When another person causes your injury, Maryland’s personal injury laws allow you to recover compensation for your damages, injuries, and losses. Damages in an accident claim are divided into two categories — financial damages and non-economic damages.

Financial damages are your out-of-pocket expenses related to the accident, injury, and recovery. To substantiate these damages, you need copies of invoices, bills, payroll records, and receipts. In many cases, medical bills and lost wages comprise a large portion of the injury claim. Non-economic damages are also referred to as “pain and suffering” damages. Compensation for non-economic damages is intended to compensate you for your mental anguish, physical pain, emotional stress, and other physical or emotional suffering caused by the motorcycle accident.

Pain and suffering damages can be very difficult to calculate because these damages are subjective. Each person suffers differently, even though the injuries may be similar. You can assist your attorney in calculating non-economic damages by keeping a recovery journal. In the journal, notate your daily pain levels, trips to the doctor, medical procedures, daily tasks you cannot perform, family events you miss, and how the injury impacts your relationships with family and friends.

Your attorney uses the information in your recovery journal as he determines the amount to seek for your non-economic damages. Furthermore, if your case must go before a jury, information in your journal can help remind you of details your attorney may want you to tell the jury during your testimony.

Common Damages in a Maryland Motorcycle Accident Claim

The damages in a motorcycle accident claim vary. However, common damages in a motorcycle accident claim include:

  • Medical Expenses, including emergency room visits, hospitalizations, medical treatments, surgery, doctor’s bills, physical therapy, and other health care expenses
  • Property Damages, including the cost to repair or replace your motorcycle
  • Loss of Income, which may include bonuses and other forms of compensation
  • Pain and Suffering, which includes your physical pain, mental anguish, emotional suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life
  • Disability and Impairment, including scarring, amputations, and disfigurement
  • Burial and Funeral Expenses in the event of a wrongful death
  • Future Damages, for ongoing medical expenses, personal care, and future loss of income or earning capacity

The amount of compensation you receive depends on many factors, including your actual financial losses, type of injury, the severity of the injury, permanent impairment, and length of recovery. Calculating the value of a claim can be complex and difficult.

Having experience settling and trying many accident cases gives our attorneys the knowledge and expertise necessary to calculate the correct value of a claim. Our Maryland motorcycle accident lawyers maximize each category of damages to increase the chance you receive a fair and just settlement.

Filing an Accident Claim

We have been working on your claim since you hired our law firm. During your recovery, we continue to gather information and organize documents. However, when you reach MMI, our legal team puts together a formal demand packet that includes proof of your damages and our allegations of fault. In most cases, representatives from the insurance company and our lawyers negotiate to determine if we can arrive at a mutually agreeable amount for settlement. The process of negotiating the settlement of a motorcycle accident claim can be complex. We must consider all relevant factors, including whether our case for fault is strong or if the accident victim may have some liability.

Under Maryland’s pure contributory negligence standard, if the motorcyclist is even slightly at fault for the crash, the motorcyclist is barred from recovering any compensation for damages. The pure contributory negligence standard is the harshest standard for judgment negligence. Therefore, insurance companies use anything, even something that may not be 100 percent true, to argue contributory negligence. If the insurance company is successful, it will not be required to pay anything for the accident claim.

Our attorneys at Pinder Plotkin LLC understand how insurance companies use contributory negligence as a defense. We also have experience fighting these claims. However, we must factor this element into the decision whether to accept a settlement offer or proceed with a lawsuit.

Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit for a Motorcycle Accident

If the insurance company disputes liability or refuses to negotiate a fair settlement, we may advise you to file a personal injury lawsuit. In most cases, you have three years from the date of the motorcycle accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. However, there could be exceptions to the deadline, so it is not wise to delay consulting with an attorney. Filing a lawsuit does not mean that the case will go to trial. In many cases, the parties settle before the case is tried.

The Pinder Plotkin Legal Team analyzes every facet of your case on an ongoing basis to determine the best option for recovering the maximum amount of compensation possible for your injury claim. Working with experienced personal injury lawyers in Maryland increases your chance of receiving a fair and just amount for your claim. Call 410-525-5337 to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case with a Maryland motorcycle accident lawyer.

The information provided in this website is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject. The information contained in this blog is also subject to change and should not be relied upon. Contact the Pinder Plotkin Legal Team for a FREE consultation.

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