When someone is injured in a car accident, the physical toll is often just one part of a much bigger picture. Emotional suffering, mental distress, and changes in daily life can weigh just as heavily as broken bones or surgery. Insurance companies rarely recognize these less visible injuries unless the injured person is represented by a skilled legal professional. That’s why anyone seriously hurt in a crash should speak with an Avon car accident lawyer before accepting any kind of settlement offer.
What Non-Economic Damages Really Mean
Non-economic damages refer to the personal, intangible losses that don’t come with a receipt or medical invoice. These are the ways an accident impacts your emotional well-being, relationships, and daily experience. Insurance adjusters tend to ignore or downplay these losses, especially when there’s no lawyer involved. They focus strictly on financial costs they can easily calculate, like vehicle repairs or hospital bills, while overlooking the human suffering tied to serious injuries.
Unlike economic damages, non-economic losses reflect how your quality of life has changed. They speak to your emotional pain, loss of independence, or ongoing anxiety after the crash. These losses deserve compensation just as much as medical expenses do.
Six Non-Economic Damages You Can Claim After a Crash
Non-economic damages take many forms, depending on the person and the seriousness of the injury. Here are six common types:
- Pain and suffering: This includes physical discomfort, chronic pain, and the struggle of going through treatments or surgeries. It reflects how much daily life has changed because of lingering physical symptoms.
- Emotional distress: Emotional distress includes ongoing psychological effects that interfere with sleep, work, or relationships.
- Loss of enjoyment of life: If you can no longer do activities you once loved, like walking at Washington Township Park or coaching your child’s soccer team, that loss has real value. This damage focuses on how your hobbies, lifestyle, and routines have been taken away.
- Scarring or disfigurement: Visible injuries can lead to embarrassment, low self-esteem, and social isolation. Compensation should reflect not just the physical impact, but the emotional toll as well.
- Loss of consortium: This refers to how your injury affects your relationship with a spouse. It can include loss of companionship, support, or intimacy caused by your condition.
- Inconvenience and loss of independence: If your injury prevents you from driving, managing household tasks, or caring for children, that loss of freedom matters. You may rely on others for help in ways you didn’t before, which affects your autonomy and dignity.
Why Insurers Won’t Offer These Without a Lawyer
Insurance companies do not automatically calculate non-economic damages when making a settlement offer. They aim to close claims quickly and as cheaply as possible, offering amounts based on medical bills or lost income alone. If you’re not working with legal representation, they’ll assume you don’t know you’re entitled to more.
Without a lawyer presenting a well-supported demand for non-economic compensation, adjusters will argue that pain and suffering are too subjective to be included. They may also question the seriousness of mental or emotional harm. This practice shortchanges injury victims, particularly those who underestimate the long-term effects of their accident.
Having a car accident lawyer shifts that power balance. Legal professionals know how to document these personal losses with statements from family members, medical reports, and other evidence. They negotiate for compensation that reflects the real cost of what you’re going through, not just what’s printed on a hospital bill.
How Avon Injury Victims Can Protect Their Rights
If you were hurt in a crash in or near Avon, you need to understand how serious the insurance process can become. What seems like a helpful offer from an adjuster often turns out to be far below what you’re owed. Even if the accident wasn’t catastrophic, the emotional and personal toll it takes on your life should not be dismissed.
Working with a lawyer ensures those damages are identified and valued properly. Injury victims who take on the process alone rarely get compensated for their invisible suffering. It’s not because their pain isn’t real—it’s because the insurance system isn’t built to pay for it unless someone forces the issue.
Speak to an Avon Car Accident Lawyer Today
Your emotional pain and personal losses deserve real attention. Don’t let an insurance company decide what your suffering is worth. Talk with an attorney who can explain your options, fight for full compensation, and make sure you’re not left behind.