When you’ve been hurt due to someone else’s negligence—whether in a car crash on I-45, a slip at a poorly maintained property, or an incident at a job site—the law provides a path to seek compensation. This legal concept is known as “damages.” Speaking with a personal injury lawyer early can help you preserve evidence and understand your options.
The goal of damages is not to create a windfall or a lottery win. It’s about making you “whole” again, at least from a financial perspective. It’s an attempt to restore you to the financial position you were in the moment before the accident occurred.
In the world of personal injury law, damages are typically separated into two main categories: general damages and special damages. General damages are for non-economic losses, like pain and suffering, emotional distress, or loss of enjoyment of life. They are real and significant, but they don’t come with a price tag.
Understanding what special damages are in a personal injury, what they cover, and how to document them is critical to protecting your financial future after an injury.
What Exactly Are Special Damages?
Think of special damages as the black-and-white, calculable costs of your accident. They are the specific, tangible, out-of-pocket financial losses that you have incurred—and will continue to incur—because of your injury.
If you can point to a bill, a receipt, an invoice, or a pay stub and say, “This is a cost I have because of the accident,” it is very likely a special damage. They are sometimes called “economic damages” for this reason; they represent the direct economic impact the injury has had on your life.
The core principle is simple: You should not have to bear the financial burden of an accident that someone else caused. The person or entity responsible for your injury should be held accountable for these concrete financial losses.
A Deep Dive: The Common Types of Special Damages
Special damages are not just a single number; they are a collection of many different costs. A thorough accounting of these damages is essential to ensure you are compensated fairly. Let’s explore the most common categories in detail.
1. Medical Expenses (Past, Present, and Future)
This is often the largest and most obvious component of a special damages claim. An injury, even a seemingly minor one, can generate a staggering amount of medical debt. These expenses include:
- Emergency Services: The cost of the ambulance ride from the accident scene and the initial emergency room visit.
- Hospitalization: Charges for a hospital stay, which can include the room, meals, nursing care, and various treatments.
- Surgical Costs: Fees for the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the operating room, and any necessary implants like plates, screws, or artificial joints.
- Doctor’s Appointments: Visits with your primary care physician, specialists (like orthopedists, neurologists, or pain management doctors), and follow-up consultations.
- Diagnostic Tests: The costs of X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and other imaging or lab work needed to diagnose and monitor your injuries.
- Prescription Medications: The ongoing cost of pain relievers, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, and any other medications prescribed for your condition.
- Physical and Occupational Therapy: Rehabilitation is crucial for recovery, and the cost of sessions with physical therapists, occupational therapists, or chiropractors is a compensable damage.
- Medical Devices: The cost of crutches, a wheelchair, a brace, a walker, or any other durable medical equipment you need.
The Critical Importance of Future Medical Expenses
One of the biggest mistakes an injury victim can make is to only consider the bills they have right now. A serious injury, like a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a spinal cord injury, or severe burns from a refinery accident, doesn’t just go away in a few weeks. It can require a lifetime of care.
Special damages must also account for future medical needs. This is a projection of costs for care you will reasonably require for the rest of your life. This can include:
- Future surgeries or joint replacements.
- Long-term physical therapy or pain management.
- In-home nursing care or a home health aide.
- Permanent reliance on prescription medication.
- Modifications to your home (like installing a wheelchair ramp or a walk-in shower) or vehicle (like hand controls).
Calculating future medical expenses is a complex process. It isn’t guesswork. It often requires testimony from your treating physicians and, in many cases, a "life care planning" expert who can create a detailed, evidence-based report outlining every anticipated medical need and its associated cost for the remainder of your life. Without accounting for these future costs, you risk settling your case for far less than you need to truly recover and live with dignity.
2. Lost Wages and Loss of Earning Capacity
The financial pain of an injury often comes from two directions: new expenses coming in and regular income stopping. Special damages are designed to address this loss of income.
- Lost Wages: This is the most straightforward part of the calculation. It represents the money you have already lost from being unable to work. If you missed six weeks of work while recovering from a broken leg sustained in a motorcycle accident, the wages you would have earned during that time are a special damage. This includes not just your base pay but also missed overtime, commissions, or bonuses. Even if you used paid time off (PTO) or sick leave, you are still entitled to be compensated for it—that was your benefit, and you were forced to use it because of someone else’s negligence.
- Loss of Future Earning Capacity: This is a more complex but critically important damage, especially for those with permanent or life-altering injuries. This damage compensates you for the loss of your ability to earn money in the future.
Consider these scenarios:
- A construction worker in Houston suffers a severe back injury in a fall at a worksite. He can no longer perform manual labor and must take a lower-paying desk job. The difference between his old earning potential and his new, lower earning potential over the course of his working life is a compensable damage.
- An offshore worker on a vessel is injured and can no longer meet the physical demands of the job, losing out on a high-paying career.
- A young person sustains a permanent brain injury in a drunk driving accident and will never be able to hold a full-time job.
