When it comes to personal injury and damages, the calculation of damages will depend on a lot of things. However, it will largely depend upon the losses suffered by the injured party. This can include medical expenses for the treatment of injuries, or perhaps the cost to replace destroyed property. However, it could also include future lost wages or other costs that you may not even be aware of. Knowing this, you may also be curious about something called a Damage Estimate Worksheet and what is involved.

How are Damages Calculated?

Damages are sadly not always very easy for people to calculate. In many cases, your attorney working with you on your case will be able to point out additional damages that are indirectly related to the claim. Traveling to physical therapy clinics, requiring long-term or lifelong medical assistance stemming from the injury, and loss of wages are good examples. Damage Estimate Worksheets are intended to help you see how damages include easily identifiable costs in an effort to place a dollar value on yourself. It also helps place value on the way in which your life has changed since you became injured. Beyond an inventory of known costs, it doesn’t attempt to calculate the value of your physical self or the quality of your life as it was before the injury occurred.

So, what does the Damages Estimate Worksheet include?

  • Out-of-Pocket “Special” Damages: You may want to get a sense of how an insurance company may value your case, so you will have to make specific calculations. Some expenses that will have to be estimated are doctors’ bills, ambulance bill, hospital bills, medicines and drugs, future medical expenses, household help, lost wages, future losses, property damage, and more.
  • Damages for Physical Injury: You may also have to rate on a scale the severity of a list of things. This could include pain and suffering, future pain and suffering, future disability, loss of enjoyment of life, and more.
  • Intangibles, or how your life has changed: There are also questions that are intended to help you get a feel for the kinds of facts that a jury may consider when they are deciding what to award in damages.

The questions on intangibles can include the following, to which you may need to answer:

  • Which of your injuries are visible? Which are invisible?
  • What physical pain did you experience when you were first injured?
  • What physical pain did you experience as you recovered from your injury?
  • What physical activities and hobbies did you enjoy that now cause you pain?
  • What social activities have you had to reduce or abandon?
  • Are there any other changes in your day-to-day life resulting from your injury?

When these questions are answered, further assessments can be made and questions answered as to what will happen next. The worksheet just acts as a way to get a general idea of the damages involved in your case. But if you want a complete understanding of your claim and the damages involved, you should always consult a lawyer. You can contact MDL today to get a free consultation and review of your potential claim.