My future sister in law got into a car accident recently and broke her wrist quite badly. The doctors say she will likely never regain full use of it. The accident was the other guys fault and the legal process has been ongoing. Her only question has been, how much to ask for in punitive damages? She is currently in college and has about 1 year remaining to graduation. To put herself through college, she was waitressing and working at a hotel (not sure of her position there). She has been unable to do either of these jobs since the break (she has a full arm cast) and if her arm is permanently disabled, she may never be able to resume them. So she has been wondering how much to ask for in punitive damages from the other dude's insurance company. Her father suggested $200,000...which seemed high to us but if that is a starting point and will come down in negotiations, etc. then it might be good. What is a typical amount in debilitating car injuries such as this one? Thanks in advance for any help.
If her just her wrist will never be 100% again she can probably start asking higher than 200,000 if her entire arm is messed up - much more. Will her insurance company represent her?
That is a good question...and one I will find the answer to. Edit: Apparently, she currently has no representation and I guess she isn't planning on getting any. Should her insurance be providing representation?
Whilst I usually come up with my attempt at cracking a joke... I won't this time. Hope it wasn't her writing hand. Hopefully your sister gets WAY better.
Punitive Damages: Damages meant to "punish" the other party for their negligence. Compensatory Damages: Damages meant to compensate you for your loss of money, including medical bills, lost wages, lost future wages, pain, suffering, and such. Unless the other individual was SEVERLY negligent (i.e. drunk, didn't care, reckless) or if the other individual's insurance company is trying to illegally block compensation...it will be hard to get punitive damages that are all that high. Punitive damages are usually awarded in big cases against corporations or companies to punish them for negligent behavior and keep them from doing it again. What you describe...lost wages, loss of full use of her wrist, ect all fall under compensatory damages, and there are often good formulas established to get a fair amount. It often is more than you foresee and takes into account things that you might not think of... In short...get a lawyer. The lawyer will know how to get enough to compensate + get enough for his cost with well established formulas and rules for injuries.
The guilty party doesn't have to be severely negligent - just at fault. If the guilty party were drunk etc. the damages would go way up. A lawyer will take a large chunk of the decision, but they will greatly assist in figuring out how much a lifetime of not having full use of the arm is worth, future surgeries that might be necessary, future problems with pain, therapy that may be necessary down the road, etc., etc. As soon as the guilty party’s insurance company finds out you have retained a lawyer then they will kick it over to their legal department ~ it will take quite a while to receive a settlement. At the very least speak with an attorney to get solid info about all of this business, because it is utterly confusing.
