that he or she enjoyed before the accident.

Compensatory damages are further divided into two groups: general damages and special damages. General damages deal with injuries that cannot be assigned a dollar amount, such as pain and suffering, emotional scarring, or the loss of a loved one. Special damages, however, are used to cover quantifiable injury costs such as medical bills, loss of or damage to personal property, or lost wages.

Punitive Damages

In some cases, especially when an incident is particularly severe, the amount issued by compensatory damages alone may not seem adequate enough to punish the defendant for his or her actions. In these cases, punitive damages may be assigned to provide a more appropriate level of punishment as well as to deter repetition of the act in the future.

Contact Us

If you are interested in filing a personal injury lawsuit and would like more information on compensatory and punitive damages, contact Cincinnati personal injury lawyer Shawn M. Stepleton today at 513-321-7733.