Personal injury compensation is not an easy thing to figure out: How much is your hurt really worth?  Or worse, a loved one’s pain and suffering worth?  It is not quite as hard to figure out the medical bills side of things, although not even that is in any sense of the word, “simple”, because you have to look toward the future and try to understand and predict recovery, or lack thereof.  Attorneys, product liability and personal injury, are your greatest allies in helping you determine what you are due.

Here’s what you must always keep in mind when looking at compensation in a product liability lawsuit: It is the job of a of an insurance company (which is who will be paying you a settlement or compensation if you win) to pay you as little as possible.  It is your job, and that of your products liability attorney, to bring as much money as possible to pay for past, current, and future medical bills.

Negotiators for insurance companies are trained to win product liability lawsuits.  This is why so many people who decide to settle rather than hiring an product liability lawyer end up with little to nothing compared to what they could have won if they had hired personal injury trial lawyers.  This is because they have a step by step process that they will first cover with you to determine in actual numbers your medical bill situation and your pain and suffering.

There are three types of compensation that can be awarded or settled in a product liability lawsuit.  The first are compensatory damages (“damages” means payment).  This is normally all that is given in a settlement.  It is the amount necessary for paying past and existing medical bills, and in some cases, future bills that are forseen.  (It gets tricky when looking at the future.)

The second type of personal injury compensation is for nominal damages.  This means that while the manufacturer or any related companies were at fault, there wasn’t any real harm to the person or persons involved with the faulty product.  Then only a nominal, or minimal amount is awarded – such as $5.

The third type of compensation for a personal injury (product liability cases fall under the area of law called personal injury), is punitive.  When punitive damages are awarded, it is in addition to compensatory damages.  There must be proof that a company willfully and intentionally caused harm to a person.

The last thing to remember when asking for personal injury compensation is that time is important.  If you wait too long to bring forward a product liability claim, it might be too late to do anything about being compensated for your injuries.  The key is to call attorneys, product liability and/or personal injury, sooner rather than later.