What Damages Can You Recover After a Missouri Car Accident?

Car accidents are traumatic and terrifying, especially if you or your loved ones experienced serious injuries. All too often, the distress continues when you take on the complex legal system to try to recover your losses, like medical expenses and lost income—known as “damages” in a personal injury claim in Missouri. Because expenses mount quickly after an accident, sometimes resulting in financial hardship for victims, legal representation by a St. Louis personal injury attorney is the best way forward so you can focus on your physical recovery while your attorney focuses on recovering your economic damages and compensation for non-economic damages like pain and suffering.

Proving Liability to Recover Damages After a Car Accident in Missouri

Car accidents cause significant expenses, often far beyond the property damage to your vehicle. When someone else’s actions behind the wheel caused the accident, they’re responsible for the damage they caused to others. The compensation is typically paid out to victims through the at-fault party’s auto insurance coverage. Before a car accident claim is successful, your accident attorney must investigate the circumstances of the accident and document compelling evidence of the at-fault party’s liability. Proving liability requires documenting evidence of the following legal points of liability:

• The at-fault party owed a duty of care to take reasonable measures to prevent causing injury to others on the road
• They breached this duty through an act of negligence or recklessness
• Their negligent breach of duty directly caused the accident and injuries
• The injury victim suffered significant damages from the injury

Proving damages requires showing evidence of lost wages and medical costs and then careful calculations to maximize the amount you can recover for non-economic damages like pain and suffering.

Negligent drivers are the most common liable parties in Missouri car accidents, but in some instances, the manufacturer of a defective auto part or a negligent road maintenance agency could bear liability.

What Damages Can I Recover After My Car Accident in Missouri?

All car accident and injury claims are unique, depending on the circumstances of the accident, the amount of property damage, and the extent of the injuries suffered by the victim. However, common damages claimed in Missouri car accident cases include the following:

• Property damage to a vehicle
• Property damage to personal items inside the vehicle
• Medical expenses
• Future medical costs for further treatment, surgeries, rehabilitative care, or home healthcare
• Lost income
• Future income lost
• Diminished earning capacity due to disability
• Pain and suffering
• Other non-economic damages that might apply in an individual case.

In some car accident claims, additional non-economic damages apply. Depending on the circumstances, other non-economic damages cited in Missouri car accident claims sometimes include emotional trauma, disfigurement compensation, loss of enjoyment of life, or loss of consortium—the full emotional and physical relationship with a loved one. In car accident fatality cases, close family members may make a claim for wrongful death with additional damages including funeral and burial costs, and the loss of a provider’s income for the number of working years they had left to them had they survived their injuries.

Speak to An Attorney About the Unique Damages in Your Car Accident Claim

A skilled St. Louis car accident attorney will carefully calculate your damages to ensure that you miss no potential compensation owed to you after your Missouri car accident. Call today at (314) 863-4114 or contact us online for a free consultation.