To file a personal injury lawsuit you have to prove that another person caused damages to you or your property due to his or her negligence or breach of duty. When you suffer at another person’s negligence, you are allowed to recover compensatory damages. These damages may come in two categories: economic damages and noneconomic damages.

Economic damages are tangible damages. These are damages that will not change, even as the jury evaluates the fees, these costs should remain the same. The damages might include any loss of money that you suffered due to your injury. These are costs that you had to pay out of pocket or costs that you will have to pay out of pocket. If you are unsure of what economic damages include, here are the economic damages that the judge typically considers.

Medical Expenses

Medical expenses are the number one economic award that you recover after suffering a personal injury. Medical expenses include the money that you paid on hospital bills, past treatment and may even cover future treatments. This may include hospital costs, ambulance fees and rehabilitation needed to heal from your injuries.

Lost Wages

After suffering a serious injury, you may not be able to return to work right away. In some instances, you may be unable to return to work at all. The court will factor in whether you also lost your earning capacity. The judge may look at your health, age, life expectancy, past earning capacity, education and more to determine what you lost when you suffered your accident. You may even be able to receive payment for vocational training.

Household Services

If you need to hire someone to help you with household chores and other services while you are recuperating, then you can ask for household services with your economic damages. After all, these are costs that you would not have had to pay for, had you not been injured. You cannot, however, ask for the cost of a housekeeper or other employee if he or she performed these services when you were not injured. When you suffer an injury, you and a personal injury lawyer will typically calculate how much you deserve in terms of economic damages. Economic damages are tangible damages that you can quantify. If you are unsure of how much you can ask for in your claim, consult with a personal injury attorney, like from National Visa Attorney as soon as possible.