Proving loss of earning capacity often requires the help of vocational experts and economists. They analyze your age, education, work history, and skills, along with medical expert opinions, to project the total financial impact of the injury on your career. It’s about answering the question: How has this injury fundamentally changed your financial future?
3. Property Damage
This is most common in vehicle accidents but can also apply in other situations. If your property was damaged or destroyed in the incident, the cost to repair or replace it is a special damage.
This includes:
- The cost to repair your car, truck, or motorcycle.
- If the vehicle is declared a total loss, the fair market value of the vehicle right before the crash.
- The cost of a rental car while yours is being repaired or you are waiting for a settlement check.
- Damage to any personal items that were in your vehicle or on your person at the time of the accident, such as a laptop, cell phone, eyeglasses, or even clothing that was cut off by paramedics.
4. Other Out-of-Pocket Expenses
Life doesn’t stop after an injury, but it does get more expensive. There is a whole host of smaller, miscellaneous costs that are a direct result of your injury. While they may seem small individually, they add up quickly and are a legitimate part of your special damages claim.
Examples include:
- Transportation Costs: The mileage, gas, and parking fees for your dozens of trips to doctors, physical therapists, and pharmacies. If you are unable to drive, this could include the cost of rideshare services or medical transport.
- Hiring Help: If your injuries prevent you from performing household duties you normally would, the cost of hiring someone to help is compensable. This could be a cleaning service, a lawn care company, or someone to help with childcare.
- Over-the-Counter Supplies: The cost of things like bandages, antiseptic ointments, ice packs, heating pads, and non-prescription pain relievers.
- Canceled Plans: If you had to forfeit non-refundable deposits for a vacation, concert tickets, or other plans because of your injury, that financial loss can be included.
5. Wrongful Death Damages
In the most tragic of circumstances, when an accident results in a fatality, the surviving family members may be able to file a wrongful death claim. The special damages in these cases are meant to compensate the family for the financial losses resulting from their loved one’s death. This is handled with the utmost sensitivity and care, and typically includes:
- Funeral and Burial Expenses: The reasonable costs associated with laying their loved one to rest.
- Loss of Financial Support: The income and benefits the deceased would have been expected to provide for the family throughout their lifetime.
- Loss of Inheritance: The amount the surviving family members would have likely inherited had the deceased lived a full life.
- Medical Expenses: The cost of any medical care the deceased received for their injuries between the time of the accident and their passing.
- Loss of Household Services: The monetary value of the services the deceased provided, such as childcare, home maintenance, and financial management.
The Power of Proof: Why Documentation is Everything
Here is a hard truth about special damages: you can’t get compensated for a loss you can’t prove. The insurance company for the at-fault party will not simply take your word for it. They will demand proof for every single dollar you claim.
This is why meticulous record-keeping is not just helpful; it is absolutely essential to protecting your rights and securing a fair outcome. From the moment the accident happens, you must become your own best advocate and archivist.
Your Documentation Checklist:
- Create a File: Get a physical folder or create a dedicated folder on your computer. Place every single piece of paper related to your accident and injury in it.
- Save Every Bill and Receipt: This includes medical bills, pharmacy receipts, co-pay receipts, parking garage stubs, and receipts for any over-the-counter supplies. No expense is too small.
- Track Your Mileage: Keep a simple log in a notebook or on your phone of every trip you make for medical care. Note the date, the destination, and the round-trip mileage.
- Get Your Pay Stubs: Collect your pay stubs from before the accident to establish your rate of pay. Get a letter from your HR department detailing the exact dates you missed from work and the total amount of lost income.
- Keep a Journal: While this also helps with general damages (pain and suffering after a car crash, for example), a journal can be a great place to track your out-of-pocket expenses and note how your injuries are impacting your ability to perform daily tasks. For example: "April 15th - Back hurt too much to mow the lawn. Paid the neighbor's son $40 to do it."
Being organized and thorough is your best defense against an insurance company that will try to downplay, dispute, or deny your losses. Every receipt is a piece of evidence in your personal injury lawsuit. Every bill is a building block in your case for full and just compensation.
Don't Settle for Less: Proving the Full Value of Your Special Damages
Calculating special damages, gathering all the right proof, and fighting with an insurance company is a complex and exhausting task. This is where a dedicated legal team can make all the difference.
Calculating special damages, gathering all the right proof, and fighting with an insurance company is a complex and exhausting task. If you’re wondering when to hire a personal injury lawyer, it’s when medical bills are mounting, future care is likely, or the insurer starts pushing for a quick, low offer.
At Suits & Boots Accident Injury Lawyers, our firm was built because we were tired of seeing injured people in our community get shortchanged. Our entire process is designed to prevent that from happening to you. It starts with our No Cost, No Obligation 30-Day Investigation.
We go far beyond a typical "free consultation" to truly uncover and document the full extent of your special damages—past, present, and future. This thorough WORK of the BOOTS is the foundation for the SKILL of the SUITS.
Claim or start your free Investigation with our Houston team today by calling us at (713) 489-0922 or reaching out through our online form. Let the Suits & Boots saddle up and get to work for you.