What Are Special & General Damages in Personal Injury?

If someone else’s negligent behavior has caused you to be injured, you may be entitled to file for damages through an insurance claim or a lawsuit in civil court. A personal injury lawsuit or negotiations with the insurance company involve a lot of legal jargon that may leave you uncertain about what is happening.

An experienced Texas personal injury lawyer with Zinda Law Group can help explain what is happening, but we also understand you may prefer to have other educational resources available to you. 

Zinda Law Group takes pride in its low caseload, which allows for more individualized attention and has facilitated the successful recovery of millions of dollars in the last year alone.

We work diligently with our clients to investigate all avenues of their cases to determine the appropriate types and values of damages that we request. This diligence is part of what fuels our high success rates in both pre-trial negotiations and at trial. 

Components of a Personal Injury Case

Understanding the components of your case is vital to gaining a more complete understanding of the role damages play. There’s a lot of complicated nuance in the legal system. However, your case comes down to establishing that the other person caused harm and determining the cost of that harm.

Harm

Understanding what qualifies as harm can help determine what your damages may consist of. This most commonly refers to physical and emotional injury in personal injury claims. However, it may also include property damage. 

Damages

When an accident occurs that results in a civil lawsuit or insurance claim, there is some kind of cost. In the negotiation or lawsuit process, you or your attorney will determine the overall cost of your losses, whether they be injuries, physical loss, or other kinds of inconvenience or disruption to your life. These are known as damages. 

Understanding Damages 

Damages can be presented under many names or labels. These can be based on the general nature of them or the function they serve. Beyond general and special damages, some other terms you may see when referring to damages are:

• Economic damages
• Non-economic damages
• Compensatory damages
• Actual damages

Additionally, you may hear the term ‘punitive’ in damages. Punitive damages in a personal injury claim are not meant to act as a compensatory award to the victim but as punishment for the defendant. Punitive damages are applied after the fault has been determined and when the damage or injury was caused by malicious intent or truly reckless behavior.

Special Damages

Special damages may also be referred to as economic damages. These are damages that directly correlate to a monetary cost. This amount can be easily evaluated by assessing costs for things such as:

• Medical bills
• Ambulance expenses
• Towtruck expenses
• Cost of vehicle repair or replacement
• Cost to repair or replace property damaged in the accident, like car seats or electronics
• Lost wages
• Rental car

Suppose you were injured in a car accident, and it resulted in a concussion that left you unable to use your computer for work for five days. In addition to the value of any other property damage, you would determine your income for those five days missed, plus your medical costs and that would give you the amount to request for special damages.

Future medical costs may also be included in this assessment with the help of expert witnesses and medical documentation. 

General Damages

General damages can be more challenging to assess. Also known as noneconomic damages, these are more subjective and unrelated to actual costs. Some of the injuries taken into consideration when assessing general damages are:

• Physical pain
• Emotional anguish
• Disability 
• Disfigurement 
• Reduced quality of life
• Loss of marital benefits

These can sometimes be difficult to assess because they can be so subjective. However, good documentation of your symptoms can be helpful. Your attorney may often choose to call in expert witnesses to testify to the effects your injuries may have on your quality of life. 

Supporting Your Damages Claim

You can obtain or preserve evidence to support your damage claims in several ways. Truthfully, it all comes down to documentation. This may be documenting injuries, property damage, or your experience. 

At the scene of the accident, it may benefit you to take photos of the scene. This includes any damage to property and especially any injuries you sustained. Taking photos of injuries as they heal may provide additional evidence of your recovery beyond doctors’ notes or testimony from friends and family. 

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, it can be incredibly beneficial to seek medical care and evaluation. This ensures that your injuries and any symptoms are documented. Additionally, failing to seek medical attention may affect others’ perception of your injuries regardless of your reasoning or the severity of the injury. 

Perception

Because general damages, in particular, can be so subjective, how you present yourself can make a huge difference in determining your settlement. Your sincerity may not be seen if you appear to be manipulating the situation or demonstrating poor behavior.

Establishing a reputation for integrity and respectful behavior from the time of the incident through determining damages can go a long way in ensuring general damages are taken seriously. 

Special and General Damages in Your Personal Injury Case

Special and general damages are similar in that they are both considered compensatory damages meant to reimburse or compensate you for the injuries and inconvenience you have sustained. Beyond that, they are differentiated in what qualifies to be claimed under that specific type of damage and how they are justified or supported by the insurance company or court.

These differences are straightforward in many ways but may be subject to some nuance that a professional can better define. 

If you are dealing with a personal injury case on your own, you may be in over your head. Don’t hesitate to contact Zinda Law Group for a free case evaluation to discuss your legal options. In addition to the free consultation, you can rest assured that we are confident in a positive outcome for your case because we don’t take payment until we recover compensation.