Potential Damages for Permanent Disfigurement

An injury that leaves you permanently and physically scarred impacts your entire life. Permanent disfigurement can occur on your face, arms, and hands, with some injuries resulting even in the loss of limbs. Being permanently disfigured has such a negative effect on your life that you may be entitled to compensation.

Getting the compensation you deserve on your own is often difficult, with insurance companies and defendants unwilling to help. If you have experienced permanent disfigurement as a result of a workplace accident, occupational disease, or more, turn to a personal injury lawyer for guidance.

What Is a Permanent Disfigurement?

Permanent disfigurement refers to any permanent or significant negative alteration to a person’s appearance. Examples include:

Amputations
Burns
Permanent scarring
Loss of a body part due to amputation
Loss of motor function
Changes to skin pigmentation
Contortions because of nerve damage

These types of disfigurement can significantly impact your mental health and social functioning, potentially causing isolation.

Damages You May Be Able to Recover for a Permanent Disfigurement

If you’ve suffered permanent disfigurement, you may be able to recover economic damages. This form of compensation reimburses calculable losses, including medical expenses, lost future income and capacity, lost wages, and career diminishment.

People who have suffered these types of injuries can have a hard time sustaining meaningful employment. Damages have to take into consideration this potential scenario to offer a fair settlement. A lawyer can help make this possible.

You may also be able to receive non-economic damages. These address losses that extend beyond simple monetary quantities, making them far more difficult to calculate.

Permanent disfigurement can impact your quality of life, including your social life, leading to isolation and the mental health impact that social withdrawal causes. Pain and emotional trauma have to, therefore, also be part of a personal injury case.

This type of disfigurement can lead to the loss of companionship from a loved one and even the loss of enjoyment of your life in general. Because it’s so difficult to give a monetary value to these types of damages, many other factors come into play when deciding on them, including the severity of the injuries and their locations.

Punitive damages may also be available for a permanent disfiguring injury. If the defendant is guilty of gross negligence, which means they allowed you to come to harm, you may get punitive damages.

One way to calculate damages for permanent disfigurement is to use the multiplier method. It involves taking the total damages, including lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering, and multiplying that by a certain factor. In many cases, it is a factor between one and five, with the exact number depending on the injury’s severity.

Another way of calculating damages is the per diem method. It involves coming up with a daily rate for the disfigurement, basing it on the length of time you are expected to live with it. This is then multiplied by the number of days you have already lived with the disfigurement.

How a Skilled Personal Injury Attorney Can Help You Maximize the Compensation From Your Case

A personal injury lawyer can help you assess the value of your claim. It can involve taking a close look at all of the details of the case as well as your injuries and their impact on your life. The lawyer will also consider all the damages that you have suffered and the losses you may experience in the future as a result of the disfigurement.

Your personal injury attorney will help you gather evidence that will assist you in proving that the other party was responsible for the injuries. Evidence can entail medical records, witness statements, accident reports, and more. Your lawyer can also work with experts like medical professionals and accident reconstructionists.

One of your personal injury lawyer’s main duties will be to negotiate with insurance companies. Insurers are always looking to settle claims for as little as possible, so having someone to negotiate on your behalf is crucial. They have experience dealing with the tactics that insurance companies turn to, like denying liability.

If the case ends up going to court, workers’ compensation attorneys will represent you, arguing on your behalf in front of a judge and jury. They will be able to cross-examine witnesses and challenge any evidence the other party presents.

FAQs

What Are the Most Common Causes of Permanent Disfigurement in Personal Injury Cases?

Many types of accidents can lead to permanent disfigurement, including:

Car accidents
Explosions and fires
Dog bites and other animal attacks
Toxic chemical exposure
Sports accidents

If you’re not sure whether what you suffered applies, you must turn to an experienced personal injury lawyer. Sands Law can help.

What Factors Impact the Value of a Disfigurement Claim?

The value of your disfigurement claim will depend on many factors. The severity of the disfigurement is one such element, with minor scars earning you less than amputations or severe burns.

The location of the disfigurement is another issue. You’re most likely to receive more compensation if the disfigurement affected your face, hands, or other visible areas. Your age plays a role as well. Younger plaintiffs have to live with the disfigurement for longer, potentially earning them more compensation.

Do You Need an Attorney for a Personal Injury Case?

It’s always wise to turn to an experienced personal injury attorney. They will be better able to fight on your behalf for what you deserve. A lawyer will know how to get the necessary evidence, speak with insurance companies, and much more.

Let Sands Law Help You Get Fair Compensation

If you have received an injury because of someone else’s negligence and have suffered permanent disfigurement, you may be able to get compensation for your suffering. Turn to Sands Law today to schedule a free consultation.