In most cases, when people think about motor vehicle accidents, they think about direct costs like towing charges or vehicle repair. The problem is that there are many other indirect costs that have to be considered. When you work with an attorney like noll-law.com/il/truck-accident-lawyer-springfield, you learn about various indirect costs that you most likely did not consider. It is really important to think about these in order to determine the real costs of the car accident. This is what we will focus on in the following paragraphs.
Penalties And Fines
In regular car accidents, there is a party that is cited for a specific traffic violation that led to the event happening. If you are the party that is considered to be guilty, there will be fines and penalties that are going to be in place.
Legal Proceedings And Accident Investigation
Regular accident investigation tends to involve a lot of research and so many man hours that have to be billed. These are all indirect costs. It is possible that you are not driving and spending a lot of time gathering information, records and dealing with insurance representatives. The insurance policy does cover claims that are made against you, including property damage claims, injury claims and legal fees. However, expenses that are related to criminal defense needed due to violations are not covered.
Revenue Losses
Due to the fact that you need to deal with various parts of a legal case and the vehicle has to be repaired, your productivity and efficiency can be reduced. You will need to cancel trips and can be faced with situations in which revenue is lost. This cannot be recovered when looking at the regular insurance policies most people have.
On-Going Expenses
This is something that few people take into account. When you are in an accident, you still need to deal with fuel taxes, permit fees and vehicle payments. Even if the car is not operational, these still have to be paid.
Insurance Premium Costs
When the accident happens, if it is determined that it was your fault, it is a certainty that insurance premiums are going to be increased. It is also difficult at time to retain the current coverage level since higher insurance premiums would not be afforded.
Punitive Damages
If the conduct of a defendant is determined to be willful, malicious or intentional, courts do permit punitive damages to be awarded in addition to the regular compensatory damages. These are meant to punish defendants and to discourage conduct type that was noticed. In most situations these are not covered by insurance policies. All the money that has to be paid to cover punitive damages come from the pockets of the defendant.
Final Thoughts
Obviously, you will usually not have to deal with all the indirect costs that are presented above. However, it is important to be aware of them in order to be aware of an accident’s real costs. It is really difficult to properly determine these amounts without the help of a specialist so if you are faced with a situation in which you need to file a personal injury claim, always hire a personal injury attorney.