After a personal injury in Michigan, you can pursue a legal claim for a wide range of damages, including all of your medical expenses, lost income, out-of-pocket costs, and the personal suffering you have endured.
A successful personal injury lawsuit seeks financial recovery that addresses the full scope of your losses, both tangible and intangible. An experienced lawyer helps you identify all available types of damages and builds a case to secure the compensation for your injury claim.
Key Takeaways for Damages You Can Sue for in Michigan
- You may claim economic damages in a personal injury claim, which cover all of your medical treatment, lost income, and related out-of-pocket expenses.
- Michigan law allows you to seek non-economic damages for pain, suffering, emotional distress, and the impact the injury has on your quality of life.
- In some cases involving reckless or malicious conduct, you may also pursue exemplary damages.
- Your legal team works with medical and financial professionals to calculate the total value of your losses to present a comprehensive claim.
Economic Damages After an Injury
Economic damages refer to the specific, calculable financial losses that result from an injury. These form the foundation of most Michigan personal injury lawsuits because they represent direct costs you have incurred.
Calculating these damages involves gathering bills, receipts, and wage statements to create a clear picture of the accident's financial impact. A complete accounting allows your attorney to present a clear and justifiable demand to the at-fault party’s insurance company.
Medical Expenses: Past and Future
The most immediate economic loss many people face is the cost of medical care. Economic damages cover all reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to the injuries you sustained. Your legal team will gather all documentation of your medical costs.
Common examples of recoverable medical damages include:
- Hospital Bills: This covers costs associated with emergency room visits, hospital stays, surgical procedures, and intensive care.
- Ongoing Treatments: You may recover compensation for follow-up doctor appointments, physical or occupational therapy, and cognitive rehabilitation.
- Medical Equipment: Costs for items such as crutches, wheelchairs, home modifications, and other assistive devices are typically recoverable.
- Future Care: An analysis from medical professionals helps project the cost of future treatments, surgeries, or long-term care you will require.
Lost Wages and Diminished Earning Capacity
An injury often forces you to miss work, resulting in lost income. You can seek compensation for all the wages you lost while recovering from the injury. This calculation includes not just your regular salary but also any bonuses, overtime pay, or commissions you would have earned.
Beyond immediate lost wages, a serious injury can affect your ability to earn a living in the future. This concept, known as diminished earning capacity, addresses the long-term impact on your career.
If your injuries prevent you from returning to your previous job or require you to take a lower-paying position, you can pursue damages for this difference in potential lifetime earnings.
Out-of-Pocket Costs and Other Financial Losses
Many other expenses arise during recovery that aren’t strictly medical or wage-related. These out-of-pocket costs are also recoverable as economic damages.
Think about all the ways the injury has cost you financially, and keep detailed records of all spending related to your injury and recovery, as even small expenses can add up significantly over time.
Other economic damages include:
- Travel Costs: This includes mileage and parking fees for trips to doctors' appointments, pharmacies, and therapy sessions.
- Household Help: If you need to hire someone for childcare, cleaning, or yard work that you previously handled, these costs are recoverable.
- Property Damage: In cases like car accidents, you can claim compensation for the repair or replacement of your vehicle and any personal property damaged in the crash.
- Prescription Medications: All costs for prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, and medical supplies are part of your economic damages.
Non-Economic Damages in Michigan
While economic damages cover your financial losses, non-economic damages address the personal, human cost of an injury. These damages are subjective because they compensate you for harms that don’t have a specific price tag, such as pain and emotional anguish.
In Michigan, the law recognizes that the true impact of an injury goes far beyond medical bills.
Since these losses are not tied to a specific receipt, calculating their value requires experience and skill. An attorney presents evidence of how the injury has affected your daily life, your relationships, and your overall well-being.
Compensation for Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering is a legal term for the physical discomfort and emotional distress you experience because of an injury. It covers the physical pain from the injuries themselves, both at the time of the accident and continuing through recovery.
Several factors influence the value of these types of personal injury damages:
- Severity of Injury: More severe, painful, and permanent injuries generally result in higher compensation for pain and suffering.
- Duration of Recovery: The length of your recovery process and whether you’ll face a lifetime of pain and limitations directly impact the valuation.
- Impact on Daily Life: The inability to participate in hobbies, recreational activities, or daily routines you once enjoyed demonstrates a significant loss.
- Emotional Trauma: Documented experiences of anxiety, depression, fear, or sleep disturbances resulting from the accident strengthen your claim.
How Michigan Law Addresses Emotional Distress
Emotional distress, sometimes called mental anguish, is a component of non-economic damages that focuses specifically on the psychological impact of an injury.
You may have a claim for emotional distress if the accident caused you to experience conditions like anxiety, depression, insomnia, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
To support a claim for emotional distress, you might use evidence from therapy sessions or a psychological evaluation. Your own testimony about how your mental state has changed since the accident is also a powerful tool.
Suing for emotional distress in Michigan requires demonstrating how the defendant’s negligence caused these psychological harms. An attorney helps you articulate the fear, frustration, and sadness that have become a part of your life due to the injury.
