If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you may have a claim that can lead to a personal injury settlement. Personal injuries often occur because of negligence or carelessness carried out by another person.

Through a personal injury settlement, victims of negligence can receive compensation for losses that may include pain and suffering, medical bills, missed work, and others. A personal injury settlement may be able to resolve disputes prior to the filing of any lawsuit.

Pursuing a Personal Injury Settlement

If you believe that you may be qualified for a personal injury settlement, there are a few basic questions to ask yourself. Some of these questions include whether you suffered psychological or physical injury, if the injuries suffered were caused by another person or party’s negligence, and if you possess any recoverable damages.

Most personal injury cases are based on actions of negligence. According to the law, negligence is defined as “[t]he failure to do an act which a reasonable careful person would do, or the doing of an act which a reasonably careful person would not do, under the same or similar circumstances to protect oneself or others from bodily injury, death, property damage.”

There are several common types of cases that may lead to a personal injury settlement. Some of these cases include:

• Car, semi-truck, motorcycle or ATV accidents
• Burn injuries
• Work injury claims
• Medical malpractice
• Birth injuries
• Dog bites
• Dram shop negligence (where an overserved bar patron causes injury)

Other cases may involve negligent security – for example, cases where a hotel’s negligence led to a drowning in a pool, or where a lack of security allowed a mugging to take place on a business’s premises.

Throughout these cases there are also further examples of incidences that may allow an individual to settle a personal injury claim. For example, a type of vehicle accident may include pedestrian accidents; bus accidents; motorcycle accidents; truck accidents; bicycle accidents; commercial vehicle accidents; boat accidents; train accidents; Uber accidents; and cruise ship accidents.

Some incidences of a party’s or individual’s medical malpractice negligence may include a misdiagnosis, surgical error, unnecessary surgery, anesthesia errors, failed or botched procedures, and birth injuries.

A person may be eligible for two different kinds of personal injury settlement compensation: compensatory and punitive.

Most common are compensatory damages in a personal injury settlement that compensates a victim for their loss. Punitive damages are awarded to victims in a person injury settlement in cases where they suffered loss of life or serious injury because of extreme negligence. This type of damages is reserved for cases in which the defendant’s conduct is particularly blameworthy.

A person or party that has been found negligent or liable for causing a personal injury incident may be ordered to pay some of the following different kinds of compensatory damages. These include:

• Pain and physical suffering
• Property damage
• Wrongful death
• Permanent disfigurement or disability
• Lost income or missed work time
• Medical bills and related expenses
• Loss of enjoyment of life, such as with family, social, and education experiences.
• Loss of consortium (relationship damage to children or spouse)
• And emotional distress because of any of the above