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The descriptions provided below may help you understand legal terms and insurance terms as they are frequently used in letters or conversations about personal injury accidents.\u00a0 The definitions do not include every possible meaning of the terms being described.<\/p>\n
Accept Liability<\/strong> \u2013 Accepting Responsibility.\u00a0 This means an insurance company is willing to pay a claim.<\/p>\n Adjudicate<\/strong> \u2013 Settle by court decree.\u00a0 Requires going to court.<\/p>\n Agreement<\/strong> – A bargain.\u00a0 Reaching a settlement without going to court requires an agreement.<\/p>\n Alternative Dispute Resolution<\/strong> \u2013 Procedure for settling claims without litigating, usually arbitration.<\/p>\n Answer<\/strong> \u2013 Response of a defendant to the plaintiff\u2019s complaint.<\/p>\n Appearance<\/strong> \u2013 Coming into court as a party to a suit.\u00a0 Usually a lawyer appears on behalf of the party.<\/p>\n Arbitration<\/strong> \u2013 An alternative to going to court.\u00a0 The plaintiff and defendant present their cases to an arbitrator.<\/p>\n Bad Faith<\/strong> \u2013 If your insurance company refuses to pay you for a legitimate claim that they had purposely led you to believe would be covered by your policy.<\/p>\n Casualty<\/strong> \u2013 An injury or property loss caused by an accident.<\/p>\n Causation<\/strong> \u2013 The act which produces an accident.<\/p>\n Damages<\/strong> \u2013 Money paid as compensation for an injury or loss caused by negligence.<\/p>\n Demand<\/strong> \u2013 To ask the at-fault driver\u2019s insurance company to pay your injury claim.\u00a0 This usually occurs after you have finished medical treatment for your accident injuries.<\/p>\n Disability<\/strong> \u2013 Incapacity to perform tasks usually encountered in a person\u2019s employment.<\/p>\n Endangerment<\/strong> \u2013 An act which brings into danger or peril.<\/p>\n Future Medical Expenses<\/strong> \u2013 It is sometimes not possible to completely cure accident injuries.\u00a0 Continuing medical treatment costs can be estimated.<\/p>\n General Damages<\/strong> \u2013 This term refers to damages that do not have a specific dollar value.\u00a0 Some examples of general damages include pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life or compensation for the hassles and inconveniences involved with an injury.\u00a0 Although it is hard to put an exact value on these types of damages, they have significant value and are a large part of injury claims.<\/p>\n Judgment<\/strong> \u2013 A formal decision of a court.<\/p>\n Loss of Earning Capacity<\/strong> \u2013 Permanent disabilities can reduce your ability to earn a living in your current field of work.\u00a0 Putting a dollar value on these losses often starts by having a Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) performed by a physical therapist.\u00a0 The FCE results are given to a doctor who writes a report about Loss of Earning Capacity.<\/p>\n Negligence<\/strong> \u2013 Carelessness.\u00a0 Failure to exercise reasonable care to prevent injury to others.\u00a0 Personal injury lawyers are interested in auto accident injuries resulting from negligence.<\/p>\n Present Cash Value<\/strong> \u2013 The current value of future income or expenses for a series of future payments discounted for an assumed interest rate.\u00a0 The present value is always less than the total of the future payments because it is assumed that money received now will earn interest if it is invested.\u00a0 The assumed interest rate is an important variable.\u00a0 The smaller the assumed interest rate the larger the Present Cash Value.\u00a0 When the future payments being evaluated are for medical costs, it is important to consider that medical costs often increase more rapidly than inflation.<\/p>\n Settlement<\/strong> \u2013 An agreement between disputing parties to settle an injury claim without involving litigation.<\/p>\n Special Damages<\/strong> \u2013 These damages can be given a specific dollar value.\u00a0 They include things like loss of income or loss of future income.\u00a0 They also include all types of property damage such as damage to your car.\u00a0 Medical expenses and future medical expenses are another large part of special damages.<\/p>\n Tort<\/strong> \u2013 A \u201cwrong\u201d committed by a \u201ctortfeasor\u201d.\u00a0 Car accidents harm victims by causing physical injuries and financial losses.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The descriptions provided below may help you understand legal terms and insurance terms as they are frequently used in letters or conversations about personal injury accidents.\u00a0 The definitions do not include every possible meaning of the terms being described. Accept Liability \u2013 Accepting Responsibility.\u00a0 This means an insurance company is willing to pay a claim. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[40],"yoast_head":"\n