Most people who have been through a serious car crash in Wisconsin describe the event as traumatic. If the accident was caused by the negligence or recklessness of someone else, victims who were able to make a compelling case may have received compensation for their medical expenses, loss of wages and material damage.

Yet, after months of struggling with an insurance company or in court, the settlement of the case through the collection of a monetary amount does not compensate the victims for the suffering, pain and anguish they have been through, some of which will leave scars, both emotional and physical, for the remainder of their lives.

How can victims of a Wisconsin car accident be compensated for their suffering?

Pain and suffering enter in the category of non-economic damages. Whereas economic damages can be calculated objectively in monetary terms, and are supposed to compensate the victim for actual and forecasted expenses or losses, non-economic damages are much harder to define, let alone to translate in monetary terms. In car accident claims, non-economic damages may include:

• Pain and suffering;
• Emotional or mental distress, such as post-traumatic stress disorder;
• Worry or anguish;
• Loss of well-being;
• Impairment, scars, disfigurement and loss of a bodily function;
• Loss of consortium (the inability to have normal marital relationship).

Under Wisconsin’s “tort liability system”, the jury is allowed to decide the amount of damages to which the victim is entitled. There is no formula or chart to determine such amount, and the final settlement will depend on many different factors, such as:

• How consistent is the claim with the victim’s way of life?
• How credible are the witnesses?
• What has changed in the way the victim lives?
• How old is the victim, and what is his or her family and economic situation?

There are too many other factors to enumerate, but probably the most important one is the way the plaintiff’s attorney presents the case.

If you have been injured in a Wisconsin or Illinois car, truck or motorcycle accident, contact the Wisconsin car accident lawyers of Hupy & Abraham, S.C. today at 800-800-5676 (toll-free) or 414-223-4800 (local) for a free evaluation of your case. You can also send us an e-mail with your questions. Hupy & Abraham have law offices in Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton in Wisconsin, and Gurnee and Bloomington in Illinois.