After a car accident in Louisiana, many injured people are left wondering the same thing: “What am I entitled to recover?” The answer depends on the facts of the crash, the insurance coverage available, the medical treatment needed, and how the accident has affected your daily life.

In Louisiana, an injured person may be entitled to compensation for both financial losses and personal losses. Some damages are easy to calculate, like medical bills or lost wages. Others are more personal, like pain, suffering, inconvenience, and the loss of enjoyment of life.

Below are the most common types of compensation an injured person may be able to recover after a Louisiana car accident.

Medical Bills

Medical expenses are usually one of the biggest parts of a car accident claim. If someone else caused your accident, you may be entitled to recover the cost of reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to the crash.

This can include:

Emergency room visits
Ambulance bills
Doctor appointments
Chiropractic treatment
Physical therapy
MRI, CT scan, and X-ray bills
Pain management treatment
Injections
Surgery
Prescription medication
Future medical care

Even if you have health insurance, medical bills still matter. Your health insurer may have paid some of the bills, but there may still be balances, liens, co-pays, deductibles, or future treatment that needs to be considered.

Future Medical Treatment

Some injuries do not heal quickly. A person may need treatment months or even years after the accident. In those cases, the injured person may be entitled to compensation for future medical care.

Future medical expenses may include future doctor visits, therapy, injections, surgery, pain management, or other treatment recommended by a doctor.

This is important because an insurance company may try to settle a claim before the full extent of the injury is known. Once a case is settled, the injured person usually cannot come back later and ask for more money if the injury gets worse.

Lost Wages

If your injuries caused you to miss work, you may be entitled to recover your lost income. This can include time missed because you were physically unable to work, because a doctor took you off work, or because you had medical appointments related to the accident.

Lost wage claims may be supported by pay stubs, tax records, employer letters, work schedules, or medical records showing your work restrictions.

Loss of Future Earning Capacity

Sometimes a car accident injury affects a person's ability to work in the future. This is different from simply missing a few days or weeks of work.

For example, an injured person may not be able to return to the same job, may have to work fewer hours, may lose overtime opportunities, or may be forced into a lower-paying position. In serious cases, the person may not be able to work at all. Importantly, Loss Earning Capacity is not calculated based on your past employment work.  

When an injury affects a person's future ability to earn money, that loss may be part of the claim.

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering is one of the most important parts of a personal injury claim. It is meant to compensate the injured person for the physical pain caused by the accident.

This includes pain from the injury itself, pain during treatment, pain from therapy, pain from injections or surgery, and ongoing pain that affects daily life.

Pain and suffering is not always visible on an X-ray or MRI, but it is real. It can affect how a person sleeps, works, drives, exercises, cares for family, and enjoys life.

Mental Anguish and Emotional Distress

Car accidents can cause more than physical injuries. They can also cause fear, stress, anxiety, frustration, and emotional distress.

Some people become nervous about driving. Others have trouble sleeping. Some feel overwhelmed because they cannot work, cannot take care of their family like before, or cannot do the things they used to enjoy.

In Louisiana, emotional distress and mental anguish may be considered as part of the injured person's damages. It is much more difficult to prove these damages but they can be considered.

Loss of Enjoyment of Life

An injury can change a person's lifestyle. A person who once enjoyed sports, exercise, hunting, fishing, dancing, traveling, playing with children, or simply doing household chores may no longer be able to do those things the same way.

Loss of enjoyment of life compensates the injured person for the way the accident has taken away or limited the activities that made life enjoyable.

This type of damage is very personal. It depends on who the person was before the accident and how the injury changed their life afterward.

Disability or Physical Limitations

Some injuries leave lasting limitations. A person may have permanent pain, reduced movement, weakness, scarring, nerve damage, or restrictions on lifting, standing, walking, sitting, or working.

If the injury causes long-term or permanent disability, that can increase the value of the claim. The law recognizes that a person should be compensated not only for what has already happened, but also for how the injury may affect the rest of their life.

Property Damage

Car accident claims often include property damage as well. This may include the cost to repair or replace your vehicle.

You may also be entitled to recover other property losses, such as damage to items inside the vehicle, towing charges, storage fees, or rental car expenses, depending on the facts of the case and available coverage.

Loss of Consortium

In serious injury cases, the injured person's spouse may also have a claim for loss of consortium.

Loss of consortium refers to the way the injury affects the relationship between the injured person and their spouse. This can include loss of companionship, affection, support, household services, and the normal benefits of family life.

These claims depend heavily on the seriousness of the injury and how it has affected the family.

Wrongful Death Damages

If a car accident causes death, certain family members may be entitled to bring a wrongful death claim under Louisiana law.

Wrongful death damages may include funeral expenses, loss of financial support, loss of companionship, grief, mental anguish, and other damages recognized under Louisiana law.

These cases are different from ordinary injury claims and should be handled carefully because the damages can affect multiple family members.

Punitive Damages in Drunk Driving Cases

Punitive damages are not available in most Louisiana personal injury cases. However, Louisiana law does allow punitive or exemplary damages in certain cases involving intoxicated drivers.

If a person is injured because of a driver who was intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, punitive damages may be available if the legal requirements are met.

These damages are meant to punish dangerous conduct and discourage similar behavior in the future. It is important to note that most insurance policies do not cover punitive damages. Therefore, in order to obtain compensation for punitive damages, one must generally have to go to trial and the damages are generally cast against the person and not the insurance company.

The Insurance Policy Limits Matter

Even if an injured person has serious damages, the amount actually recovered may depend on the insurance coverage available.

Potential sources of recovery may include:

The at-fault driver's liability insurance
The vehicle owner's insurance
An employer's insurance, if the driver was working
Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
Commercial vehicle coverage
Umbrella or excess insurance policies

A major part of handling a Louisiana car accident claim is identifying all possible insurance coverage. Sometimes there is more than one policy that may apply.

Do Not Settle Too Early

One of the biggest mistakes an injured person can make is settling too early. Insurance companies may try to resolve a claim before the injured person knows the full extent of the injury.

Before settling, it is important to know:

What injuries were caused by the accident
Whether more treatment is needed
Whether surgery or injections may be recommended
Whether there are unpaid medical bills or liens
Whether future medical care is needed
Whether the injury affected work or earning capacity
Whether the injury caused permanent limitations

Once a settlement is signed, the claim is usually over. That means the injured person may be responsible for future problems, even if the injury gets worse later.

Talk to a Louisiana Car Accident Lawyer

Every car accident case is different. The value of a claim depends on the facts, the injuries, the treatment, the insurance coverage, and how the accident affected the person's life.

At the Law Office of David Rutledge, we help injured people understand their rights after car accidents in Louisiana. If you were injured in a crash, you should not have to deal with the insurance company alone.

If you have questions about your car accident claim, contact our office today.

Remember, in a rut? CALL RUT! 337 CALL RUT