The amounts of money that plaintiffs get in personal injury cases that make the news may seem like a lot. When you read about them, you might start dreaming about the fun you could have with a million dollars or however much money the court awarded the plaintiff. In fact, personal injury settlements and damages awards do not make anyone rich, and no one has fun with them.
When plaintiffs win their personal injury cases, the result is that they break even. The economic damages that plaintiffs receive in personal injury lawsuits only cover their injury-related financial losses. This includes past and future medical bills, past and future lost income, and legal fees; the numbers can add up to millions if the plaintiff’s injuries are severe.
Most plaintiffs who will eventually be able to return to work after their accidents do not get noneconomic damages for pain and suffering, so their damages award is nothing more than reimbursement for the money they lost because of the defendant’s negligence. The defendant cannot get out of paying you what they owe just because you have health insurance. To find out more about calculating damages in a personal injury case, contact a Houma car accident lawyer.
The underlying principle of tort law, which includes personal injury cases, is that it is the defendant’s responsibility to reimburse the plaintiff for financial losses that the plaintiff incurred because of the defendant’s negligence. Some plaintiffs are in worse financial shape than others when their cases get to trial or reach a settlement, but this is because some plaintiffs were in worse financial shape than others before the accident. They might be able to qualify for loans, family members might be able to help them with their expenses, or they might have abundant savings from lucrative careers or investments. The scales of justice do not care about this. If the plaintiff lost $100,000 because of the defendant’s negligence, the defendant must reimburse the plaintiff $100,000, whether the plaintiff’s bank account balance on the day of the trial has six digits or one. This is the collateral source rule; the defendant must pay, even if the plaintiff has other sources of funds, known in legal terms as collateral sources.
One such collateral source is health insurance. If your health insurance paid some of your medical bills, the defendant must reimburse you for the total amount of the bill, the insurer’s portion included. Plaintiffs must then reimburse their insurance companies for what they paid. Insurance write-offs do not count; you cannot include them in your request for damages because no one paid them.
A personal injury lawyer can help you get the money you need after an accident, even if you have health insurance. Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey in Houma, Louisiana, to set up a consultation about your case.
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