Although Wyoming has a small population, the state has its fair share of accidents and injuries. When an injury occurs, you might be able to receive compensation. But the amount of compensation you receive depends on several factors. One such factor is damage caps. Learn everything you need to know about damage caps in Wyoming.
How Does Compensation Work in Wyoming?
Before you learn about damage caps in Wyoming, you should learn a little about your potential compensation. Anyone who is a victim of another’s negligence could seek compensation for damages. For some, worker’s compensation provides money to cover the cost of medical bills. Others rely on car insurance. However, you might also be able to file a personal injury lawsuit.
If you don’t end your lawsuit with a settlement, it goes to court. The court decides the amount of compensation you will receive. As the court decides the value, it considers pain and suffering, medical bills, and missed time from work. They total up all of the expenses and decide on a fair amount of compensation.
However, you might not receive the total compensation amount. If you are partially to blame for the accident, you might only receive a percentage of the total value. Wyoming has a shared fault law, which limits your compensation depending on the amount of blame on your shoulders.
If you are 20% responsible for the accident, then you will receive 20% less than the total damages. It cuts into your payout.
If you are more than 50% at fault for the incident, you can’t receive any compensation. The court will dismiss your claim. As a result, you won’t be eligible for compensation of any type. One of the keys to a successful claim is proving the other party is more responsible for the accident.
Calculating Damages
In Wyoming, there are two basic types of accident damages. Economic damages are easy to assign a value, such as medical bills. But non-economic damages are slightly more complex. They involve more abstract costs, such as suffering.
Because it is difficult to assign a value to pain and suffering, non-economic damages vary greatly. The court does not have strict guidelines that inform jurors how to quantify issues like pain and suffering. Usually, it’s up to a Wyoming personal injury lawyer to convince the jurors to award a certain amount.
Typically, the court considers all of the following issues:
- Severity of the injury
- Disfigurement
- Disability
- The amount of work missed and potential missed wages
- Total cost of medical bills
What are Damage Caps?
In some states, damage caps limit the amount of damages you can recover. No matter how much pain and suffering you experiences, you can only receive a certain amount of money. States with damage caps aim to keep personal injury cases fair.
Fortunately, Wyoming has no damage caps on personal injury lawsuits. It’s one of 39 states to consider damage caps unfair. If you file a personal injury claim, you can seek as much compensation as you deserve.
However, there is one exception. If you file a lawsuit against a certain government entity, you could have a damage cap. A law limits damages against a government entity to $250,000. If there are multiple claimants for a single incident, the total sum of damages cannot be higher than $500,000.
If you still have questions about damage caps, you should contact a personal injury lawyer in Wyoming. They can look over the specifics of your situation and let you know how much money you might receive.
