The extent of the losses for the injured party determines the number and size of the damages.
Losses included in determination of damages
• The victim’s medical expenses
• The cost of an operation that was supposed to fix or replace a damaged piece of property
• Lost earnings; in some cases, lost future wages would be included in determination of a damage award.
• There could be punitive damages, if the defendant’s actions had been egregious in nature.
• If the accident had resulted in a wrongful death, then the defendant would need to pay for the affected family’s emotional distress, in addition to the cost of the funeral.
Factors that could influence the size of a damage award that was issued at the conclusion of a courtroom trial
Any cap on damage awards: Some states and provinces have chosen to put a cap on the amount of money granted to victims that have claimed losses that were related to pain and suffering.
Evidence of the plaintiff’s effort to mitigate the extent and severity of any suffered damages: That would include the presentation of a medical report from a physician or a facility that had performed the initial treatment on the injured plaintiff.
The role of a scheduled IME: Sometimes, if the court or the insurance company has expressed concern about possible biases on the part of the victim’s treating doctor, then that same victim must undergo an independent medical exam (IME). In certain states, a judge might order an IME, even if the defendant’s insurance company has not requested one.
A claimant’s reluctance to retain an attorney: In such a situation, there would be an increased chance for failure to mention all the occupants in a vehicle that had been involved in an accident. That could certainly be the case, if some of the additional occupants had been minors.
Following the involvement of one or more minors, an experienced lawyer would seek an extension of the deadline for filing a lawsuit. That would give the same lawyer more time in which to seek out evidence of symptoms that indicated the presence of an overlooked injury.
Of course, if a claimant had chosen not to hire a personal injury lawyer in Windsor, then an injury in a minor might go undetected. In fact, a doctor might not see a seemingly healthy child or teen until after the emergence of a late-appearing symptom. The consequences for that failure could affect the awarded damages.
The insurance company could claim a failure to mitigate damages. Following the announcement of such a claim, the victim’s damage award would probably suffer a reduction from whatever amount might have been in what the court had considered offering to that same plaintiff/accident victim.