What are the types of damages in personal injury cases?
What are the types of damages in personal injury cases? Min Austria Assistant at Ascent Law LLC The types of damages that can be awarded in a personal injury case vary, depending on the specific situation. In general, damages are awarded for physical harm that the plaintiff sustains as a result of the other party's negligence. They can also be awarded for emotional harm and property damage. The first kind of damages is called compensatory damages , and it is awarded to compensate the victim for injury or harm. Punitive damages , on the other hand, are not intended to compensate the victim, but to punish the responsible party and deter similar behavior. Punitive damages are awarded only when the defendant's actions were egregious enough to result in the victim's injury. In most personal injury cases, punitive damages cannot exceed ten times the amount of compensatory damages. Non-economic damages are a more difficult type of compensation to prove in a personal injury ca...