“Damages” in a personal injury claim refer to financial compensation awarded to an injured party by the at-fault party or their insurance company. Damages seek to make injured parties “whole,” which means injury victims should get compensated for all of the losses they suffered because of their injury.
When it comes to special damages vs. general damages, general damages in personal injury cases are for intangible losses such as pain and suffering. Special damages are for financial losses which are tangible, such as lost wages or medical expenses.
It can be difficult to quantify general damages. One can precisely calculate special damages.
It is important to understand the difference between special and general damages since both will impact the size of your final settlement. In addition, proving each involves different methods.
Call us today for a FREE consultation at (800) 718-4658 if you or a loved one has been injured or killed and it wasn’t your fault. You may be entitled to financial compensation. We can help you recover general and special damages, including medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, wrongful death and more.
What Are Special Damages? (Economic Damages)
Special damages refer to compensation for injury victims for concrete financial losses related to the injury which are tangible and easily quantifiable. They are easier to calculate than general damages since they have clear dollar amounts which are associated with them.
Examples of special damages include:
- Medical bills, including the costs of past and future medical treatment, hospital stays, surgeries, medical care, doctor visits, medication, physical therapy, rehabilitation, etc.
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Costs of care, including long-term care
- Travel and transportation expenses, including parking fees
- Out-of-pocket expenses such as the costs of childcare, specialized equipment, home or vehicle modifications, assistive devices, domestic services, personal care or prescription delivery costs
- Costs associated with disability
- The cost to replace or repair damaged property, like a home, vehicle or personal belongings
Special damages are objective. They can be calculated using records such as receipts, medical records, pay stubs, repair estimates and bills.
Insurance, depending upon circumstances and policies, may cover some monetary losses which are considered special damages. As an example, auto insurance may cover property damage and medical bills after a car accident. A home’s property damage might be covered by homeowners insurance.
Certain special damages may be more likely to occur in certain case types than others. For example, a hospital stay bill might impact a grocery store case, such as a Costco slip and fall settlement, whereas the cost to replace a totaled vehicle might impact a car accident case.
Special damages are sometimes referred to as economic damages, pecuniary damages or economic losses.
What Are General Damages? (Non-Economic Damages)
General damages compensate injury victims for intangible losses which are difficult to put precise monetary values on. They cover losses which impact the overall experience, emotional well-being and quality of life of injury victims.
Examples of general damages include:
- Physical pain, discomfort and mental anguish
- Disfigurement
- Permanent scarring
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of ability to perform daily activities or hobbies
- Loss of ability to participate in social interactions
- Diminished quality of life
- Emotional distress, such as depression, anxiety, fear, PTSD or mental trauma
- Trouble finding another job
- Loss of companionship
- Grief (in wrongful death claims)
- Loss of consortium, or diminished relationship with one’s spouse or partner because of an injury
Unlike special damages, general damages are subjective. They can widely vary based upon the experience of the individual as well as the severity of the injury.
Certain general damages may be more likely to occur in certain case types than others. For example, a dog bite case may involve PTSD, whereas a crane accident may lead to permanent disfigurement.
While it can be difficult to determine a specific value for general damages, an experienced personal injury lawyer can help determine what number represents fair compensation for general damages in your case. Establishing general damages will often require testimony and evidence, including expert opinions, medical records, and personal accounts regarding an injury’s impact on the life of a claimant.
Insurance companies often use special methods to calculate general damages. As an example, the “multiplier method” multiplies damages by a factor which is based upon injury severity.
General damages are sometimes referred to as ordinary damages or non-economic damages.
Special Damages vs. General Damages: Key Differences
The key difference between special damages and general damages, the two types of compensatory damages, is that special damages can be objectively calculated and general damages cannot.
There are other key differences, though:
| General Damages (Non-Economic Damages) | Special Damages (Economic Damages) | |
| Based on Receipts? | No | Yes |
| Subjective or Objective? | Subjective | Objective |
| Financial Only? | No | Yes |
| Covered by Insurance? | Often | Sometimes contested |
| Examples | Emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of life enjoyment | Lost wages, medical expenses, property damages |
How These Damages Impact Your Final Settlement
Special damages and general damages (as well as punitive damages, in some cases) combine to form the total value of your case.
The more special damages are involved in your case, the more general damages you are likely to receive as well.
