No one disputes the fact that a car crash can leave you with serious injuries. These injuries can totally disrupt your life in terms of both your spiraling medical bills and your loss of income if your injuries prevent you from working for a substantial period of time. They can even result in your partial or total disability, making it impossible for you to ever hold a job again.
Fortunately, you can sue the negligent driver who caused your accident and consequent injuries. In Ohio, you can recover both economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages
Your economic damages include such things as the following:
- Your medical expenses
- Your rehabilitation expenses
- Your nursing home or other care facility expenses
- Your expenses for any needed medical equipment or devices
- Your loss of income
Ohio sets no limit on the amount of damages you can receive for your economic losses. The jury determines and sets this amount.
Non-economic damages
Your non-economic damages include such things as the following:
- Your physical pain and suffering
- Your anguish and other mental or emotional pain and suffering
- Any disfigurement you suffer
- Any other intangible damages you sustain
Unlike for economic damages, Ohio limits the amount you can receive for your non-economic damages to the higher of three times the amount of your economic damages or $250,000. However, you can receive no more than $300,000 in non-economic damages as an individual plaintiff or $500,000 for a single accident.
Two exceptions apply, however. First, Ohio does not limit the amount of your non-economic damages if your injuries result in a permanent substantial physical deformity or the loss of use of one of your bodily organs. Second, Ohio does not limit this amount if your injuries result in the permanent loss of one or more of your physical functions that renders you incapable of taking care of yourself and performing your own life-sustaining activities.
