Every person that has been injured in an accident enjoys the right to seek compensation. Still, not all claimants get compensated. Why do insurers pay compensation to some victims, but not to others?
Elements that push insurers to consider special compensatory damages
Each of those damages remains unique to a given accident victim. These damages relate to any expense that is related to the victim’s injury. Some of those expenses concern events in the recent past; others relate to anticipated events in the future.
What are examples of anticipated events in the future? Those are things like altered plans, or lost opportunities. Their value gets added to the value of the victim’s lost income.
General damages
These are also called non-monetary damages. Although none of them can be linked to a monetary value, the damages’ effect forces the administration of compensation. The level of a victim’s pain and suffering falls under the heading of general damages.
Wrongful death
If someone has been killed as the result of an accident, then the affected family has the right to seek compensation. The family can ask to be compensated for the funeral and burial costs. If the deceased loved one was a source of income, then the same family can seek further compensation.
Punitive damages
Plaintiffs do not request the awarding of plaintiff damages, but a court could request a ruling in favor of plaintiff damages. That ruling could be made, if a defendant has acted in a way that could be described as despicable or reprehensible. Unlike other damage awards, this one that is supposed to be paid to the plaintiff can be taxed.
While plaintiffs might worry about paying taxes on the punitive award, a plaintiff’s attorney could have a different concern. Even though interest accrues until the award has been granted to the plaintiff, a poor defendant might lack the cash for paying the court-supported award.
If a defendant had failed to come up with the required cash, the plaintiff’s lawyer might look for other sources of financial help. For instance, an Injury Lawyer in Ottawa could check to see if a defendant had any undisclosed assets. When defendants lack any assets, plaintiff’s lawyers have the right to put a lien on the defendant’s property, or to garnish the defendant’s wages.
A lawyer’s attempt to use such an approach, in order to obtain money for a client could tie up the courts. For that reason, the court system encourages a prompt payment of punitive damages. It does that by placing added interest on an award that has not yet been paid. Sometimes that approach works. At other times it does not, and the attorney must work to discover a source of payment money.
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