The Difference Between General Damages and Punitive Damages

When a victim is awarded a judgment in a personal injury case, it is for the purpose of helping the victim recover from their damages and losses they’ve wrongly suffered as a result of the accident. There are different kinds of damages in a personal injury case, some that compensate victims for pecuniary losses, and others that are meant to punish the negligent and serve as an example. Among all the possible types of damages, two common categories of damages awarded in accident cases are general damages and punitive damages.

Continue reading to learn the difference between the two, and what to do if you recently suffered serious injuries as a result of another’s negligence, recklessness or malicious intent.

Indiana Personal Injury Attorneys 317-881-2700
Indiana Personal Injury Attorneys 317-881-2700

General Damages

General damages fall under compensatory damages, also known as “actual” damages since they are calculated by traceable, quantifiable, and tangible losses. Such damages are awarded in a personal injury case to compensate a victim for the various financial losses they’ve suffered as a result of being negligently injured. Such losses that fall under general damages include hospital bills, medical expenses, lost work income, and sometimes legal fees and property damage.

General damages, also known as hedonic damages, are intended to compensate for non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering. Additional examples of possible losses covered under general damages include permanent disfigurement or disability, prolonged physical therapy, loss of the ability to work, reduced quality of life, mental anguish, loss of consortium, and wrongful deaths.

Special Damages

In addition to compensatory and general damages, special damages compensate victims for quantifiable economic losses, such as lost wages, hospital bills, medical expenses, legal fees, and property damage. Special damages can also include incidental and future damages if evidence can prove future losses like prolonged therapy or loss of earning capacity.

Punitive Damages

Not only are personal injury victims compensated for their economic and non-economic losses, they might also be awarded extra compensation for punitive damages. Punitive damages are not meant to cover a physical or mental loss. Instead, they are awarded to punish the defendant and set an example to the public to thwart the particular type of conduct involved. You see, standard negligence is violating your general, lawful duty to act with reasonable care. Gross negligence, on the other hand, is this same disregard for your duty of care, but at an egregious level.

In most states, a victim can seek punitive damages if the negligent party is found to have demonstrated intentional misconduct, gross negligence or reckless indifference. Gross negligence refers to conduct that is reckless and demonstrates or represents a mindful disregard or lack of sympathy of another’s safety, health, life, or civil rights. In some states, it is only required to prove that the negligent party acted recklessly, maliciously, or deceitfully.

Examples of intentional misconduct and gross negligence:

A person drops a heavy rock from a highway bridge with the intent of hitting a passing car. The rock smashes into the windshield of a moving car, causing the driver to instantly lose control of their vehicle and wreck. The driver is seriously injured, and might be awarded punitive damages under the principal of intentional or reckless misconduct.

A building inspector informs a business owner that their roof is in dangerous condition, and orders that the hazardous areas be closed off to customers until they are repaired. The business owner fails to take any action, and later, the roof collapses on a group of customers, severely injuring them. These customers might be awarded punitive damages under the principle of gross negligence.

Where to Get Help With a Personal Injury Claim in Indianapolis

Call the Law Office of Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 for help with personal injury claims in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our experienced accident lawyers can help you obtain the settlement you deserve after suffering a serious injury. We offer free initial consultations and never collect attorney fees unless we prevail for you. Schedule your consultation before the statutes of limitations runs out on your claim. We represent injured persons throughout the State of Indiana.

Indianapolis Personal Injury Lawyers 317-881-2700
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Types of Damages Awarded for Victims of Injury

Indianapolis Accident Lawyers 317-881-2700

Indianapolis Accident Lawyers 317-881-2700

Under tort law, when a person is a victim of a civil wrong-doing, a court may award damages to compensate them for their injuries and losses. Assessing the amount of damages is often a difficult and complex process since so many variables influence the final determination. A court must consider the losses or injuries of a victim’s person, property, and overall quality of life. Courts take this responsibility seriously since the law intends to help victims get back to the same state of life they were in before their accident.

It requires substantial evidence on behalf of the victim to recover the full and fair amount of compensation for the total amount of damages and losses. Evidence includes medical records, police reports, expense records, witness statements, interviews, and much more. But when the process of assessing damages is over, there are certain categories of damages that may be awarded. Continue reading to learn what three types of damages are awarded to injured victims and what they each represent.

Compensatory Damages

Compensatory damages are also called “actual” damages, since they are calculated by traceable and tangible losses. Compensatory damages have two subcategories: special damages and general damages. Special damages compensate victims for quantifiable economic losses, such as lost wages, hospital bills, medical expenses, legal fees, and property damage.

Special damages can also include incidental, speculative, and future damages if substantial evidence can prove future losses like prolonged therapy or loss of earning capacity. General damages, also referred to as hedonic damages, represent non-monetary losses, like pain and suffering. Pain and suffering can represent several losses, including mental anguish, loss of consortium, physical disablement, lost ability to work, reduced quality of life, wrongful death, grief, humiliation, damaged reputation, and more.

Punitive Damages

Personal Injury Lawyers 317-881-2700

Personal Injury Lawyers 317-881-2700

Courts may also award additional punishable damages in special cases of egregiously offensive conduct. These are called punitive damages, or exemplary damages, and are more intended to reprimand the wrong-doer rather than award the victim (although the victim still receives monetary compensation). Punitive damages are awarded in cases where victims suffered losses as a result of anothers extreme maliciousness, brazenness, or flagrant negligence. They are intended to set an example, as well as,
reform the wrong-doer and deter others from
similar immoral behaviors.

Aggravated Damages

Aggravated damages are not a separate category of damages, but rather an extension of general damages that fall under compensatory damages. Aggravated damages are essentially the same as punitive damages, since they are awarded for cases of egregious invidious conduct, however, they are directly compensatory in nature. Punitive damages are meant to punish, whereas aggravated damages are meant to monetarily compensate a victim for aggravated injuries sustained by a defendant’s extreme malevolent conduct.

Indianapolis Personal Injury Attorneys

Personal Injury Attorney Indianapolis

Personal Injury Attorneys 317-881-2700

Call Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 when you need experienced Indianapolis personal injury attorneys you can trust. Seasoned accident lawyers Daniel Craven, Ralph Hoover, and Keith Blazek, are eager to recover the full and fair compensation victims of wrongful injuries deserve. Our personal injury law firm provides free initial consultation and never collects attorney fees unless we recover a settlement for you. Get started on an effective path to restoring your life after a serious accident by calling our Indianapolis accident attorneys at
317-881-2700 to schedule an appointment today.