To some extent, what you can collect depends on what state you live in. But all states allow you to collect financial and physical damages, which compensate you for costs like:
- Past and future medical bills to treat the injury.
- Past and future wages lost because of the injury.
- Damage to your property caused by the accident.
- Costs of a funeral for a wrongfully killed person.
- Any other costs that were caused by the accident.
- Compensation for a serious, painful injury.
- Compensation for a permanent disability.
Most of the time, you can also collect emotional damages, such as:
- Loss of a deceased loved one's care and companionship.
- Pain and suffering.
- Mental anguish.
- Emotional distress.
- Loss of quality of life.
Many states put a cap on damages, especially in certain types of cases, such as medical malpractice. That means that if a jury awards you more money than the cap allows, your winnings will be reduced to the maximum amount allowed by law. In addition, not all states allow you to ask for attorneys' fees.
In some cases, you may also be able to collect punitive damages, which are not tied to any specific loss. Punitive damages are designed to punish the defendant for knowingly doing something illegal or unethical, or for very extreme carelessness. Even if you can prove those types of behavior, punitive damages are not available in every state or every type of case.
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