What are pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses?

You can’t speak about a personal injury law case without speaking of pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses. These two terms are in fact directly correlated with the term compensation. If you hire a personal injury lawyer for your case and your case is indeed won, the amount of money you will receive for compensation of your injuries will depend on a large number of factors. There are however two main factors, which are types of losses measured in order to determine the appropriate compensation: pecuniary losses and non-pecuniary losses.

A pecuniary loss is a loss that can be measured in numbers, meaning the court can tally up receipts to calculate the compensation the claimant deserves. The most common pecuniary losses, otherwise known as financial losses, are are lost wages, future lost wages, medical bills or any costs associated with damages that occurred during the incident.

A non-pecuniary loss is, simply put, the opposite of a pecuniary loss. It consists of damages that aren’t measured in monetary value. These factors are also measured for compensation, and consist of aspects such as pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment and future employability. In such situations, these losses are assessed by a judge or a jury in order to determine appropriate compensation.

In brief, damages should restore the claimant to the position they were in before the accident had occurred and the losses took place. If you aren’t receiving proper compensation for damages you’ve suffered, contact one of our personal injury lawyers today: 1 (844) CANTINI (266-8464).