How Personal Injury Impacts Your Life

For many people, the term “personal injury accident” conjures up images of a minor injury from a car accident or a slip and fall.  In most cases, these people reason, the negligent party has insurance coverage to pay for liability and compensate the victim.  However, this picture is not always so simple, and it is often not even accurate.

A personal injury accident may be much more than simply a trip to the hospital and a claim against an insurance company.  In many personal injury cases, insurance companies rush in to settle quickly for a very limited amount of money.  The victim, assuming that the settlement offer is fair, accepts, only to find out later that this amount does not even come close to covering medical expenses, much less increased living costs or compensation for loss of abilities or missed work.

Personal injury accidents can cause changes to anyone’s life, including:

  • Medical bills. One of the most obvious expenses, and one of the easiest to document, is the cost of medical treatment.  However, many victims and even some attorneys make the mistake of assuming that the initial cost of medical treatment is the only cost.  In many cases, it is only the beginning.  Medical bills can continue to mount for years after a personal injury as other problems develop.
  • Lost wages. Of course, missing work is costly.  However, many victims fail to factor in the true cost of lost time at work.  It is relatively easy to calculate lost wages; it is much harder to calculate the cost of missed opportunities such as promotions due to missing work from an accident.
  • Lifestyle changes. Many personal injuries result in lifestyle limitations.  Victims simply are not able to engage in the activities they enjoyed prior to the accident.  These limitations may be temporary, or they may last for years.  Many victims find that they cannot enjoy time with their friends and families due to the lingering effects of their injuries.
  • Pain and suffering. Perhaps the most difficult aspect to quantify in a personal injury accident is pain and suffering.  It is nearly impossible for anyone to understand someone else’s pain or how that pain affects his or her life.  Pain has a debilitating effect and can cause all sorts of other problems, including the inability to engage in work or other activities.  Sometimes, treatments for pain are successful, but other times victims will live with pain for the rest of their lives.

At Barber & Associates, we have been representing Alaska’s personal injury accident victims for decades.  We represent our clients to ensure that their rights are represented properly and that they receive the full measure of compensation to pay for medical bills, living expenses, and other costs associated with personal injuries of all types.  The attorneys at Barber & Associates fight for our client’s rights because we know how easy it is for victims to be denied fair payment.  Give us a call to learn more about how we can help you if you have been a victim of someone else’s negligence.

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