After an accident in Washington, you have the right to seek compensation for your emotional trauma and other non-economic damages, even if you did not suffer significant physical injuries.
The sudden loss of control and subsequent crash can leave a car accident victim with significant emotional trauma, especially if the accident caused injury to someone else.
If you’ve suffered the emotional trauma of a car accident but did not sustain physical injuries, it’s important to consider your right to compensation with the help of a car accident lawyer in Marysville.
Did Someone Else Cause the Accident?
The first thing to consider after a traumatic car accident is fault. Washington has fault-based car accident laws, leaving the driver who caused the accident responsible for the damages. Typical claims are settled by the at-fault party’s auto insurance company. If your car accident was caused by someone else’s careless, reckless, or wrongful actions (all examples of legal negligence), they are responsible for property damage to your vehicle as well as injury costs, but what if you were not injured in the crash?
Recover Compensation for Non-Economic Damages
If you were in an accident with a significant impact on your emotional well-being, your car likely sustained some type of damage. This forms the basis for your car accident lawsuit against the driver who caused the accident. If you did not suffer a physical injury, you cannot recover compensation for damages you didn’t sustain, like medical expenses. However, if the trauma of the accident caused you to miss work, you can claim your lost earnings. If you’ve sought counseling for emotional trauma, PTSD, anxiety, or depression, you can seek compensation for the economic costs of therapy sessions and also for non-economic damages such as loss of enjoyment of life.
If you witnessed a loved one’s serious injury or fatality, this sort of trauma has significant impact on your emotional well-being. In addition, if a close family member like your spouse suffered an injury in the accident, you could claim compensation for loss of consortium—the full physical and emotional companionship of a loved one.
What If a Loved One Was Fatally Injured In a Washington Car Accident and You Were Not Harmed
Washington RCW 4.20.012 states the following:
“When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of another person, his or her personal representative may maintain an action against the person causing the death for the economic and noneconomic damages sustained by the beneficiaries listed in RCW 4.20.020 as a result of the decedent’s death, in such amounts as determined by a trier of fact to be just under all the circumstances of the case.
In other words, If a close family member was fatally injured in a car accident, you can make wrongful death claim against the at-fault driver to recover compensation for funeral and burial expenses, the loss of a provider’s income, loss of household services, and compensation for emotional grief and anguish. In Washington, a personal representative named by the decedent’s will or appointed by the court represents the family’s claim with compensation going to the closest surviving family member, typically the spouse, parent, or adult child. Contact a personal injury lawyer in Marysville today.