Personal Injury Compensable Damages

As the result of a personal injury, victims may be awarded compensable damages by the court. Oklahoma law dictates the amounts and restrictions of personal injury compensable damages allowed in personal injury cases. Following is an explanation of these regulating factors. For the full text of Oklahoma’s statute of limitations regarding personal injury cases, view Title 12, Chapter 3, Section 95 of the Oklahoma Code.

What are Compensable Damages?

Compensable damages are financial remunerations awarded by a court of law designed to place a personal injury victim in the position he or she would be in if the injury had never occurred. The purpose of compensable damages is to replace what was lost as the result of a personal injury accident. In Oklahoma, you have two years from the date of the incident to file a suit in the state’s civil court system.

Compensable injuries typically include bodily injuries, incurred and future physical impairment, incurred and future disfigurement, incurred and future physical pain, mental anguish or distress, inconvenience, incurred and future medical costs, incurred and future lost wages or earnings, lost future earning capacity and damages to property. These are normally divided into two basic types of compensable damages: economic damages (things that cost money) and non-economic damages.

Common Limitations on Personal Injury Compensable Damages

• Shared Fault – Shared Fault describes a situation where an injured person and the party or parties that caused the injury are both responsible for the accident in question. The state of Oklahoma uses a modified comparative fault guideline when addressing cases of shared fault. Under this rule, an injured party is eligible to recover a reduced amount of damages if his or her fault is determined to be under 50 percent. However, they will recover no damages if their fault is determined to be at or above 50 percent. Oklahoma courts are required by law to apply this comparative fault guideline when confronted with a shared fault case. In addition, insurance companies may also raise the question of shared fault during any negotiations regarding compensation.
• Caps on Damages – Like many other states, Oklahoma limits damages that can be awarded in personal injury cases. This means the amount of compensation an injured person can receive for losses is restricted by law. Oklahoma limits non-economic personal injury damages in civil injury cases to $350,000. This law, passed in 2011, does not affect economic damages meant to cover medical expenses, lost income and the like.
• Strict Liability for Dog Attacks – Oklahoma Statute Ann. Title 4, § 42.1 specifies that the owner of a dog is “strictly liable” for any attack on another person resulting in injury, regardless of the animal’s past behavior. This is different from some other states, where dog owners may not be held responsible for the first instance where their dog injures someone, if they had no prior reason to believe the dog was dangerous.

If you have been involved in an accident in McAlester, Tulsa or eastern Oklahoma that resulted in injury, you are entitled to the maximum amount of personal injury compensable damages allowed by law. Contact the personal injury attorneys at Edwards and Patterson Law. We will represent your interests and fight to obtain you the most favorable settlement possible. Call us today at 877-403-8417 or contact us online. Our team takes each case on a contingency basis, which means you pay no attorney fees unless you recover monetary damages.