Loss of Consortium and Companionship
A serious injury affects not only the victim but also their closest relationships. In Michigan, the injured person's spouse may bring a claim for loss of consortium. This type of claim seeks compensation for the negative impact the injury has had on the marital relationship.
The uninjured spouse seeks damages for the loss of services, society, and companionship. For instance, the spouse can show how the injury has limited their partner's ability to provide love, affection, and assistance around the house.
Are Exemplary Damages Possible in a Michigan Injury Case?
Most personal injury claims seek compensatory damages, which include the economic and non-economic losses discussed above. Their purpose is to make the injured person "whole" again financially.
However, in certain rare circumstances, a Michigan court may award what it calls exemplary damages. Many people know this concept by the term punitive damages, but Michigan law has a distinct approach.
While some states use punitive damages purely to punish a wrongdoer, Michigan’s exemplary damages have a different goal. They’re meant to compensate the plaintiff for humiliation, indignity, and outrage resulting from the defendant’s malicious or reckless conduct.
To receive them, your lawyer must prove the defendant acted with a willful disregard for your rights. This high standard of proof means exemplary damages are only available in a small fraction of cases.
How a Michigan Personal Injury Lawyer Helps You Secure Damages After an Accident
After an accident, a Michigan personal injury lawyer focuses on one primary goal: securing the full and fair damages you need to recover. They build a comprehensive case designed to account for every single one of your losses, many of which are easy to overlook without legal experience.
Attempting to manage this complex process on your own while recovering can jeopardize your ability to obtain a fair outcome. Your attorney manages the entire process of identifying, documenting, and proving your claim’s value.
This work frees you to concentrate on your health while they handle all communications with insurance adjusters and defense attorneys.
Specific actions your lawyer takes to secure damages on your behalf include:
- Identifying All Losses: A lawyer looks beyond the obvious costs, such as hospital bills, to uncover less apparent damages, including diminished earning capacity, future medical needs, and the cost of household assistance.
- Hiring Experts: They can retain and work with medical specialists, vocational rehabilitation professionals, and economists who can provide expert testimony to establish the full extent of your damages.
- Gathering Evidence: Your legal team collects all necessary documentation, including medical records, employment history, and financial statements, to build a strong, evidence-based claim for every dollar you seek.
- Valuing Non-Economic Damages: They utilize their experience in handling similar cases in Michigan to place an appropriate value on your pain, suffering, and other non-economic losses, presenting persuasive arguments to support that valuation.
- Negotiating a Settlement: An attorney leverages the evidence they have gathered to negotiate skillfully with the insurance company for a fair personal injury settlement that covers all your identified damages. If a fair offer is off the table, your lawyer can take your fight to the courts.
FAQ for Damages You Can Sue for in Michigan
How Do Insurers and Lawyers Calculate Pain and Suffering Damages in Michigan?
No rigid formula exists in Michigan to calculate pain and suffering damages. Instead, insurers and attorneys determine a fair value by considering several key factors, including the severity and permanence of your injury, the amount of pain you have experienced, and the overall impact on your quality of life.
Your lawyer builds a compelling case by presenting evidence to the insurance company that illustrates the human cost of the injury.
Can I Sue for Lost Wages if I Used Sick Days?
Yes, you can still claim compensation for lost wages even if you used paid sick days or vacation time, as you had to use those earned benefits due to an injury caused by someone else. You can seek compensation for the value of that lost time.
What Happens if I Was Partially at Fault for the Accident?
Michigan follows a modified comparative negligence rule, which means you can still recover damages as long as your share of fault is 50% or less. However, your total damage award is then reduced by your percentage of fault.
Is There a Time Limit To Sue for Damages in Michigan?
Yes, Michigan law imposes a strict deadline, known as the statute of limitations, for filing a personal injury lawsuit. For most general negligence cases, such as car accidents and premises liability claims, you have three years from the date of the injury to file.
Missing this deadline means you permanently lose your right to seek compensation.
How Does Michigan’s No-Fault Law Affect My Car Accident Claim?
Michigan's no-fault system means your own auto insurance policy initially covers your medical bills and a portion of lost wages through Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits, no matter who caused the crash.
However, to sue the at-fault driver for non-economic damages like pain and suffering, your injury must meet a legal threshold. An attorney helps you demonstrate that your injury qualifies to pursue a full claim against the negligent driver.
Protecting the Full Value of Your Injury Claim
Open a notebook or a document on your phone and start a daily log. Each day, write down three specific things: your pain level, a daily activity you could not do because of the injury, and every out-of-pocket expense you incurred.
This simple record becomes one of the most powerful tools in your case, providing undeniable proof of how this injury impacts your life. When you’re ready for a legal team to take that evidence and fight for your future, Michigan Injury Lawyers is ready to help. Call us at (248)-454-0800 to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.
Thomas L. Stroble
FOUNDER
Mr. Stroble is a highly accomplished graduate of Michigan State University, with degrees in both science and law. He specializes in commercial lawsuits and personal injury cases. Licensed to practice law in Michigan and even the U.S. Supreme Court, he’s a well-qualified legal expert. Besides his career in law, he loves outdoor activities and volunteers as a part-time police officer in Birmingham.
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