Juries may empathize more with defendants when their general damages are severe.
How to Prove Special and General Damages
Special damages can be established and proven through:
- Documentation of financial losses: Injury victims should collect and organize bills, receipts and records regarding lost wages, medical treatment, property damage or other expenses related to their injuries.
- Providing detailed records: Injury victims should maintain thorough logs of expenses which include descriptions, dates and how they relate to injuries.
- Organizing documents: Injury victims should keep documentation organized, in digital files or physical folders, for easy access.
General damages can be established and proven through:
- Testimony: Witnesses and plaintiffs can describe pain, suffering and injuries’ emotional impacts. Witnesses can include friends and family members who may provide insight into the ways your injuries have affected your life.
- Expert opinions: Medical professionals, psychologists, psychiatrists and additional experts can offer their options regarding the severity of pain or emotional distress.
- Documentation: Injury victims can keep journals or records of experiences with pain, suffering, and injuries’ impacts on daily life.
- Medical records: Evidence of injuries can be provided by medical records, which can also provide evidence of the impact of injuries on the well-being of plaintiffs.
- Past cases: Attorneys might use examples of prior cases to argue for what represents fair general damages.
Can You Recover Both in the Same Case?
Yes. Most personal injury claims include monetary compensation for both special damages and general damages.
California law allows for full compensatory recovery when liability is proven.
However, comparative fault can reduce both types of damages proportionally. In California, when an injury victim is found to be 20 percent at fault for their injuries, the financial compensation they qualify for is reduced by 20 percent.
What Are the Three Types of Damages?
There are three types of damages in personal injury cases:
- Special damages
- General damages
- Punitive damages (also known as exemplary damages)
Punitive damages are different from special damages and general damages.
Punitive damages are intended to punish the defendant for gross negligence or malicious or egregious conduct, as well as deter future similar behavior.
Punitive damages are not awarded in every personal injury case. However, they can be awarded when the actions of defendants are malicious, intentional, fraudulent, oppressive or reckless.
Punitive damages are calculated based upon the conduct of defendants, and might get capped by law.
What Are Actual Damages?
The term “actual damages” simply refers to all financial compensation meant to compensate an injury victim for the actual loss or harm they suffered due to their injury. In other words, actual damages encompass both general and special damages.
Actual damages are sometimes referred to as compensatory damages.
How Hiring a Lawyer Maximizes Your Damages
An experienced personal injury lawyer can maximize your damages by:
- Knowing how to persuasively frame general damages
- Recovering losses you didn’t realize were compensable
- Maximizing settlements with insurers like Nationwide by countering common insurance company tactics
In particular, there are two ways insurance companies try to rip off injury victims: minimizing their claims and manipulating injury victims.
A Lawyer Can Prevent an Insurer From Minimizing Your Claim
When defendants injure plaintiffs via negligence, defendants’ insurance companies are obligated under California law to compensate plaintiffs for injury-related damages up to policy limits.
However, this obligation can only be enforced via civil lawsuit. Otherwise, injury victims will find insurers offering them low ball settlement offers.
Hiring a lawyer tells the insurance company that you can sue them and win if they don’t offer you a fair amount of general and special damages.
Most cases involving plaintiffs who hire experienced, successful personal injury lawyers end up with insurance companies settling out of court for fair amounts.
A Lawyer Can Prevent Insurers From Manipulating You
Insurance companies train their adjusters to manipulate injury victims by tricking them into saying the wrong thing while giving a recorded statement.
Injury victims can see the value of their case plummet if they accidentally say the wrong thing to an insurer.
An experienced personal injury attorney can handle all communications with insurance companies for you so you don’t have to worry about incriminating yourself.
Contact Our California Personal Injury Attorneys
We have been helping injury victims recover general and special damages since 1990. We have recovered over $750,000,000 for our clients. We can recover the most compensation possible for you due to our experience and expertise.
We can find you doctors who won’t charge for treatment until the end of your case if you can’t afford treatment. Medical professionals do this for our clients as a sign of trust in our long-established reputation for success.
We don’t charge injury victims fees until we win their case. This means no out-of-pocket or upfront fees, as our only fee is a percentage of the compensation we recover.
Call us today for a FREE consultation at (800) 718-4658 or fill out our quick contact form if you or a loved one has been injured or killed in an accident which was not your fault.
