When you win a personal injury claim, you can recover all your losses caused by the other party’s negligent or wrongful actions. As you gather information about your losses for your lawyer, you may find examples helpful.
You usually only get one chance to pursue an injury claim. If you leave something out, you might forever waive the opportunity to get compensated for it. By understanding the breadth of recoverable losses, you can ensure you include everything in your claim.
Economic Losses
Your lawyer will explain that you need documentation of all your economic losses. These losses capture the financial impact of the other party’s negligence. They include every expense you paid or are legally obligated to pay.
For example, the following costs would qualify as economic losses:
- Doctor bills you have not paid
- Ambulance fees for which you are making installment payments
- Prescription medication you put on your credit card
- Taxi rides to your doctor’s office that you pay using cash
Out-of-pocket expenses are a subset of economic losses. They are the expenses you pay from your available cash or credit. In other words, these expenses do not include amounts billed to you until you pay them.
Similarly, they do not include any amounts covered by a medical lien. Oklahoma allows doctors to file a lien against any personal injury settlement or damage award you recover. When you get paid, you or your lawyer will pay the doctor.
Thus, medical liens give you the ability to satisfy your doctor’s bills only after you win your claim. Since they are paid afterward, these amounts are not out-of-pocket expenses.
What Are Out-Of-Pocket Expenses?
You can pay out of pocket for a variety of expenses caused by the other party’s negligence. Claimants often miss expenses, like parking garage fees at the doctor’s office, because they do not realize they can seek compensation for them. You can include these costs in an injury claim.
Medical Treatment Costs
Your claim can include any amounts you spend to obtain medical care. Accident victims with health insurance will typically pay a deductible or co-payment. Since co-payments and deductible amounts must be paid to the healthcare provider at the point of service, they qualify as out-of-pocket expenses.
These expenses also include amounts spent on home care according to a doctor’s recommendation.
For example, you can include the following amounts in your claim:
- First aid supplies
- Prescription and over-the-counter medication
- Crutches and wheelchair purchases or rentals
You can also include any costs you incur seeking medical treatment.
For example, if you must travel to access treatment, you can include the following expenses:
- Travel fares
- Fuel
- Food
- Lodging
- Parking expenses
For example, suppose that you broke your hip in a slip and fall accident and cannot drive. Your out-of-pocket expenses include the Uber fares you pay for a ride to your physical therapist. Similarly, accident victims in rural areas can include the cost of gas to drive to see a specialist in Oklahoma City.
Replacement Services Expenses
When you suffer a disabling injury, you may need to pay someone to provide the household services you normally perform.
Examples of the costs that qualify as out-of-pocket expenses include the following:
- Childcare expenses
- Cleaning service fees
- Grocery delivery costs
- Home maintenance expenses
- Vehicle repair costs
Bear in mind that these expenses only qualify if you normally perform these services but can no longer do so because of your injuries.
Home and Vehicle Modification Costs
You may need to modify your home and vehicle to accommodate disabilities caused by your injuries. If it’s possible, you should include what you pay to a contractor or auto repair shop to purchase and install assistive devices. The other party must pay for wheelchair ramps in your home and hand controls in your vehicle if your car accident paralyzes your legs.
Proving Your Losses
To have your expenses qualify as compensable losses, you must prove they meet the following criteria:
- Reasonable
- Necessary
- Caused by the other party’s acts or omissions
Reasonable means you paid a fair amount for the goods or services you received. On the other hand, many expenses are set by the service provider. For example, a one-mile ambulance ride could cost thousands of dollars. If you paid the amount charged, your costs are probably reasonable, even if they seem objectively high.
Necessary means the good or service was reasonable based on the injuries you suffered. If you followed your doctor’s recommendations, your expenses were probably reasonable.
For example, suppose that your doctor recommended a treatment that, ultimately, had little effect on your injuries. This treatment is probably reasonable even though it was ineffective because your doctor recommended it.
You prove causation by showing the other party’s actions logically and naturally fell within the sequence of events that resulted in your injuries. The other party’s defense often tries to show that you caused your losses because you caused the accident or procrastinated in having your injuries treated.
Get More Information About Out-of-Pocket Expenses
The law entitles you to seek reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses caused by your injuries. However, you may have difficulties identifying which expenses qualify and how to document them. Contact a lawyer for answers to these questions.